It was my understanding that pear cider is assumed to be a mixture of
pears & apples, is this a legal definition or is it just the numpties
who market and drink it don't understand that a alcoholic drink made
of cider is called Perry

martyn dawe  wrote:

> It was my understanding that pear cider is assumed to be a mixture of
> pears & apples, is this a legal definition or is it just the numpties
> who market and drink it don't understand that a alcoholic drink made
> of cider is called Perry

Perry can only be made from Perry pears.

Any other type of pear or combination of pears/apples is pear cider.


-- 
Rob - Shropshire
So many cats,
So few recipes...

"Rob"  wrote in message 
news:1iznjv3.gkqjiiz4esltN%robraitxxxxx@yahoo.co.uk...
> martyn dawe  wrote:
>
>> It was my understanding that pear cider is assumed to be a mixture of
>> pears & apples, is this a legal definition or is it just the numpties
>> who market and drink it don't understand that a alcoholic drink made
>> of cider is called Perry
>
> Perry can only be made from Perry pears.
>
> Any other type of pear or combination of pears/apples is pear cider.
>
>
That was my understanding too, but a quick check on the old Interweb thingy 
seems to suggest Pear Cider and Perry have become interchangable, depending 
on the market you aim at.

No one is ever going to call Babycham (a perry) pear cider after all,

AGB  wrote:

> "Rob"  wrote in message 
> news:1iznjv3.gkqjiiz4esltN%robraitxxxxx@yahoo.co.uk...
> > martyn dawe  wrote:
> >
> >> It was my understanding that pear cider is assumed to be a mixture of
> >> pears & apples, is this a legal definition or is it just the numpties
> >> who market and drink it don't understand that a alcoholic drink made
> >> of cider is called Perry
> >
> > Perry can only be made from Perry pears.
> >
> > Any other type of pear or combination of pears/apples is pear cider.
> >
> >
> That was my understanding too, but a quick check on the old Interweb thingy
> seems to suggest Pear Cider and Perry have become interchangable, depending
> on the market you aim at.
> 
> No one is ever going to call Babycham (a perry) pear cider after all,

I was told by someone at the Weston's Cider Mill last autumn that they
can only put Perry pears into their Perry. They had notices at various
places around the museum/bar/shop asking for more perry pears as their
Perry is getting very popular (and very nice it is too!)

I don't know if it's one of these EU food rules, if not, it should be,
as most pear ciders are nothing like a proper Perry. Koppaberg, I'm
looking at you :-)
-- 
Rob - Shropshire
So many cats,
So few recipes...

On 13 May, 11:29, robraitxx...@yahoo.co.uk (Rob) wrote:
> martyn dawe  wrote:
> > It was my understanding that pear cider is assumed to be a mixture of
> > pears & apples, is this a legal definition or is it just the numpties
> > who market and drink it don't understand that a alcoholic drink made
> > of cider is called Perry
>
> Perry can only be made from Perry pears.
>
> Any other type of pear or combination of pears/apples is pear cider.
>
> --
> Rob - Shropshire
> So many cats,
> So few recipes...

If only it were that simple...

There is no stipulation that Perry should only be made from Perry
Pears, and there are in fact several perrys available from smaller
producers made from (or containing) dessert/culinary pears (Double
Vision, Mr Whiteheads, Cock Robin etc.) Even Thatchers were marketing
a single variety perry made from Conference Pears until very recently,
though this now seems to have been superceded by a lower strength Pear
Cider.

Some producers are now re-badging their Perry as Pear Cider, Cornish
Orchards excellent perry is now known as a Pear Cider, presumably for
marketing purposes.

It is also worth bearing in mind that legally cider can contain up to
25% pear juice, and perry can similarly contain up to 25% apple juice.
This is quite a common practice throughout the industry, and reflects
the reality of much farm cider/perry production.

As for Pear Cider, I'm not aware of any clear definition of what it
should or shouldn't contain. The term is currenty used to define
anything from a pure juice perry made from perry pears, all the way
down to an industrial, low juice content cider, with added pear
flavouring. The (industry sponsored!) body which is supposed police
matters pertaining to ingredients in cider and perry is the AICV
(http://www.aicv.org/) through our national association the NACM
(http://www.cideruk.com/). Neither of which seem to be willing to
tackle this issue, perhaps not surprising given that it's their
membership which are producing most of the poorest quality Pear Ciders
and other dubious products masquerading under the name of Cider.

Mark
http://rockinghamforestcider.blogspot.com/

In article
,
   Mark  wrote:
>  Neither of which seem to be willing to
> tackle this issue, perhaps not surprising given that it's their
> membership which are producing most of the poorest quality Pear Ciders
> and other dubious products masquerading under the name of Cider.

While I agree with you, I'd be interested to know whether the firm who took
over Showerings are members - after all, they did/do produce the most well
known perry in the country....

Babycham!

-- 
Christine Pampling
www.pandorasboxhealing.com

> While I agree with you, I'd be interested to know whether the firm who took
> over Showerings are members - after all, they did/do produce the most well
> known perry in the country....
>
> Babycham!
>
> --
> Christine Pamplingwww.pandorasboxhealing.com

Showerings were merged with Gaymers and Whiteways in the early 70's,
and to cut a long story short, are now part of the international
Constellation Group. The UK cidermaking division of Constellation is
Gaymers of Shepton Mallet who you'll find listed on the NACM website
as members (http://www.cideruk.com/members_and_links). Constellation
itself may well be a member of the AICV.

As an aside, the original Showerings family are behind 'Brothers
Drinks', makers of Brothers Pear Cider...

Mark