Cider Guides

Straightforward guides to help you understand cider, explore different styles and work out what you actually enjoy drinking — without making it unnecessarily complicated.

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Learn more about the cider in your glass.

Dry, Medium, Sweet, Light Fruit, Dark Fruit... the descriptions on a cider bottle can be useful, but they rarely tell you the whole story.

Our Cider Guides are the permanent home for the useful stuff: what the different styles mean, why ciders can taste so different and how to discover the ones that suit you.

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Where would you like to start?

Choose a subject below and then explore the individual guides in as much — or as little — detail as you fancy.

Traditional Cider

Understanding Cider Styles

Dry, Medium Dry, Medium, Medium Sweet or Sweet? Start with the complete guide to the cider sweetness scale, then explore each style in more detail.

Explore Cider Styles

Cider Style What Is Dry Cider?

Why dry doesn't mean sour — and why two Dry ciders can taste completely different.

Cider Style What Is Medium Dry Cider?

A little more sweetness than Dry, while still sitting firmly towards the drier half of the scale.

Cider Style What Is Medium Cider?

Right in the middle — but Medium certainly doesn't have to mean ordinary.

Cider Style What Is Medium Sweet Cider?

Moving towards the sweeter end while still leaving plenty of room for apple character.

Cider Style What Is Sweet Cider?

Why Sweet doesn't automatically mean sickly, sugary or simple.

Start Here A Simple Guide to Cider Styles

See the whole Dry-to-Sweet scale together and work out where you'd like to explore next.

Fruit Cider

Understanding Fruit Cider

Fruit cider doesn't sit neatly on the Dry-to-Sweet scale. Discover how fruit cider works, why flavours vary and why we divide the range into Light Fruit and Dark Fruit.

Explore Fruit Cider

Start Here A Simple Guide to Fruit Cider

What fruit cider actually is, how the fruit becomes part of the drink and why bottles can vary so much.

Fruit Cider What Is Light Fruit Cider?

Brighter, lighter fruit profiles such as strawberry, raspberry, peach and tropical fruit.

Fruit Cider What Is Dark Fruit Cider?

Richer flavours such as blackberry, blackcurrant, cherry and darker berry combinations.

No cider exam required

Useful knowledge. No tasting-wheel nonsense.

We think understanding a little more about cider can make discovering new bottles much more enjoyable.

But the guides aren't here to tell you what you're supposed to taste or which style you're supposed to prefer.

They're here to give you useful starting points.

You drink it. You decide whether you like it.

Discover Cider

The more you explore, the more you discover what you like.

A style name can point you in the right direction. A guide can explain why two bottles might be different.

But there's still only one reliable way to find your next favourite cider.

Pour it. Taste it. Decide for yourself.

POUR • TASTE • DISCOVER

Discover Better Cider