You know that guy you meet who constantly uses his fingers to make inverted commas. He’s annoying, right? Well…if you met me I would annoy the hell out of you. You see, I do that all the time. I do it when I talk about the mass-produced “cider” that some commercial producers make, bottle and sell. Some may call it “cider” but, in fact, often it isn’t cider at all. Not really.

It’s actually made from a fermented apple concentrate. That means concentrated alcohol – sometimes 12 – 13 %. And, yes, if you’re thinking the only way to water that down is to…water it down… you’re right. So they do. Which means less alcohol. Cool. But also less flavour. Not so cool.