TheCider and the art of cidermaking in Ontario have a rich history dating back to the 17th century. Early settlers brought apple seeds and saplings from France and England; but apples are highly ‘heterozygous’, meaning that seeds from one tree can grow into trees with very different fruit characteristics so early New World apple orchards were highly unpredictable! Today most apple varieties are propagated through grafting rather than from seed.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, cider production flourished in Ontario. It was a common household activity, with families making their own cider for personal consumption. Cider was mostly used for making apple sauce, but a few barrels were fermented into hard cider, called ‘rack cider’ or ‘Apple Jack’, for drinking and social gatherings.
As the number of orchards matured, large quantities of apples were shipped away to new settlements. The balance was either packed away for winter use, or made into juice, apple sauce, or apple butter. The windfalls, i.e., apples which had been blown down by the wind, along with apples of a poorer grade, were heaped into a wagon box and taken to a cider mill. Soon cider-making became a profitable business moving processing and production from family homes to cideries. During Prohibition in Ontario (1916 – 1927), cider mills faced significant challenges as alcoholic beverages, including hard cider, were banned.
Many cider mills either shut down or switched to producing non-alcoholic sweet cider and manyorchards were abandoned or converted to other crops. The laws were gradually relaxed; however, Prohibition had disrupted Ontario’s cider industry, and the shift away from hard cider continued throughout most of the 20th century.
Today, cider is making a comeback! Many contemporary craft cider producers have returned to early settler-style cider. Craft ciders are made exclusively from fresh pressed apple juice, while mass-produced imported ciders are made using mostly apple concentrate with a small amount of pressed apple juice and additional sugars.
With a seven-fold increase over the past five years, craft cider made with 100% Ontario apples is the fastest growing category of alcoholic beverages in Ontario. With renewed emphasis on locally sourced food and craft beverages, our shared agricultural heritage, and artisanal products, Ontarians are rediscovering cider as a part of our heritage.
The Drink Ontario Apples logo is your assurance that all of the apples used to make your cider were grown right here, in Ontario.
