Real Cider Taste Grading

How can the taste of real cider be graded? Well one way is according to sweetness/dryness as is done for advising customers at the camra Great British Beer Festival GBBF

cider taste grading

So that’s an attempt to differentiate down to quite a fine level really, on the Sweet/Dry axis. But perceived dryness can also be affected by factors other than the actual proportion of sugar per volume. Real ciders should be full juice and not strengthened then watered down so the character of the original apples is what really matters. Some will have more bittersweet varieties in the blend than others, and the eventual amount of tannin and acidity in the cider will change the way it tastes to an extent that possibly eclipses the sweetness indicator when it’s trying to be meaningful at the 1 in 7 level.

Of course ultimately all that matters is whether you enjoy drinking it but how would you grade real cider for taste?