American Cider

A Modern Guide to a Historic Beverage

By: Dan Pucci, Craig Cavallo

Narrated by: Charles Constant

“Not just a thorough guide to the history of apples and cider in this country but also an inspiring survey of the orchardists and cidermakers devoting their lives to sustainable agriculture through apples.” (Alice Waters)

“Pucci and Cavallo are thorough and enthusiastic chroniclers, who celebrate cider’s pomologists and pioneers with infectious curiosity and passion.” (Bianca Bosker, New York Times best-selling author of Cork Dork)

Cider today runs the gamut from sweet to dry, smooth to funky, made from apples and sometimes joined by other fruits - and even hopped like beer. In American Cider, aficionados Dan Pucci and Craig Cavallo give a new wave of consumers the tools to taste, talk about, and choose their ciders, along with stories of the many local heroes saving apple culture and producing new varieties. Like wine made from well-known grapes, ciders differ based on the apples they’re made from and where and how those apples were grown. Combining the tasting tools of wine and beer, the authors illuminate the possibilities of this light, flavorful, naturally gluten-free beverage.

And cider is more than just its taste - it’s also historic, as the nation’s first popular alcoholic beverage, made from apples brought across the Atlantic from England. Pucci and Cavallo use a region-by-region approach to illustrate how cider and the apples that make it came to be, from the well-known tale of Johnny Appleseed - which isn’t quite what we thought - to the more surprising effects of industrial development and government policies that benefited white men. American Cider is a guide to enjoying cider, but even more so, it is a guide to being part of a community of consumers, farmers, and fermenters making the nation’s oldest beverage its newest must-try drink.

©2021 Dan Pucci (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Dan Pucci and Craig Cavallo take contemporary cider writing to a whole new level.... This ambitious book takes an approach to their subject that is unlike any that has come before it.... This is an important book, the first to look deeply into what cider in America was, is, and can become even as it just scratches the surface. It points the way to a future where the many factors that make each part of this country distinct are celebrated in the ciders produced there.” (Cidercraft Magazine)

“Pucci and Cavallo survey the American cider landscape with a compass both diplomatic and passionate. It’s a far-reaching scene, dotted with tidbits and profound with consequence, but our guides are skilled artisans; the painting is both intimate with detail and bucolic in its sum.” (Andy Brennan, cidermaker, apple grower, and author of Uncultivated)

“Whenever I’ve had questions about cider, Dan Pucci has long been my first stop for expertise. Now he can be everyone’s go-to expert, thanks to this thorough, comprehensive guide on ciders and the apples used to make them." (Kara Newman, author of Cocktails with a Twist and spirits editor, Wine Enthusiast magazine)

“American Cider is a deeply researched road map to modern cider's revival, reminding readers why well-made cider should always be the apple of drinkers’ eyes. All too often, cider is seen as the sugary stuff that's sold by the juice box. Cider evangelists Pucci and Cavallo take readers on a centuries-spanning journey from colonial America's historic orchards to today's visionary makers who are spearheading the juiced-up cider revival. After reading American Cider, you'll never eye an apple the same way again.” (Joshua M. Bernstein, author of The Complete Beer Course and Drink Better Beer)

A book full of body and nuance. Not unlike a fine cider.

I appreciated both the overview of European and American cider history. The book really shines in its regional portraits of cider and the natural and cultural histories that shape Variations throughout the landscape of the United States. I found the stories of individual orchards and cideries to be inspiring.

Great Book, Poor Narration

Great book on Cider, however the narration is very hard to listen too. While I like my cider dry, I can't stand a dry narration. It lacks interest and personality...almost sounds computerized, robotic or excessively auto-tuned.