Cider is made by fermenting the juice of apples, while perry is made by the fermentation of pears. In principle any apple or any pear could be used but different areas have different traditions.In the West Country, and Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, special cider apples are used.

Cider apples have higher levels of tannin than eaters or cookers. The tannin helps to lengthen the taste, without making the cider too bitter. In East Anglia and the South-east a blend of cooking and eating apples is used. For many cider drinkers the Eastern ciders have something missing, whilst for others the tannin in West Country is an unpleasant taste which they are quite happy to be without.

Cider-apple varieties are divided up into bitter-sweets and bitter-sharps: the bitter-sweets are high in sugar, which provides the alcohol and the bitter-sharps are high in acidity. Most West Country and West Midlands Ciders are made by blending these two different types. Of some of the better-known varieties, Kingston Black, Foxwhelp, and Stoke Red are bitter-sharps, while Yarlington Mill and Michelin are bitter-sweets. Each cider-maker has his or her own blend of the hundreds of varieties.