Apple trees grew along the River Nile Delta as early as 1300 BC.
It is very vague and unclear whether cider was ever produced from the fruit back then.
At the time the Romans arrived in England, they were reported to have found the villagers drinking a gorgeous drink made from apples.
The Roman leader Julius Caesar welcomed and encouraged the pursuit of this lovely new drink produced from apples, “very novel”.
At the beginning of the ninth century, cider drinking was well established all over Europe.
After the Norman Conquest of 1066, drinking cider became the norm in England.
Orchards were planted to produce apples just for making cider.
In medieval times, cider making was an important industry.
Monasteries sold huge amounts of their potent brew.
Labourers on farms around England received a cider allowance as part of their pay, and the quantity increased during haymaking season.
Cider making in England peaked around about the early part of the seventeenth century, when most farms had their own orchard and cider making equipment.
Cider producing went into decline, because of agricultural changes.
Cider made a huge come back during the twentieth century, due to demand by the mass market and started to be produced on a huge scale.
Now most mass produced ciders, full of chemicals, artificial sweeteners, flavourings and Colouring, (potent white ciders £2.99) at your local supermarkets..need we say more.
Traditional cider making now seems to be having a great revival, thank God! Long may it last, after all Cider is a lovely natural drink !
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