Here is an awesome series of five short cider education videos by the Schilling Cider House, in Fremont (Seattle) WA.  As an added bonus, they discuss a number of local craft cider selections.

Schilling Cider Episode 1 – Intro to Cider Tasting 101
Discusses appearance, aroma, cider flavors, etc.

Schilling Cider Episode 2 – Brix & Acidity
Discusses how sweetness (Brix = sugar content in liquid…one degree Brix is 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution) and acidity affect the taste of a cider.

Schilling Cider Episode 3 – Testing Brix & Acidity
Discusses how Brix & acidity are measured, and their purpose of balancing taste in cider.

Schilling Cider Episode 4 – Tannins
Discusses what tannins are and their purpose of balancing taste in cider.

Schilling Cider Episode 5 – Cider Innovation
Discusses innovations in the craft cider world, such as Nitro taps, the Randall, and infusing flavors.

This is a great series of topics applicable to tasting cider, and explains some of the technical aspects of the taste of a cider.  As a side note, I would love to see more cideries put the Brix of their cider on the package as it would give the educated consumer a much better idea of whether the cider’s sweetness will be to their liking.  I’ve not found the wine descriptors of dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, sweet, etc, to be all too accurate or consistent.

So, what did you think?