Bhai, Tempest and Himachal are the most representative ciders from the Asian country.
LA SIDRA.- It might sound weird to talk about cider in India, but this 2,000-year-old traditional drink has recently enter the country market.
“In recent years, there has been a renaissance of interest in cider drinking, both in America and Europe, so India could not have reamained untouched for long”, cider manufacturer Dinesh Gupta, who launched Tempest recently said.
His cidery is located in famous Shimla hills, a part of the richest apple producing belt of Himachal Pradesh. The natural taste and aroma of apple is retained in the cider because the climate favours the cultivation.
They use natural spring water and Della-Toffola’s machinery for the entire filtering process. In order to retain the unique flavour of fresh apples the product is unpasteurised.
Bhai, whose literal translation from Hindi is “brother” has a broader meaning that expresses friendship and respect. And the project is the story of two friends, which reflects a shared heritage: India, with its apple orchads nestled in the foothills of Himalaya, and England, with its rich cider making history and love for Indian spicy foods. The result is a product which offers a refreshing palate and marries beautifully with spice.
But this story is about much more than cider. The friends’ long term ambition is to build a global brand to invest in orchading in some of the poorest parts of India.
Himachal Cider uses pure Himalayan mountain water and the finest, internationally renowned apples grown in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, to create an authentic medium cider with a distinctively fruity and lightly sparkling style.
They offer a hand-crafted product on a small scale which is distributed mainly in restaurants and bars in the Yorkshire and Lancashire area, but is being increasingly available across UK.
