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I just came back from a week in Bavaria, Germany and I was rather surprised to find there was no cider anywhere. I stayed in Rothenburg and Nurenberg and everywhere I went — supermarkets, restaurants, bars, etc — there was no cider. Plenty of beer, spirits and soft drinks, but not a single cider. Luckily, I'm not a huge cider-drinker but I was travelling with a coeliac so we were often looking for cider.

Is cider just not that common in Germany or were we simply looking in the wrong places?

Rodrigo de Azevedo
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tomh1012
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5 Answers5

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It can be had but the new trend of heavily-marketed international ciders hasn't arrived to Germany. High-quality craft ciders from Britain, France or elsewhere would also be hard to find. Consequently, cider is a rather low-key old-fashioned drink and not very prominent. Instead of a well-known brand or the word “cider”, you should look for drinks called “Apfelwein“ or ”Most”.

Relaxed
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29

I guess you have been looking in the wrong places, and possibly for the wrong words on the label. There is Apfelwein which is commonly translated as cider.

o.m.
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In most of Bavaria, beer is the prevalent local (alcoholic) drink (with the exception of some regions in Franconia, which are wine-centric). Cider is generally not a typical drink in Bavaria (there might be exceptions closeby to Frankfurt and/or Lake Constance).

So if you are looking for Cider in Bavaria, the best bet would be to go to an Irish/British/... pub, which will generally have Cider.

On the other hand, apple wine is popular in some regions in Germany. Most well known is probably Frankfurt, but it is also popular e.g. around Lake Constance. It is usually called Apfelwein or Apfelmost. (The term "Cider" would, again, only be used in Irish pubs and the like.) The German variety is typically sour.

npl
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I am living in the area of Nürnberg and I did buy french Cidre there. Äppelwoi is popular in Hessen but not in Bavaria or Frankonia. You will not find Cidre in every supermarket but in shops specialized to wine (but not specialized to wine made from grapes only)

Uwe
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Why no cider in Bavaria?

The answer is always same: because local fashion and taste don't include it.

One could as well ask "Why no corndogs?". Such question doesn't make any sense, just as yours. You're not supposed to travel somewhere and ask why locals are not observing your customs. The whole point of travel is to experience customs different than yours. "No cider" is just a part of it (for now).

Agent_L
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