HOW CIDER IS BACK AS THE Power of th

FROM a thirst quencher for farmers to cheap booze for teenagers – cider’s image has certainly changed over the years.

But now traditional craft ciders are booming and boosting our economy.

Like the craft beer revolution, it is proving to be a golden age for the drink made by pressing apples.

And we love it. Britons are now the biggest producers and consumers of cider, with 45 per cent of our apples grown blended to make dozens of still and sparkling varieties.

Yet despite yokel heroes The Wurzels’ 70s jokey hit I Am A Cider Drinker, the tipple has not always enjoyed such a positive image.

Fizz

By the 90s super-strength, super-cheap cider and fruit versions flooded the market and were blamed for a rise in alcoholism and anti-social behaviour.

Some believe the tipple is still underestimated, seen as a cheap summer substitute for beer. To Pete Brown, author of The Apple Orchard: The Story of Our Most English Fruit, it is more like wine than ale.

He said: “We have 4,000 named apple varieties in the UK. The blending of those apples to produce a wonderful cider is just as much of an art as blending grapes to make a great Bordeaux.

“The push for provenance drove craft beer to new heights. Cider has caught up with the trend.”

It is undoubtedly a drink with a long, rich and varied past, dating from Roman times. Records show Julius Caesar enjoyed a few ciders while he invaded Britain back in 54BC.

By the 14th century it was being made in almost every county, as far north as Yorkshire. It became such a mainstay of country life that in the 17th century four pints a day formed part of Somerset farm workers’ wages.

During tough harvest periods that was increased to eight a day.

Cider also became trendy in the 17th century as Ciderology, a new history of the tipple by Gabe Cook, reveals.

Then Britain was almost permanently at war with France, the Netherlands or Spain which cut off our supply of wine. So the aristocracy and high society developed a taste