Editing Cider apple (section)

{{Short description|Fruit used for making apple cider}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2018}}

[[File:Cider Apples (21600773933).jpg|thumb|Cider apples ripening in [[Herefordshire]]]]

'''Cider apples''' are a group of [[apple]] [[cultivar]]s grown for their use in the production of [[cider]] (referred to as "hard cider" in the [[United States]]). Cider apples are distinguished from "cookers" and "eaters", or dessert apples, by their bitterness or dryness of flavour, qualities which make the fruit unpalatable but can be useful in cidermaking. Some apples are considered to occupy more than one category.

In the United Kingdom, the [[Long Ashton Research Station]] categorised cider apples in 1903 into four main types according to the proportion of [[tannin]]s and [[malic acid]] in the fruit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cider.org.uk/appledat.htm|title=Cider Apple Compositional Data|first=Andrew|last=Lea|website=www.cider.org.uk|access-date=26 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913174154/http://www.cider.org.uk/appledat.htm|archive-date=13 September 2017}}</ref> For cider production, it is important that the fruit contains high [[sugar]] levels which encourage [[Fermentation (food)|fermentation]] and raise the final [[Ethanol|alcohol]] levels. Cider apples therefore often have higher sugar levels than [[Table apple|dessert]] and [[cooking apples]]. It is also considered important for cider apples to contribute tannins, which add depth to the finished cider's flavour.