Apple of your eye: Irish craft cider

It’s time to ditch mass-produced, sugary ciders and choose an Irish craft version instead

Daniel and Géraldine Emerson of Stonewell Cider have quietly built up a solid business with national and international distribution without ever compromising on product quality. Picture: Jorg Koster

Around 7.5 per cent of the alcohol consumed in Ireland every year is cider-based. For the number-lovers among you, that breaks down to 64 million litres per year or 13 litres per person.

It’s quite a considerable volume, although sadly only 75 per cent of it is actually Irish. Sadder still is that most of what we quaff is so mass-produced that it often only contains as little as 20 per cent apple juice.

The ...