American Mad Apple
Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 9:11 pm
Cider’s roots in the United States stretch back to the early days of British colonisation, and the pages of American history are littered with anecdotes about everyone from farmers to politicians drinking fermented apple juice by the gallon.
The second US president John Adams, for example, reportedly drank a tankard every morning. Those apple trees Johnny Appleseed grew? They were for drinking, not eating. Sometimes cider even was used as currency.
Yet in the 19th Century, quality American cider all but disappeared, thanks to the combination of a rising temperance movement, a massive influx of beer-brewing Germans, and urbanisation, which made brew-ready facilities easier to come by than open cider fields. Until recently, if you were lucky enough to find a bar serving decent cider in the US, it probably came from England or France.
But in the last few years, artisanal cider makers have begun to sprout up across the US, helping to shed the drink’s image as the cloying stepchild of beer.
Continues....
