Cider makes an excellent Mother’s Day gift, even though it is often, quite wrongly only thought of as a present for Father’s Day.
But, unlike beer and spirits, it would be quite incorrect to think of cider only as a “man’s drink”. On the contrary, the statistics speak from themselves – in a recent survey by a leading UK drinks trade publication, close to half of men and half of women questioned, had dunk cider in the last week. Thus, unlike many drinks and treats, cider very much straddles the gender divide. It has similar popularity in both women and men. It can truly be thought of as a “gender-neutral” drink. In contrast, both beer and spirits tend to be more popular with men than with women.
Digging into the UK survey figures more deeply, we find that women tend to drink cider more often in bottles rather than on draft, whereas men tend to drink rather more draught than bottled cider. Regarding preferences for the flavour/ style of ciders, the female preference tends towards the fruit flavoured ciders, with men tending to prefer the more traditional apple cider flavours.
These surveys are supported by the most recent annual Cider Report by Weston’s where their research identified 5 different types of cider drinker, 2 of which were predominantly female, two predominantly male and one balanced between men and women.
Interestingly, the gender balance for cider seen in the UK is also found in other countries, such as the USA where cider has been described as “the most gender-balanced alcohol category”.
Our own experience on the Vale Cider market stalls bears out the statistics regarding a male-female balance. Pretty much wherever we go, we find an equal interest in, and appreciation of, our ciders amongst men and women.
However, statistics just point out some general trends for the whole population.
Of course, in reality each person has his or her own individual preferences. For example – many women of all ages prefer traditional ciders to fruit ciders and conversely there are a lot of men who prefer fruit ciders to traditional ciders. Moreover, a substantial number of cider lovers enjoy both types of flavour.
At Vale Cider, we think the key is for a person to be able to have a great-tasting, well-made cider that they enjoy. And, of course, just like with wines, different ciders do tend to pair better with some foods than others and some ciders are particularly suitable for appreciating when drunk on their own. However, again, these are just generalities. Happily, each person has their own personal tastes and preferences.
The key message from the statistics is that cider is most definitely a potential gift that should be considered for women as well as men – as a Mother’s Day gift, a birthday or Christmas present, as thank you presents, wedding favours or simply as a nice treat.
If you are looking for a gift, we have a selection of great craft Welsh cider gift sets available to browse at our online shop, including selection boxes of our award-winning traditional ciders, fruit ciders, tankards and bottle openers. We offer delivery to your door for local addresses throughout the Val elf Glamorgan and immediately surrounding area including Cardiff, Bridgend and Pontyclun.
Information sources used in this post include:
Beverage Daily (US website)
Pub & Bar (UK magazine)
Westons Cider Report 2019 (Company report)