Cider
Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is popular in the United Kingdom, especially in the West Country, and widely available. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, as well as its largest cider-producing companies. Cider is also popular in many Commonwealth countries, such as India, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Aside from the UK and its former colonies, cider is popular in other European countries including Ireland, Portugal (mainly in Minho and Madeira), France (particularly Brittany and Normandy), northern Italy (Piedmont and Friuli), and Spain (especially Asturias and the Basque Country). Central Europe also has its own types of cider with Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse producing a particularly tart version known as Apfelwein. In the U.S. and parts of Canada, varieties of fermented cider are often called "hard cider" to distinguish alcoholic cider from non-alcoholic "cider" or "sweet cider", also made from apples.
Cider apple
British cidermakers normally blend juice from apples of multiple categories to ensure a finished cider with a balanced flavour and for the best and most consistent quality. While traditional ciders were made from whatever apples were available locally, the blend of sugar, acid and tannin required for a successful cider is difficult to achieve from any single cultivar with the possible exception of some bittersharps. As bittersharps are rare, a common modern approach is to use a range of bittersweet varieties with some sharps, or a cooking apple such as the readily available Bramley, to balance the acidity. Sharps, with their high acid content, also keep the cider's pH below 3.8 to prevent spoilage; sweets help provide adequate sugar for fermentation to the proper alcohol content.