As much as I love to support local craft cideries, there are two reasons I often buy commercial cider in addition to craft cider.

Sweetness:  I tend towards liking sweeter cider.  Most of the craft cider I’ve tried tends towards dry, which is admittedly traditional for hard cider.  Luckily there are a few good local craft cidery options for sweeter cider, such as Spire Mountain and Schilling, which both offer affordable craft cider in multi-packs.

Cost:  Its a bit spendy to only buy craft cider.  Even though I typically only drink on the weekends, and don’t drink an excessive amount, its difficult to always justify spending $6-$20 for a bottle of cider when I could get a four or six pack which will last me the entire weekend for $7-$10.  However, I love sampling new ciders, so I typically buy a mix of craft & commercial, which appeases both my taste buds and my wallet.  Its a treat to pick up something new to try!  I’m curious what everyone else thinks on this topic: