The Poms take cider to a new level: the UK has the highest per capita consumption and the world’s largest producer in HP Bulmer.
The earliest record of production seems to be in 55BC, when Kentish villages were drinking a bevvy made with apples.
Variations range from dry to sweet and cloudy to clear, but there are two main traditions: the West tradition, with a higher percentage of ciderapples for richer tannins and sharper flavours; and the Kent and East Anglia tradition, with culinary and dessert fruit.
Connoisseurs wax lyrical about cider made from 85 per cent (or more) fresh apple juice, but there is a booming market for mass-produced cider such as White Lightning, drunk mostly by chavs and hoodies.
