Cider Canada Project
The Language of Canadian Cider
Helping consumers understand Canadian cider
Canadian cider is diverse, but the language used to describe cider is not always consistent or easy for consumers to understand.
Cider Canada / Cidre Canada is working with cider makers and industry partners to develop clearer consumer-facing language that can help people understand, compare and explore Canadian cider.
Could a consumer with no prior cider knowledge understand what the product will be like without someone standing there to explain it?
This question is guiding the project.
What we are working on
The project is exploring practical language for communicating:
- sweetness and dryness;
- flavour and aroma;
- body, texture and structure;
- cider styles and consumer-friendly descriptions;
- language used on labels, websites, menus and retail materials; and
- terminology that can work across Canada in English and French.
What this project is — and is not
The project is focused on consumer communication and marketing. It is not developing regulatory definitions, production standards, judging rules or mandatory cider categories.
Project status
Current stage: Working Group review — August 2026
The Working Group has approved the project’s consumer-focused direction and is now reviewing research and potential approaches to describing cider.
The next stages will include developing recommendations, testing key language with producers and consumers, regional and French-language review, and preparing the first public version of the project findings.
Target for Version 1.0: January 2027
Project timeline
August–September 2026
Research and Working Group review.
October 2026
Develop draft language and guidance.
November 2026
Producer and consumer testing.
December 2026
Regional and French-language validation.
January 2027
Version 1.0 and public resources.
This is a working project timeline and may be adjusted as testing and validation progress.
Get involved
We welcome relevant research, examples and perspectives from cider producers, retailers, hospitality professionals and others working with Canadian cider.
Additional opportunities for member and consumer feedback will be shared as the project progresses.
Sharing the final work
Public resources developed through this project are intended to be released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-SA 4.0) so they can be shared and adapted with appropriate attribution and the same licence applied to adaptations.
Project page last updated: August 9, 2026.