Beer sales and per capita beer consumption are falling while cider rises in popularity, with sales growing about 13% a year to reach 1% of total grocery alcohol sales.
It is not surprising, then, that breweries should look to cider to bolster production and sales.
A year ago, DB, with Monteith's Crushed Apple Cider (4.5%), and Lion Breweries, with Mac's Isaac's Cider (5%), introduced theirs.
Cider has been called "the new chardonnay". (However, it is more like a pinot gris, German riesling or Johannisberg riesling, which usually have a hint of apple flavour.)
It is appealing to women, just as it was in England in the early 1920s when pubs served beer and spirits, but no wine.
DB Breweries says the Monteith's cider is now the most popular in the country.
It is a top seller, attracting women patrons in particular, at my local Monteith's concept bar.
Now, exactly 12 months later, Monteith's Crushed Pear Cider (4.5%) joins the apple label.
Apples and pears have been used in Europe for centuries for alcoholic beverages.
Apple cider in England is popular, and pear cider has made a comeback there in the past decade as new orchards replaced the many trees lost to blight in the 1970s.
Fermented pear is perry, but is usually marketed as a cider to attract a modern generation that does not know what perry is.
It is made often from pears that are not good eating because of high tannin or acid content.
The Monteith's pair, for those who buy Fresh Up apple juices, is like the Crisp Apple variety which is greener-tasting than the sweeter alternatives in the range.
They are also drier than most other ciders and one suspects some greenish fruit is used, just as Champagne makers pick their pinot noir and chardonnay before it is fully ripe.
It is customary in England, where ciders are sweeter than the Monteith's, to drink it with ice.
This is to reduce the sweetness.
The Crushed Pear Cider label suggests having it with ice, but it is refreshing enough without.
Both of the Monteith's labels are made from Nelson fruit.
The pear is as crisp and refreshing as its apple counterpart, leaving a hint of sweetness on the lips but dryness in the throat.
Both the apple and pear ciders cost about $15 for a four-pack, which is expensive, but the apple is regularly on special for about $13.
Unlike most of the dozen or so brands of cider on the market, however, these are made from fresh fruit, rather than cheaper concentrate.
Try the pear one before a meal with blue or strong cheese.
A strong 8.4% Heritage Cider comes from Invercargill brewery - sometimes with pears added.
Recent arrivals are the Irish Magner's apple and pear ciders. (Cricket lovers should look at its clever television commercial, made at Te Kauwhata, south of Auckland, on YouTube Magners advert "Clonmel cricket club".)
Email: lojo.rico@xtra.co.nz
