Formerly the Portland international Cider Cup, registration is open for the 2023 NW Cider Cup.
image courtesy Northwest Cider Cup
Press Release
The Pacific Northwest’s premier cider competition celebrates a 10th year with an updated name, NW Cider Cup (formerly Portland International). The cup’s new website nwcidercup.com is live, welcoming commercial cider and perry entries from OR, WA, MT, ID and British Columbia. The entry registration is April 3 - May 15, 2023 with options for shipping and in person drop off. Judging will happen June 12th and a public awards ceremony will be hosted June 15th at Polaris Hall in Portland, Oregon. Entry fee is $75 for each entry for NWCA members and $105 for non-members.
Founded a decade ago by regional cidermakers, non-profit member organization, Northwest Cider Association began organizing the cup in 2016. NW Cider Cup works to inspire quality, provide constructive maker feedback, educate cider drinkers and generally amplify the category.
Keeping pace with cider as a growing market segment, the competition trained more judges and saw more entries in 2022 than any year before (up nearly 60% from entries in 2021). The Northwest Cider Association, who directs the cup anticipates receiving around 300 unique cider and perry submissions in 2023 and evaluating these entries with a world class grouping of cider judges, including cider professionals from across the nation and abroad.
NW Cider Cup holistically evaluates regional cider and perry for excellence, keeping NW producers on the cutting edge of a dynamic industry. In 2023, the competition offers updated categories accepted, the result of months of rigorous industry professional review. Categories accepted, judge evaluation forms and judge training continuously evolve, with the aim of staying current with cider professional standards. This competition coalesces the cider community around a shared language/understanding of what quality cider smells and tastes like. On June 12th a blind judging, conducted by trained professionals, will be hosted at McMenamins Kennedy School. On June 15th, the winners will be announced at a public NW Cider Cup Awards ceremony celebration hosted 6-9pm at Polaris Hall in Portland, OR. Tickets will be available.
Cider Judging
Competition judges are trained to thoughtfully review key elements - appearance, aroma, flavor and mouthfeel - of each entry, noting how they contribute to the cider or perry overall. Competition organizers group like ciders/perries to be evaluated together. Judges are asked to evaluate a reasonable number of entries with adequate time to ensure a quality evaluation and lessen the impacts of palate fatigue. The cup’s evaluation process is a progressive review of individual elements concluding with judges' final evaluation/overall impression and scoring. As individuals and as a table cohort, judges identify (gold, silver, bronze) exemplary ciders in each of the identified categories. Each entry awarded a gold medal will then be judged in the Best in Show finals. Recognizing and celebrating cider excellence is at the heart of the NW Cider Cup. The 2023 cup will award bronze, silver and gold medals in 18 updated categories.
To enter please log onto our new competition website www.nwccidercup.com.
Questions about NW Cider Cup? Please email me, NW Cider Cup Coordinator at my new email address nwcidercup@nwcider.com.
MJ Harris
Northwest Cider Cup Coordinator
