Aroma and Flavor

• Ciders and perries do not necessarily present overtly fruity aromas or flavors — in the same sense that a wine does not taste overtly of grapes. Drier styles of cider in particular develop more complex but less fruity characters. A simple apple soda or wine cooler character is not desirable in a cider or perry.

• Some styles of cider exhibit distinctly non-fruity tastes or aromas, such as the smoky ham undertones of a dry English cider.

• The sweetness (residual sugar, or RS) of a cider or perry may vary from absolutely dry (no RS) to as much as a sweet dessert wine (10% or more RS). In sweeter ciders, other components of taste — particularly acidity — must balance the sweetness. The level of sweetness must be specified so organizers and judges can arrange flights of tastings and entries within flights. Tasting should always proceed from drier to sweeter. There are five categories of sweetness, expanded from three in earlier guidelines. Note that the numbers for these levels are not rigid or restrictive. They are intended to guide the cidermaker on how to enter, not to be used as judging criteria unless a cider is declared at a sweetness level far from its actual sweetness. Judges must realize that sweetness can mask faults. Be more attentive to this in a sweeter cider. Likewise, do not penalize dry ciders excessively for minor faults which may be more evident only because of lack of sweetness. The categories and approximate sugar levels are as follows. Final gravities are particularly rough numbers since they cannot take account of what the SG would be if the cider fermented out completely.

  • Dry: below 0.4% residual sugar. This corresponds to a final specific gravity less than 1.002. There is no perception of sweetness.

  • Medium-dry: 0.4-0.9% residual sugar. This corresponds to a final specific gravity of 1.002- 1.004. There is a hint of sweetness but the cider is still perceived primarily as dry. Also known as semi-dry.

  • Medium: in the range between dry and sweet, 0.9-2.0% residual sugar, final gravity 1.004- 1.009. Sweetness is now a notable component of the overall character.

  • Medium-sweet: 2.0-4.0% residual sugar, final gravity 1.009-1.019. The cider is sweet but still refreshing. Also known as semi-sweet.

  • Sweet: above 4.0% residual sugar, roughly equivalent to a final gravity of over 1.019. The cider has the character of a dessert wine. It must not be cloying; see notes on balance.

• If a cider is close to one of these boundaries, it should be identified by the sweetness category which best describes the overall impression it gives. The five categories above were expanded from the earlier three dry-medium-sweet by splitting the dry and medium categories.

• Acidity is an essential element of cider and perry: it must be sufficient to give a clean, refreshing impression without being puckering. Acidity (from malic and in some cases lactic acids) must not be confused with acetification (from ethyl acetate or acetic acid— vinegar). The acrid aroma and tingling taste of acetification is a fault.

• Ciders and perries vary considerably in tannin. This affects both bitterness and astringency (see Mouthfeel below). If made from culinary or table fruit, tannins are typically low; nevertheless some tannin is desirable to balance the character. The character contributed by tannin should be mainly astringency rather than bitterness. An overt or forward bitterness is a fault, and is often due to processing techniques rather than fruit character.

• Cider may go through a malo-lactic fermentation (MLF) which converts some or all of the sharp malic acid to softer, less-acidic lactic acid. (Perries should not go through MLF because it will cause undesirable acetification.) In ciders made with tannic apples, the MLF commonly produces ethylphenols which are evident as other flavors: spicy/smoky including smoked meat, phenolic, and farmyard/old-horse. These flavors are desirable although not mandatory in English and French styles, but must not be over the top. The spicy- smoky character is the most desirable of the three. Note that a dominating farmyard character may be the result of a Brettanomyces contamination rather than MLF; this is a serious fault. Also, because MLF reduces the acidity of a cider, the result should not be flabby or too soft; the cider must remain refreshing. Finally, judges should be attentive to the possibility of faults such as mousiness which are more likely in a higher pH cider that has gone through MLF. (Some judges may be unable to detect mouse; an alkaline oral rinse may be needed to confirm and reach agreement among judges.)