A cider house is an establishment that sells alcoholic

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...

for consumption on the premises. Some cider houses also sell cider "to go", for consumption off the premises. A traditional cider house was often little more than a room in a

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a men's social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 34 active chapters in the United States and Canada.FarmHouse Fraternity New Memb ...

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

, selling locally fermented cider.

History

Cider houses were once common selling a product that was usually fermented on the premises from apples grown in a local cider

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

. In the United States, the European colonists planted apple trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was nine years after first landing at Plymouth in 1620. “The Laird & Company Distillery in New Jersey” was the first distillery license issued in the United States, in 1780. The Industrial Revolution caused people to leave the orchards and move to the cities for work causing many orchards to be abandoned. This began the decline of Cider Houses in the late 1800s. “By the time Prohibition was enacted in 1919, the production of cider in the U.S. had slipped to only 13 million gallons, down from 55 million gallons in 1899.” Because of changes in the taxation of cider in the early 1970s, and social changes, most cider houses now exist in name only. “Today, cider is one of the fastest-growing segments of the liquor industry” thus the emergence of more Cider Houses. With the popularity of Cider Houses, Cider Museums are emerging as well. At these museums, people can visit to learn the history of Cider and Cider Houses. Cider houses are common in

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, where they are called ''sidrerías'' or ''chigres'', and the Basque Country, where they are called ''

sagardotegi A sagardotegi (pronounced ) is a type of cider house found in the Basque Country where Basque cider and traditional foods such as cod omelettes are served. Modern sagardotegis can broadly be described as a cross between a steakhouse and a ci ...

''. As cider has gained popularity during the 21st century, especially in countries such as Australia, 'bar & restaurant style' cider houses are opening; the Brunswick St Cider House in Melbourne is an example. A few do still exist in, for example, the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

of the United Kingdom. (First published in

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, real cider, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founde ...

's Good Cider Guide, 2000.) There are approximately more than 725 Cider Houses & Producers currently in the United States.

References

External links

List of the remaining cider houses in the UK
Retrieved 1/9/2007 (link seems to be dead 17/03/2021). * Cider {{pub-stub es:Sidrería eu:Sagardotegi

History

See also

References

External links