The Cider Revival: Dispatches from the Orchard

by Jason Wilson

Cider is having a major moment, and The Cider Revival charts its history, resurgence, and a year with the vanguard makers of heritage cider

Cider is the quintessential American beverage. Drank by early settlers and founding fathers, it was ubiquitous and pervasive, but following Prohibition when orchards were destroyed and neglected, cider all but disappeared. In The Cider Revival , Jason Wilson chronicles what is happening now, an extraordinary rebirth that is less than a decade old.

Following the seasons through the autumn harvest, winter fermentation, spring bottling, and summer festival and orchard work, Wilson travels around New York and New England, with forays to the Midwest, the West Coast, and Europe. He meets the new heroes of orchardists who are rediscovering long lost apple varieties, cider makers who have the attention to craftsmanship of natural wine makers, and beverage professionals who see cider as poised to explode in popularity. What emerges is a deeply rewarding story, an exploration of cider’s identity and future, and its cultural and environmental significance. A blend of history and travelogue, The Cider Revival is a toast to a complex drink.

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, History, Agriculture

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2019

About the author

JASON WILSON is the author of Godforsaken Grape: A Slightly Tipsy Journey through the World of Strange, Obscure, and Underappreciated Wine, to be published in April by Abrams Books.
Wilson is also the author of Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits, and the series editor of The Best American Travel Writing since its inception in 2000.
A regular contributor to the Washington Post, Wilson wrote an award-winning drinks column for years. Wilson has also been beer columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, dining critic for the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Magazine, and has written for the New York Times, NewYorker.com, AFAR, National Geographic Traveler, and many other magazines and newspapers.

Reviews

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

Cider is as important a food within American history as, well, apple pie, but it's not often given the respect it deserves. When it comes to alcohol, beer and wine usually get the attention. Jason Wilson does good work to correct that imbalance in The Cider Revival, a thoughtful analysis of the American cider industry and how it has evolved in recent years, and ways in which that is both a good and bad thing.

I love cider, but I confess, I didn't know a lot about it, other than that I wish it was more widely available at establishments. One of the big joys of my recent dream-come-true trip to the UK was finding cider for sale just about everywhere. Having read this book, I feel like my eyes have been opened. Wilson explores the history of cider, from Thoreau's "Wild Apples" book to William Henry Harrison's contentious 1840 presidential campaign where he dubbed himself "the log cabin and hard cider candidate," and into many still-contentious matters of the modern era.

More than three-quarters of US cider is produced by large brands such an Angry Orchard, Strong Bow, and Woodchuck, and all are owned by massive drinks conglomerates, and many of their lines use juice concentrate. Even among smaller producer, there are debates and divisive regional differences, such as the northeast's emphasis on heritage apples and foraging, while the west coast is more inclined to go hipster mode and mix other fruits or botanicals in with apples, producing cider than makes some people scoff if it is cider at all.

I respect and appreciate how Wilson breaks it all down. His approach is very personal; he makes known his own biases. I have wondered myself about how things like dry, semi-dry, and sweet are determined, and it turns out, such labels are pretty arbitrary. And I'm apparently a rare person who wants a genuinely sweet cider; I really don't like the major cider brands because I find them not only dry but bland. Reading about heritage apples makes me eager to try more of them for myself--I want to taste the difference made by tannins and specific apples.

Near the end of the book, Wilson explores other parts of the world where cider is more ingrained in society, such as Spain, where Basque ciders are traditionally poured from a high-held bottle to release carbonic gas, to France, where Normandy's Route du Cidre includes a 25-mile loop packed with homemade purveyors of not only cider but cheese. I now know for certain where I need to go on my next international vacation.

This book has changed how I regard cider. From here on, I will read labels and drink with new thoughtfulness.

[Stephanie McMillan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a definitely a candidate for my favorite non-fiction of the year. And I love that. Who knew a dark-horse pick about the niche and growing world of alcoholic ciders in the US was exactly what would captivate me. My first experience with a cider I truly loved was in Sweden, when I discovered pear cider or ‘perry’ and have sought them out every chance after. I picked up this book on a whim and am so thrilled I did. I love Wilson’s tone & it’s evident that he’s a skilled and traveled drinks reporter (which, excuse me, had I know was a job I might have stuck with journalism longer in college). Wilson takes us all around the United States interviewing cider makers and weaving in the history of cider in America.

