Cider Books

Explore a wide range of topics on cider, pome fruits, orchard care and even children books. Click on anyone of the headings below to bring you to that topic area. Enjoy!

• Cider Making Books
• Orchard Care
• Apple Identification
• Tasting Cider, Regions and Reviews
• Children Apple Books
• Pear
• Quince
• Medlar
• Sorbus Domestica – Service Tree

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Cider Making Books

• The Big Book of Cidermaking (2020) by Christopher Shockey and Kirsten Shockey, is an inviting book that not only details the process from start to finish, but also provides a magnificent step-by-step photographic display that will keep this book out on the table long after the cider is made. Listen to Episode 231: with the Shockey’s discussing their The Big Book of Cidermaking

• The New Cider Makers Handbook, by Claude Jolicoeur dives deep into the technical world of cidermaking. Enjoy the science of cider!

• The Art of Cidermaking, by Paul Correnty
  Mentioned in 046: Going to CiderDays | Insider Tips, Massachusetts 

Author Paul Correnty helped Found CiderDays also know as Franklin County CiderDays which was held continuously from 1994 to 2018.

Here this 2022 Episode 342: Cider Celebrities in the House & Bottles | CiderDays 2.0 ~ Part 2 with Chef Paul

• Craft Cider: How to Turn Apples into Alcohol, by Jeff Smith

• Craft Cider Making, by Andrew Lea – an absolute classic now in its 3rd edition

• Cider: Making, Using & Enjoying Sweet & Hard Cider, by Annie Proulx and Lew Nichols Mentioned in Cider Chat Episode 043: Sebastian Lousada | Flag Hill Farm, VT
  Sebastian considers this one of the best cider books written! The authors both use to live near Flag Hill. Lew Nichols still does.

• Apple to Cider: How to Make Cider at Home, by April White

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Orchard Care

• The Holistic Orchard: Tree Fruits and Berries the Biological Way by Michael Phillips (2012)

• The Apple Grower: A Guide for the Organic Orchardist, by Michael Phillips (2005)

• Mycorrhizal Planet: How Symbiotic Fungi Work with Roots to Support Plant Health and Build Soil Fertility, by Michael Phillips (2017). Not orchards, but still a fascinating resource for stewards of the land.

• A Treatise on the Culture of the Apple and Pear: And the Manufacture of Cider and Perry – special re-print edition of US Dept of Agriculture’s book “A Treatise on the Culture of the Apple and the Pear” is a guide to growing apples and pears. Written in 1801.

• How to Grow Apples and Make CIder including Grow Pears and make Perry, by Bill Bleasdale

• Maria Thun Biodynamic Calendar: 2024

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Apple Identification Books and History

• The Illustrated History of Apples in the United States and Canada, By Daniel J. Bussey, edited by Kent Whealy, published by JAK KAW Press LLC. Bussey’s 30 years of research and seven years of editing helped bring this amazing hardcover set of seven volumes (each 500-600 pages, 8½” x 11”) which documents all apple varieties that have appeared in publications in the United States and Canada through the year 2000. There are 16,350 varietal listings (descriptions, origins and histories). This is a one time print edition that is a must have for cider makers, orchardist, cider tasting rooms and apple fan.

• Apples & Man (1979) Written by Fred Lape (Author), Phyllis Wood (Illustrator). One of the key books that inspired Dan Bussey author of the Illustrated History of Apples in the United States and Canada.

• Not Far From the Tree: A Brief History of the Apples and the Orchards of Palermo Maine, by John Bunker 2008

• Apples and the Art of Detection, John Bunker 2019

• Apples of North America: A Celebration of Exceptional Varieties, Tom Burford 2021. Winner of the 2014 American Horticulture Book Award. Mentioned on Episode 056: Chuck Shelton | Albermarle Ciderworks, Virginia

• Wild Apples, by  Henry David Thoreau

• Apples of New England, author Russell Steven Powell (2014). Listen to Powell on Episode 245: Apples of New England | Powell

• America’s Apple, Russell Steven Powell 2012

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Tasting Cider, Regions and Reviews

• Cider Planet: Exploring the Producers, Practices, and Unique Traditions of Craft Cider and Perry from Around the World, by Claude Jolicoeur. Listen to Episode 332: Cider Planet (2022) w/author Claude Jolicoeur

• American Cider: A Modern Guide to a Historic Beverage by by Dan Pucci (Author), Craig Cavallo (Author) (2021)

• The Cider Insider by Susanna Forbes. Susanna is a well known British craft libations writer and is the co-owner of Little Pomona (listen to she and James Forbes on Episode 126 
  Tom Oliver of Oliver’s Cider and Perry wrote the forward. 

• Dorset Cider, With An Excursion To The New Forest,by Alan Stone 2014. Enthusiasts will be excited to know that a unique characteristic of the United Kingdom’s cider scene is how it is packaged. Cider can be found in bottles as it is here in the US, and also in Bag-in-Box sizes of 3 liters (3+ quarts), 5L (1+ gallon) and 20L (5+ gallons). Dorset Cider is a treasure trove for cider geeks on the history of this region, making it an excellent choice for a holiday gift. Published by somersethistory.co.uk

• World’s Best Cider: Taste, Tradition, Terroir, by Pete Brown and photos by Bill Bradshaw (2013). Listen to Episode 021: Bill Bradshaw | Bradshaw Photography, UK

• Cider: The practical guide to growing apples and making cider, by Bill Brashaw

• The Guide to Welsh Perry and Cider, Pete Brown

• The Complete Mead Maker: Home Production of Honey Wine From Your First Batch to Award-winning Fruit and Herb Variations, by Ken Schramm (2003)

• Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation, by Stephen Harrod Buhner

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Children Apple Books

• An Apple for Harriet Tubman, Glennette Tilley Turner (2016). A biography of a slave girl whipped for eating an apple, who later grew up to become a famous “conductor” for the underground railroad.

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Pear

• Perry Pears: Rare and Heritage Fruit Cultivars #6, by C Thornton (2013)

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Quince

• Quince Culture: An Illustrated Hand-Book for the Propagation and Cultivation of the Quince, by Willam Meech who named a quince variety after himself. This is the consummate book on growing Quince and dates back to the 1800’s This book was mentioned in Episode 327: The Quince Queen Tips on Varieties.

• Simply Quince, by Barbara Ghazarian (2009) Written by the Queen of Quince!

• Quinces: Growing & Cooking (The English Kitchen), by Jane McMorland Hunter (Author), Sue Dunster (Author)

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Medlars

• Medlars – Growing and Cooking (The English Kitchen, 30), by Jane Steward (2023)

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Sorbus Domestica – Service Tree

• The Service Tree The Tree for a New Europe, (2023) in English. This is not currently available on Amazon. By clicking the link you will be taken to a site that may have warnings for security. It can be purchased via this website and cost approximately $30 – not including shipping.
• Ben Kunis, who is based in Washington State, helped with the English translation. This is a fantastic book and the most through book on the magnificent tree. Listen to Episode 304: Falling for the Chocolate Pear with Ben.
• Go to this link to see a pdf of the book. It is hard to read, but will give you a good idea of the weight of research that went into this volume.

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