A great year to #RethinkCider with the World’s BestThe results for the World’s Best Ciders in taste and design are here! This year over 130 entries came from 17 countries. The most highly contested category being sparkling ciders. Refining the categories to incorporate most cider styles, Keeved, Rose and Sidra Natural have been added in this year as their own categories.
Our highly respected judging panel has identified the world’s best ciders in each of the categories. All entries were blind tasted and scored throughout rounds of judging. In the first round Bronze, Silver and Gold medals were awarded. Each Gold medal winner was then judged in the second round to identify the World’s Best in their category. Special thanks go to all our judges, in particular, Susanna Forbes, chair of the taste awards and co-founder of Little Pomona Orchard & Cidery, as well as Felicity Murray, founder of TheDrinksreport.
Susanna Forbes said: “‘With entries from 17 countries, a revitalised set of categories reflecting the modern cider world, and an unparallelled panel of judges – eight cidermakers conversant with all styles, one pommelier and one leading retailer – this was an exciting year for the World Cider Awards.
Our judging panel were firm but fair, looking for quality, depth and length as well as balance and quaffability. So, congratulations to all our award winners, in particular the Gold and World's Best winners. Löic Raison from Brittany as well as Angry Orchard from the US deserve especial mentions, winning two World's Best awards. It was good to see a relatively low number of faulty ciders, but sometimes the panel felt that the ciders lacked ambition. The market is evolving and not everything needs to be clothed in sweetness.
Acid levels should be watched, along with sparkle in the carbonated categories. As drinkers are becoming ever more discerning and more educated, we can do better than caramel and tinned fruit salad on the palate and sweetshops and sherbert on the nose.
With a strong rump of Bronze and Silver awards, the signs are that if the industry can continue to up its game, offer more individuality, achieve better balance, and not just rely on sweetness for body and interest, we could have a truly fantastic field to draw from. This is only the beginning!”
As well as taste quality, design excellence was also judged. Felicity Murray said: “It’s always refreshing to see imaginative label designs and this year was no exception. The Judges were particularly impressed by the number of cider brands breaking away from the category norm with creative new ideas that stand out from the crowd.”
OverviewWorld’s Best Flavoured Cider Thistly Cross Cider, Whisky Cask
World’s Best Sparkling Cider La Chouette Original
World’s Best Speciality Cider Angry Orchard, Iceman
World’s Best Still Cider Malvern Cider Co, Malvern Gold
World's Best Keeved Cider Loic Raison, Dégustation
World's Best Rosé Cider Loic Raison Rubis
World's Best Sidra Natural Angry Orchard, Edu
World's Best Design Loxtonia Cider, Stone Fruit
For further information on the World Cider Awards 2019, including the Gold, Bronze and Silver medalists, as well as images and tasting notes for all the winning ciders go to
www.worldciderawards.com.