Cider apple
Cider is made in several countries and can be made from any apples. Historically the flavours preferred and varieties used to produce cider have varied by region. Many of the most traditional apple varieties used for ciders come from or are derived from those from Devon, Somerset and Herefordshire in England, Normandy in France, and Asturias in Spain, and these areas are considered to have their own broad cider styles although the many exceptions make this more of a historic footnote. Normandy cider is usually naturally carbonated and clear: Asturian cider apple varieties are mainly 'sharps' or mild 'bittersweets', producing a mildly acidic cider which is customarily served by being poured from height into the glass to oxygenate it.
Cider in the United States
California is a large contributor to the agriculture business in the United States, growing much of the nation's fruit and vegetables. Settlers coming west over the Sierra Nevadas brought with them their own seeds and saplings in covered wagons, especially to areas north of Sacramento. Very few of these young apple trees would have been of cider making provenance, however their introduction was crucial to intensifying agricultural production in what would become the western United States, contributing to the variety of citrus fruit, grapes, figs, and olives that Spanish settlers had begun in Southern California in the 1700s. New varieties of apples better adapted to the cool and rainy climate slowly were developed, most notably by breeders like Albert Etter and Luther Burbank. During World War II, California often produced the bulk of apples for consumption by troops using just one cultivar: Gravenstein, brought to California by Russian settlers in the 19th century. much of the production was centered around Sonoma and the trees were cut down to make way for vineyards in the subsequent decades.