I was particularly struck by how he wrote about the challenge facing the burgeoning cider industry. Some are wanting to emphasize the ‘heritage’ cider, playing on the nostalgia of the drink & the apples that still exist from centuries ago— but in this effort are they making cider an exclusive and pretentious thing that doesn’t have room for diverse people and thought? Do they want to go down the path of the craft beer market? Do they want to be more like wine? I thought this push-pull was really interesting. How can we both cater to heritage and nostalgia without trodding down a very homogenous, white path. Can we play up the heritage of ciders & make it a welcoming space & drink for all people to enjoy? I think so.

Some of the other reviews mention his weird interloping commentary about Trump. And I tend to agree- at first it was just something I noticed. And in the book he explains how he was doing a piece about Trump Hotels & properties and as a writer was juxtaposing that against his exploration into these ciders and the orchards and the people of the cider industry (a sort of excess vs. simplicity metaphor) and it was a striking juxtaposition— but ultimately I think I don’t think it worked in the context of the book and was distracting and should have been edited out. Although, I do want to read his piece about his time spent traveling around to all the Trump Hotels & properties while the Trump administration was raging on. I think that would be fascinating. Also, I see why he wanted to include the sections on Spanish and French ciders but I was impatient with those chapters and wanted to return to learning about cider making and history in the US.

At the end of the day, this book made me feel things about cider. It made me want to forage in the woods of Iowa, order nursery stock of Northern Spy and Arkansas Black. It made me want to search for Jefferson’s elusive lost apple. And damn did it make me want to sample every cider in Iowa and get to work brewing my own. I got this copy from my library but I’ll be purchasing one of my own. I love the list of cideries & places to visit in the back he’s included. I’d say this would make a great fall read, but that’s antithetical to one of the points made in the book— cider is a year round beverage, not just a fall one!

[Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not a cookbook but a book about Cider - how it is made, the various cideries (kinda like a winery), and the history. The author takes us on a journey through several cideries where he shares conversations with the owners, gives us an in depth look at how cider is made, why it is making a comeback, the science behind cider, and so much more.

I'm going to be honest here (and probably embarrass myself), but I thought cider was flavored beer.  I don't drink beer so when I see cider on a menu I thought it was somehow tied to beer.  Honest mistake.  Maybe I should have asked my husband.  He was stationed in England while in the service and told me that he drank cider in the pubs.  Of course, I don't learn this fact until after I had made my assumption about cider.

Anyway, this book is fascinating!   I have learned so much about cider and apples that I don't even know where to start.  I discovered that New York is the second largest producer of apples, especially around the Finger Lakes.  Oregon is the top producer of apples.  I've learned that Cider is more like wine than beer which appeals to me more than if it were closer to beer.  There is a discussion about the apple varietals and which ones are better for making cider or what combinations work the best.  Sort of a no brainer is the fact that organic apples make better cider than those treated with pesticides.  He even notes Cider bars not to be missed and notable cideries across the county and in Europe.  I'm making a note of these locations should we make it to any of the areas on vacation.

After reading this book, I made a journey to our local liquor store and discovered that they do not carry very much cider.  Beer, wine, liquor - more than you can imagine...but cider?  Not much.  Definitely not many outside of Angry Orchard (owned by a large conglomerate).  Not knowing if I would like it or not, I chose a single of Pacific Coast Cider.  It was tasty and while cider may not be my top drink choice, I will definitely be giving other ciders a try.  There is even a company in Austin Texas that makes cider so you know I'll have to try this sometime soon.

Check this book out and drink a pint of cider while reading.  You might learn a thing or two and have to create your own cidery tour.

[Tina Izguerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Cider Revival" by Jason Wilson is an excellent overview of the cider industry and history. I was pleasantly surprised by many of the aspects of the cider industry and look forward to applying the new knowledge when purchasing cider in the future. Wilson does a great job in this book, and I look forward to purchasing it.

[Dennis]

Good book about cider; gives me some good places to check out should I ever make it back to New York state. Also includes references to some folks I know from the Northman cider pub located here in Chicago.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cider is my favorite beverage of choice so it was such a disappointment that I found this book ho hum. I learned a little about the craft, but so much less than I wanted to know. Mostly, this is the story of a man’s conversations and experiences with ‘cider experts.’ It didn’t hold me.

