The definitive guide to how much sugar is in each glass of cider.
I want people to drink and eat what they want. I also think it’s important that making informed choices should be easy.
I really believe that transparency is better, and that brewers should do more to make the nutritional information of their drinks clearer. But, until then, here are the results of emailing, calling, and searching to find out what each cider contained.
All figures are direct from the brewers unless otherwise stated.
Sugar per 100 ml is to one decimal place; sugar per drink is to the nearest gram; and % of your daily free sugars to the nearest percent.
I've chosen to display the two top sizes of drinks available for each cider. Some ciders are sold in massive bottles, so I've chosen a pint as that drink (serving) size, so it's easily comparable.
Where I’ve been unable to find out nutritional information, I’ve put all of the brand’s flavours and sizes into a single listing. E.g: I’ve listed one brand as Kopparberg (all varieties). There are 12 different sizes and flavours that could be displayed if nutritional information was available.
Finally, I’ve not included beer as it naturally contains very low amounts of sugar. Yeast uses up the sugars in the brewing process to produce carbon dioxide and alcohol. Beer will tend to have more calories, where cider contains more sugar.
Mistakes could happen, so please let me know if there’s a cider missing or information you’d like correcting. If you are a brewer and have missed several polite emails, now is your chance to get in touch, as I would love to hear from you.
The NHS defines free sugars as sugars that have been added to foods and drinks, as well as most sugars in fruit juices, smoothies, honey and more. It's all the extra sugars you'll find in foods and drinks that don't add any nutritional value.
The NHS recommends 30g of free sugars per day, and that's how the percentages above are calculated.
As part of a balanced diet, meals will contain a certain amount of sugar. Ciders don't contribute towards a balanced diet, so their sugars shouldn't be directly compared to the sugar you get through meals. I've chosen free sugars, to more accurately show the extra sugars you'll get in addition to the heathy foods you eat.
I've been unable to find the sugar content for these ciders. If you can fill in the gaps, let me know, and I'll update the website.
Where will be mistakes, so please let me know if there’s a cider missing or information you’d like correcting. If you are a brewer and have missed several polite emails, now is your chance to get in touch, as I would love to hear from you. Pop me an email: hi@lewiscotter.com.