Cider is Always Sweet

This is one of the biggest myths about cider, and it has to go away. Just like wine, cider comes in every level of sweetness. There’s a cider as tart and dry or as fruity and sweet as any drinker could want. And there’s an occasion for every level of sweetness too. You might be in the mood for a dry sparkling cider with salmon or a sweet ice cider paired with a rich blue cheese. On Cider in Love, every cider product page shows where it falls on the dry to sweet scale. We even let you filter your shopping by dryness level. Whatever you want, it’s out there and you can find it on Cider in Love.

Cider is for Girls

All of the myths, this one is the most ridiculous! Everyone drinks cider. Cider is consumed by both genders more equally than any other beverage in the alcohol market. Neilsen, the big research guys who study what people watch and buy and like, have studied this one extensively, and the data backs it up.

Cider is Just the New Wine Cooler

Wine coolers, flavored malt beverages, alcoholic sodas – there’s a new drink trend every year. They hit big, usually supported by massive advertising dollars, and they fade shortly when the next trend fills up the shelves. Cider couldn’t be more different. Cider has been around since before the ancient Romans and it has been part of American life since the US was just a few scattered colonies.

All Cider is Sparkling

Nope! Find a cider that describes itself as still and you’ll get one with no bubbles at all. Or if you like a light sparkle but nothing too intense, the word you’ll be looking for is petillant. But if you want sparkling, the phrases you’ll want to find include: bottle conditioned, naturally sparkling, method traditional, or sparkling. On Cider in Love, every cider product page shows where it falls on the still to sparkling scale. We encourage you to explore something new!

All Cider Tastes the Same

This is the easiest one to dispel. Not only are ciders are different – they can be wildly different! Cider can be sweet or dry, clean or funky, citrusy or smoky, sparkling or still. There are so many different apple varieties, fermentation techniques, and aging styles, all creating a dazzling range of tastes and styles for cider.

Cider is Fast and Cheap to Make

Actually, cider requires a pretty significant investment in cash, land, and time. Just like a vineyard, a cider-producing orchard requires lots of quality land and care. Apple trees can take a decade before they start producing fruit. Really great cider-specific apples are more expensive than “eating” apples. Cider can age for months, keeping equipment “locked up” and capital investment high. And a quality fermentation takes time; the best ticket to great flavor is a long, slow ferment. Sure, some mass producers have the scale to make cider faster and more economically. Small farmers, working in small batches, often work slower and have higher costs. But all that investment is clear when you take a sip of a great heritage cider. There’s nothing like it.