Tomorrow marks the first day of National Cider Month, a 31-day long celebration of one of our oldest tipples.
This year, the cider industry has something to celebrate - as the Telegraph reported during the summer, sales are booming after years of decline thanks to the huge success of "designer" ciders such as Magners.
It seems wall-to-wall advertising and the suggestion that drinkers add ice has been enough to attract drinkers who would normally order a lager.
But not everything in the orchard is rosy. Traditional, cloudy ciders still tend to be avoided by all but real fans, and times are hard for producers. Even the apples used to make the cider are under threat as farmers look for more profitable ways to use their land.
This week, the Dartmoor Society said the number of apple orchards in the park had fallen from 780 in the 60s to only 48 today, and warned that some varieties were in danger of being lost forever. And it's so hard to find real ciders in pubs that drinkers have gone online to exchange details of places in which it is available.
So is there a way for the makers of traditional ciders to attract the attention of the new wave of fans? Or does the future of the amber nectar belong to the big brands?
