Cider: A deliciously refreshing drink made from fresh apple juice. That's what most people expect and in the case of Small Acres Cyder it's absolutely true. Our apple cider is always made from fresh apples grown in our orchard and surrounding orchards in Orange, NSW. Our cider apples give our ciders the distinct depth of flavour and texture for more complex ciders. Dessert apples from local growers add fresh and crisp flavours for great everyday ciders.
Our pear cider (Perry) is always made from fresh pears. Some from the Perry trees in our orchard. The rest of the pears we source as close we can. With few growers left in Orange that's sometimes Armidale or Victoria but our cider is never made from concentrate, imported fruit or artificial flavours.
Sadly, most cider in Australia is not made from Australian fruit
Unfortunately using fresh local fruit is not the norm. An estimated 80% of the cider drunk in Australia is not made from Australian apples. Instead the big international brewers grow their apples in the least-cost locations around the globe: China, South Africa and South America. They boil the juice down and ship it around the world. In Australia they rehydrate it with lots of extra water and sugar in a very industrial process. Beware of international cider brands spruiking "Australian Made" cider which in reality are "made" with apples grown very far away indeed. There's no minimum amount of fruit content in cider in Australia so it's mostly just water and sugar anyway. Yuck!
Cider Australia's trustmark: How to find quality Australian cider
A great place to look for signs of real cider is on the label. Cider Australia have a trust-mark which confirms your craft cider is made from Australian apples (or pears for Pear Cider or Perry).
