Double take

In message , Ernst S Blofeld writes

"Pear cider" doesn't mean perry.

A friend bought Swedish "pear cider" and after we'd all sampled it (it tasted *pink* - a very girlie alcopop) we translated the ingredients. Water, apple wine, pear flavour, elderflower flavour and some chemicals. It shouldn't be legal to sell it as cider.

Thatchers are currently selling 500ml bottles of something called 'Pear Cider' to cash in on the Magners craze. I've no idea if this is just perry given a marketing makeover or someting different. I've never drunk any.

Paul

My daughter (18) turned up with a bottle of "pear cider". I said, "no pear cider is called perry". She looked at me as if I had just beamed down from another planet.

Never underestimate the ignorance of the general public.

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:32:34 +0100, BrianW wrote (in message ):

...or your daughter.

:-)

the ukcider group discussed this phenomenon a few weeks back - after Brothers Cider were selling a 'pear cider' - I think 'perry' as a term amongst most drinkers has fallen out of use or understanding, so the makers & marketers at some of the product have decided to try not to confuse the average customer by using the term 'pear cider' instead.

I love language & using the correct word for the job, but I can understand the motivation for this decision - alienating or confusing your customers doesn't make for good business. MikeMcG

I'd go along with that. Perry isn't exactly a widely understood name. So maybe CAMRA should instead refer to "apple cider" and "pear cider". There is considerable logic in that if you think about it. Then we can have "plum cider", "raspberry cider" and so on. Come to think of it, how many of Joe Public have a clue what geuze or framboise are?

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:48:20 +0100, BrianW wrote (in message ):

And what qualifies you as something other than "Joe Public"? Patronising people ain't good marketing either.

Oooh. Got up out of the wrong side of bed did we?

Perry is made from pears , pear cider is Cider made from apples with some pears in it, some Cider producers make Pider when the crop of pears is too small to make Perry, I be live the mix in Pider might be

AFAIK there are some producers (perhaps only in the last couple of years) selling perry (largely/solely made from pears . . . & possibly sugar, but that's a whole other fish-kettle) & calling it 'pear cider'

- someone mentioned Thatchers, I'd heard of 'Brothers' too.

Interesting aside (well I thought so) is that the cool, hip happening 'Brothers' cider co. (I think they famously have the cider concession for Glastonbury Festival) is actually the next generation of a long- lived cider dynasty, whose achievements (or crimes? ;~) include that other famous perry of old - Babycham! - now slightly less hip & happening!

In message , MikeMcG writes

We have dozens of different perries at Reading Beerex every year, but apart from Westons' 4% stuff I don't think any of them's made on a large scale. They're very popular with our punters and producers say they can't get enough pears.

Babycham was made by a firm called Showerings. None of the places I worked took anything else from them, if they even made anything else.

,MikeMcG writes

ta for that - did you write it ? :~) on the UK Cider wiki pages there's a wee bit about Brothers/Babycham (following c&p'd from

Over-heard at the bar:

"Try some of this Perry stuff. They make it using cider apple pears."

Stoppit. My brain hurts.