Tricia uses many different apples for her homemade cider blend.

Do you have a favorite apple? Would you like to make your own apple cider with your favorite apple as the only ingredient?

Surprisingly, that would not taste very good.

Create the best apple cider with a mixture of apples from different groups

Tricia makes apple cider at home in our new video. She uses six kinds of apples with our crusher and press.

The qualities that apple experts consider when classifying apples into groups are sugar (measured by Brix), acidity, and tannin. Mixing apples that carry these various attributes is what gives a homemade cider a robust flavor and satisfying “mouthfeel”.

To get you started, here are some popular apples in each group. Seek out your local apple orchards to find varieties that grow especially well in your area, and create a special blend based on your county’s best apples, and your own preferred flavors.

Tricia explains in our cider-making video that a good blending starting point for new cider makers is 50% sweet, 35% sharp, and 15% bitter.

SWEET

Sugar! These apples make your cider sweet, but they’ll need partners from the other groups:

Golden Delicious
Fuji
Gala
Red Delicious
Jonagold

SHARP

Tartness comes with higher acid levels:

Gravenstein
McIntosh
Northern Spy
Winesap
Liberty

BITTER including BITTERSWEET and BITTERSHARP/BITTERTART

Bittersweets are high in the tannins that add complex flavor to ciders, and high in sugar. Bittersharp and bittertart are two names for the group of apples that are high in tannins, with plenty of acid.

Dolgo Crabapple
Cortland
Newtown
Foxwhelp
Porter’s Perfection

For more information about apple cider, including making hard cider or vinegar, here’s a useful article from the University of Georgia Extension. We also have a detailed booklet on Making the Best Apple Cider.

Let us know what blends of apples you use in your cider!

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