Apple Cider Types

Sparkling, Dry, Sparkling Cider, Sweet…..the apple ciders are many, choose your favorite!

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How Many Types of Apple Cider Are There?

For many, apple cider is a specific drink: a single taste, a single shape, a single processing method. Therefore, one expects a sweet, sparkling, low-alcohol drink with the characteristic apple flavor.

This is not always the case because in reality there are various types of cider that also have markedly different characteristics. For example, you can find sparkling cider, sparkling cider and still cider. Discover all the different types of cider with our in-depth articles.

Since ancient times, apple cider, obtained through fermentation, usually has an alcohol content between 2 and 8 degrees. However, not all cider is the same and, depending on the processing method, fermentation and raw materials used, there are different types. Let’s look at them together.

Sparkling Cider

This type of cider hosts many varieties that we will look at in detail. The common feature of all sparkling ciders is a variable effervescence but never too marked.

Sweet Cider

To obtain sweet cider, the alcoholic fermentation must be stopped after a rather short time in order to keep the quantity of sugars high.

By doing so, you obtain a sweet, sparkling and frothy cider with a rather low alcohol content, usually below 3%. Fresh and drinkable.

Semi-dry cider

This type of cider has a slightly slower fermentation and still maintains a good amount of sugars. The result will therefore be quite sweet but with more complex aromas that go beyond the apple flavor.

Semi-dry cider, also called “demi-sec” in French, usually has an alcohol content that can vary from about 3.5% to 6%. Excellent aperitif.

Dry Cider

Compared to “demi sec” it has less sugar, obviously, but remains extremely pleasant. It changes to less sweet and more aromatic notes and its alcohol content is usually between 4.5% and 7%.

In this case, sugars serve more than anything to balance the astringency and acidity and the result is truly very interesting. Excellent to accompany desserts and delicacies.

Sparkling Cider

In this type of processing, you will encounter a drink that has a high effervescence, richer than sparkling cider, and very particular.

The alcohol content can vary from 4% to 8% and, like all sparkling wines, they can be generated by two distinct methods: classic method or Charmant method.

With the classic method, also called Champenoise, the cider is refermented in the bottle by adding carefully selected yeasts and sugars.

The Charmant method, on the other hand, involves a similar procedure but is no longer carried out in the bottle but in an autoclave to which yeasts and sugars are added.

Beyond the sparkling method, there are three types of sparkling cider: Dry, Extra Dry and Brut. In the first case, there are sugars that make the cider particularly sweet.

In the Extra Dry version, the sweetness is still present but only in small traces that manage to give a slightly fruity and very fresh flavor.

The Brut version is almost completely devoid of sugars and other scents more linked to the floral and mineral world clearly emerge.

Still Cider

Although cider in the collective imagination is linked to a much appreciated effervescence, there are also ciders on the market that are completely devoid of bubbles.

In these cases the alcohol content varies from 5.5% to 9%, and a greater body of the drink is evident. The degrees of sweetness can be different as well as the various scents.

To obtain a still cider it is important to carefully choose the type of apples, for this reason significant differences can also be found from bottle to bottle.

Natural Cider

This type of cider is almost entirely a geographically identified product since the “Sidra natural” is made in the north of Spain, in particular in the region of Asturias.

It is a particular cider: with little or no effervescence, with an alcohol content of 6%, with a sour taste and a strong minerality.

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