I don't know if this is happening in the US (though given that cider doesn't have the same meaning over there anyway, I suspect not.)

Over here there have recently been several alcohol companies mounting campaigns selling "pear cider". Does this actually differ in any way at all from the drink that is, or was, always known as "perry"? Cider is, by definition, made from apples. Perry is, likewise, made from pears. So why have they apparently expunged the latter from the language and replaced it with the clumsier and less accurate "pear cider"?

Well, the county I grew up in (Sonoma) was famous for its apple orchards before they were replaced by grape vines during the California wine boom of living memory. Lots of cider and applejack were produced. Applejack is concentrated cider made either by distillation or freezing.

English cider from French cidre from Latin sicera from Greek σίκερα (sikera) 'alcoholic beverage made from fruit' (cf. Hebrew שכר (šēkār) below). It occurs in the Septuagint, the early Greek translation of the Hebrew Tenakh (Old Testament), e.g., Lev. X.9 "Drink no wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, that you don't die". The strong drink )~ probably was mead or date wine or some kind of fermented barley drink (with honey). Never heard of perry, but I have seen pear cider on sale here in pubs and stores in the states (mainly domestic product). While the English and French words mean (apple) cider, it's not much of a leap to understand what it means. Sort of like calling Japanese sake rice wine when in fact it is brewed.

Here's what Wikipedia says:

quote:

Pear cider is used as an alternative name to perry. This is often done for marketing reasons: A recent resurgence in the popularity of perry in the UK has seen various new products launched as 'pear cider', led by brands such as Brothers and Bulmers. These brewers see the term as being more understandable to the younger 18-34 demographic and a distinction to previous brands associated with the word perry, such as Babycham and Lambrini which are either associated with the female market or have fallen out of fashion.

quote:

Over here there have recently been several alcohol companies mounting campaigns selling "pear cider". Does this actually differ in any way at all from the drink that is, or was, always known as "perry"?

There was considerable discussion on this on the CAMRA forum - http://forum.camra.org.uk/ - and the Wikipedia article more or less agrees with the discusssion.

So far as I am concerned, "Pear Cider" along with certain other pseudo ciders (such as Magners) has as much in common with proper cider as Dudweiser has with proper beer.

I think the rationale for the marketing label "pear cider" is a good one. I had never heard of perry until reading this discussion, but I understood immediately what was meant by the term "pear cider," even though it is technically incorrect. What the British call "cider" is what we Americans call "hard cider," isn't it? And what you call "lemonade," we would call "Seven-Up."

Wordmatic

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What the British call "cider" is what we Americans call "hard cider," isn't it? And what you call "lemonade," we would call "Seven-Up."

Pretty much. Cider in the UK is alcoholic; "rough cider", or "scrumpy", often very much so. I'm fairly sure I've seen "pear cider" used years ago; "perry" was generally reserved for Babycham and the like.

Yes, the stuff sold in the UK as lemonade is more like 7-Up. It is essentially carbonated water with acetic acid as flavouring. You need to ask for "lemon squash" or "real lemonade" to get something made with real lemons.

I agree that one use of "perry" was for drinks like Babycham but I'd've thought you guys had been to enough real ale festivals to know that the stand in the corner selling cider always sells perry as well, and calls it perry.

Or does your internal GPS always steer you away from that stand?

From a leisurely perusal of the Google Book results (full view only) on the search term "pear cider", I see that its use in a US context goes back into the 19th century. Here's an example from 1811 (link). The first citation for perry in the OED1 is from the early 14th century. Interestingly enough, an obsolete homonym, perry, meant a pear tree, especially a wild one. Before the French word was imported, cider was called æppelwīn (apple wine) in Old English.

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You need to ask for "lemon squash" or "real lemonade" to get something made with real lemons.

Or make sure you ask for Fentiman's lemonade. Made from lemons and bottle fermented to give it sparkle (but only around 0.5% alcohol). http://www.fentimans.com/

Good to know, for my next visit. I don't mind the carbonated lemonade. It was just a surprise when that was what I was served.

Wordmatic

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Good to know, for my next visit. I don't mind the carbonated lemonade. It was just a surprise when that was what I was served.

But just th reinforce the message; simply asking for "a lemonade" will frequently give the same disappointing results as would asking for "a beer". In both cases you would probably get mass-produced chemical fizz.

Good lemonade, like good beer, often needs to be sought out.

Regardless of whether "perry" should have been replaced by "pear cider" as the name for alcoholic drinks made from pears, it does seem to have had an effect.
There has been a fourteen-fold increase* in sales since the rebranding.

See here.

(*This report says 14-fold, the one on TV said more than 10-fold.)