[Rebecca M · Rating 5 out of 5]

​As someone currently living in the midst of New England apple country and who has certainly benefited from the cider revival, at least from a consumer perspective, I was excited to dig into The Cider Revival: Dispatches from the Orchard by Jason Wilson. This book is a great overview of cider, its history and making, as well as its recent comeback. While some parts were a bit technical, I enjoyed the thoroughness and background and thought it was overall well researched and well written. I also enjoyed the way it read something like a travel book, with the author heading into the field to learn firsthand from farmers and makers, and infusing a little cultural history and lore. The book is involved and not something you're likely to breeze through, but it's well worth poring over at leisure . . . maybe over a pint?

[Csimplot Simplot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!

[Rachaelbookhunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and am very glad I got a chance to read it. I love the cover of this book. That, and the words inside, make you feel as if you are in the orchards alongside the author. I didn't know anything about cider before reading and I think I learned something. Also I learned new things about apples and apple trees. It was a very interesting, informative read and well worth the time for anyone with an interest in the subject.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cider was the beverage of choice in early America until Prohibition caused many cider orchards to be abandoned or chopped down. Then dessert or eating apples took over in agriculture and many heritage cider apple varieties were lost. In the last few years cider has come back with dozens of small orchards and cider mills have popped up all over the country - mostly in Northern areas where apples grow well like the Northeast, Michigan, and the Pacific Northwest. Jason Wilson has written extensively about wine and other spirits, so he turns to cider in Cider Revival. While the book was interesting and I definitely learned some things, the description says "following the seasons" Wilson explores the cider industry, but he didn't really get into detail about what the cider industry seasons look like. It was mostly him traveling all over the place drinking cider and talking about it, so toward the second half of the book it felt somewhat repetitive. There were also a few very random anti-Trump sections in the book that just seemed randomly thrown in for no reason. Overall, it was interesting, but not amazing.

Some quotes I liked:

"I'm interested in cider makers who are revivalists, committed to hard work in the orchard, and whose ciders tell the story of a specific place and time. Whose cider have, dare we say it, terroir." (p. 13)

"Apples, similar to humans, are heterozygous. That means that they produce offspring that are unique from their parents. Every seed inside every apple has different genetic content, and each seed will grow a completely new variety of apple, distinctly different from its parents...That's why the only way an orchardist can cultivate the same apple over and over again is to graft the scion wood from that variety onto existing rootstock." (p. 28)

[Andy Brennan of Aaron Burr Cidery]...clomped straight into the thickest patch [of poison ivy], saying, 'Poison ivy is just part of it. If harvesting these [wild] apples means I get a terrible poison ivy rash, well, that's just part of the experience. I feel like the fruit from this place needs to be represented in my ciders.' Brennan also says that he gets E. coli about once a year from tasting apples that have fallen to the ground - also part of the experience." (p. 41)

"So for whatever reason, most ciders from the West Coast would be categorized as modern because of the apples used. This means that, in the cider world, the divide between modern and heritage ciders is quickly becoming a West Coast - East Coast schism." (p. 106)

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like cider. Really. REALLY. I think beer is all pretty gross, wine is ok, but cider is my THING. The big uptick in cider production that’s happened has been amazing as far as I’m concerned, and so I was incredibly excited about this book. And it generally came through for me.
I’m in the south, so I have next to no knowledge of how anything in the north works, local cideries are pretty rare down here. I very much enjoyed his conversations with both the bigger and smaller producers and their opinions about each other. I learned some good history, and some smidge of geography to boot.
The only thing that annoyed me was the author’s overarching attitude. He’s a snob. He’s aware of it, but it’s just a fact. His opinion is that any cider that is anywhere close to ‘sweet’ is a crime against humanity, and tastes bad. I understand, the idea that cider tastes like over sweetened apple juice is a bad one, and needs to be corrected, but there are perfectly nice alcoholic sweet ciders. He does bring up the issue among cider makers of not wanting to use the snobby wine language that can be so prevalent, which was a good theme through the book. He also went on a few tangents about non-cider alcohols, which were interesting.
Very much enjoyed it, even the bits where I was rolling my eyes, so if you have any interest in cider, or alcohol history, would recommend.

