Cider Chat

Sam Reid is based in Tasmania, a state of Australia. He is a partner at Willie Smith's Cider and President of Cider Australia. Tasmania is what Sam calls the smallest state of Australia which by the way is equal in size to the continental United States. It was colonized by the English who used it in the 1700's as a penal colony. It is also in the southern hemisphere so the apple growing region is found in the south on both Australia and Tasmania. It use to be well known as the Apple Isle a claim to fame that I suspect will in time return. There are 30 apple growers in Tasmania. When asked what would best describe Australian cider, Sam described the overall market for the country as a New World commercial style, with fresh apples, filtered (crossed flowed filtered), carbonated and a bit sweet to please the current customer palate - with an overall ph of 3.6. Whereas for Tasmania ciders Sam says, "There isn't one specific style". Willie Smith's where Sam is the CoFounder/Managing Director they tend towards the