Why Cider Expert

There are sites devoted to ratings and recommendations for beer and wine. Some seem to regard cider as just another variety of one of those. But we believe that:

• Cider is not beer
• Cider is not wine
• Cider deserves its own site for ratings and reviews, customized to its unique character

For those new to the world of cider, it's a drink normally made from fermented apple juice. There are a considerable variety of styles, from numerous countries and regions. Perry is also included on this site, which is made from pear instead of some or all of the apple juice. Variations of cider may contain honey, other fruit juices, or spices. Ciders are almost always naturally gluten free as well, as the typical ingredients are apple juice, (maybe) sugar or other sweetener, and yeast. You have to work hard to get gluten into cider.

Cider has been around for hundreds of years. And in the last few years, cideries have literally been exploding across the US and beyond.

We like cider, but we don’t always agree on the good ones. So we embarked on Cider Expert with the goal of building a catalogue of ciders, along with ratings gathered from the many people who, like us, enjoy a glass of cider. That data lets us produce recommendations, as well as keep an eye out for new ciders and cideries.

Within the United States, there are few cider brands that have significant distribution nationally, much less internationally. There are hundreds of regional cideries springing up, and we'd like to do our part to help bring attention to some of their fine beverages.

England, France, Spain, and other countries have their own cider industries, and many of those fine ciders never leave their borders.

Hopefully you will find this site to be a useful guide as you explore the world of cider, both at home and while traveling, no matter where you call home. The list of cideries we track keeps growing; you can find the up-to-date list here.

Acknowledgements

User experience research and design by a team from General Assembly:

• Justine Lilgert
• Nicholas Draney
• Teresa Liu
• Yonas Berhe

Graphic design by Vivitiv.