[Samee]

A great book for any cider-head to have on the shelf, this is a chatty, journalistic account of the state of American (and some Basque, and Norman, and UK) cider in the late 2010s. You'll meet some of American cider's key personalities, learn a bit about the history of cider, and ponder the perennial East Coast vs West Coast cultural division (in this case, as it pertains to fruity, flavored West Coast ciders using the IPA marketing playbook, vs the East Coast's dry, acidic, heirloom- and varietal-focused ciders--there's a cultural metaphor in there somewhere). You'll leave with a desire to hunt down your new favorite cider (or perry, or calvados).

An interesting (especially in these times) thread running through the book is the experience of exploring this (re)emerging industry during the Trump presidency. The author visits several Trump properties over the course of the book, and towards the end of the book, during a panel on Spanish-style ciders (sidra), one of the Finger Lakes cider-makers remarks: "Nowhere has a culture around cider like that [Spain]. It probably takes a 40-year dictatorship of a fascist to maintain a culture like that. So maybe sidra will take off 35 years from now in the US?"

[Pattie Tierney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first became acquainted with cider while my husband and I were living in London where they call it scrumpy. I am not a beer or ale drinker, so during one of our many visits to our neighborhood pub, decided to give scrumpy a try, once I did, there was no looking back. Upon our return to the States, I would seek out various cider mills in order to taste their wares, comparing it with what I remembered of scrumpy; it was a tasty journey. Abrams publishing’s new release The Cider Revival by Jason Wilson will take you on a similar journey, with maps and specifics, in order to guide you along the cider journey of your life. It is pleasant and readable, and a must have for anyone with an interest in cider.

Disclaimer: I was given a complementary copy of this book by Abrams publishing as a part of being involved in the Abrams Dinner Party.

[Allen Crump · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading along as Jason Wilson immersed himself in the cider world was a great deal of fun. Like Wilson, I have a preference for the heritage-oriented ciders of the northeast and I thoroughly enjoyed “getting to know” the producers from that area while also being exposed to a few others from around the country. In the end, this is a love letter to American cider culture and I fully support the work Wilson is doing.

Whether you’re a seasoned cider professional, avid drinker, or cider newcomer, this book will help launch a passion for the culture, tastes, people, and complex terroir that cider brings.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my NF mix. Because I love cider and hard cider, and grew up with Sunday orchard drives each fall in upstate N.Y.
Of course they are "pommeliers", and bitter apples, lost heritage apples being grafted back...all in a crisp magazine expose style.
Do you remember Northern Spies?

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

All you have ever wanted to know about Cider and then some! A great book on the history of Cider and all that it entails.

[Kari Bourgeois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough and romantic in a way.

[Jm Rollins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat rambling, but pleasurable to read. A little "fuddy duddy"ing in the book, but overall worth reading.

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes got off topic

[Will G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cider is dead again, but this book is good.

[Emily Saeugling · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting to learn about the history of cider and current challenges the industry faces.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you already know about cider like us, it's fun to get intimate sneak peeks into all the cidery personalities and operations. he also makes cider sound more delicious than it is ;-)

[Tiffany Carley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one aloud with Chris on road trips!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read. If you're not interested in cider, you will be.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been getting cozy with cider for many years now, starting with a love of Norman and Basque ciders and then with some of the funkier options I've been able to find around Philadelphia. When I saw that Wilson visited all the same Finger Lakes cideries that I had, I knew I'd be getting this book.

I loved Wilson's almost palpable scorn for "modern cider" and I cackled with glee at his reaction to Portland's reputation as an amazing cider town. Sure, if you want hops or grapefruit in your definitely-not-dry-even-though-you're-calling-it-that cider.

I winced at his experience with the dopes at GLINTCAP in Grand Rapids who thought the acidity in true heritage dry ciders was a flaw.

I cheered for the Finger Lakes producers, who got by far the most screen time. The ciders I tried from them truly were wine-like in their complexity and variation--not at all like the one-note ciders that come from dessert apples. Cloudsplitter from Redbyrd was one of my favorites, though I also loved the pommeau from Finger Lakes Cider House.

I was confused that in the appendix under Pennsylvania, he listed Kurant, which was full of hoppy and fruity one-note ciders (and is now closed), but not Ploughman, which has actual heritage ciders.

[John Hendricks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting peek into the world of cider. A bit repetitious in spots, but the easy conversational tone makes up for it. Minus One Star for the bizarre, incongruous anti-Trump screeds they inexplicably appeared mid-book.