Comparison
Still vs sparkling
What is the difference between still and sparkling cider?
In short
A still cider has had its fermentation carbon dioxide allowed to escape and none added. A sparkling cider retains or receives dissolved gas, whether from a secondary fermentation or from a carbonating tank.
The gas is not just texture. Carbon dioxide in solution forms a little carbonic acid, so a sparkling cider reads as sharper at the same measured acidity; the bubbles carry volatiles to the nose, so aroma is more forward; and the physical stimulation reduces the perception of sweetness and increases the perception of astringency.
It also changes the engineering. Sparkling cider needs pressure-rated packaging and a closure that will hold, and it constrains how the cider can be dispensed. Still cider can go into any container.
The two things being compared
Each side described in its own terms first, so the table below has something to hang on.
Still cider
Little or no dissolved carbon dioxide. Aroma sits lower, sweetness reads higher, and the texture is entirely down to acid, tannin and body.
Sparkling cider
Carries dissolved carbon dioxide, from bottle conditioning, tank conditioning or forced carbonation. Aroma is lifted and acidity reads higher.
Where they differ
Dimension by dimension. Where a row needs a qualification, it carries one rather than being simplified until it fits.
| Dimension | Still cider | Sparkling cider |
|---|---|---|
| Dissolved carbon dioxide | Minimal. | Substantial, and measurable as volumes of gas. |
| Perceived acidity | As the acid analysis suggests. | Higher, because dissolved carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid and stimulates the trigeminal nerve. |
| Perceived sweetness | Higher at the same residual sugar. | Lower, because carbonation cuts across it. |
| Aroma delivery | Requires swirling and warmth to release volatiles. | Bubbles carry volatiles to the surface continuously. |
| Astringency | Read directly from the tannin. | Accentuated. |
| Packaging | Any container. | Pressure-rated bottles, kegs or cans, with closures that hold. |
| Where it is standardAsturian sidra natural is a special case: still in the bottle, but poured from height so that it briefly carries a mousse in the glass. | English farm cider, Asturian sidra natural, Hessian Apfelwein. | French cidre, most modern commercial cider, and the traditional-method styles. |
Notes under a dimension name qualify the whole row, not one column.
Where still ends and sparkling begins, in numbers
Carbonation is measured in volumes — litres of gas dissolved in each litre of cider — and the pressure a bottle carries follows from the volumes and the temperature. A finished cider sitting under an airlock at cellar temperature already holds about one volume, which is why even a still cider is not entirely flat.
Where the law draws the line, it draws it on pressure. German law treats a drink holding 1 to 2.5 bar of carbon dioxide at 20 °C as semi-sparkling and one holding 3 bar or more as sparkling. The UK draws a tax line instead: sparkling cider above 5.5% alcohol is charged on a separate band at more than twice the rate of still cider of the same strength — a tax line that shapes what British producers make.
| Level | Volumes of CO₂ | Pressure at 20 °C, about | German band at 20 °C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Still | 0.9 | None above atmospheric | Neither |
| Pétillant | 1.8 | 1.1 bar | Semi-sparkling (1–2.5 bar) |
| Sparkling | 2.8 | 2.3 bar | Semi-sparkling, near the top of the band |
| Highly sparkling | 3.8 | 3.5 bar | Sparkling (3 bar or more) |
- Bottle pressure — the pressure for any carbonation and temperature, and what glass it needs.
- Priming sugar — the sugar that reaches each level, with the gas the cider already holds counted.
When Still cider is the relevant one
The circumstances in which this is the thing being described, rather than a reason to prefer it.
- The cider is served from cask, jug or a still bottle.
- You are describing a tradition that does not carbonate.
- The subject is a cider whose texture rests on tannin rather than gas.
When Sparkling cider is the relevant one
The circumstances in which this is the thing being described, rather than a reason to prefer it.
- The cider carries dissolved gas, however it got there.
- You are explaining why a cider tastes sharper than its acid figure suggests.
A misconception worth clearing up
This comparison exists partly because of the claim below, which is repeated often enough that most readers arrive holding it.
A cider with no bubbles has gone flat.
What is actually the case: Still cider is a deliberate category, not a failure. Much of the world’s traditional cider is still by design, and flatness as a fault means something specific: a cider that was meant to carry gas and has lost it, usually through a leaking closure or an incomplete conditioning.
Related comparisons
Distinctions that turn on the same thing, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Pétillant vs fully sparkling
The difference is the amount of dissolved gas: pétillant carries a light spritz at low pressure, fully sparkling carries several volumes and requires a pressure-rated package.
Bottle-conditioned vs force-carbonated
Bottle conditioning makes the carbon dioxide inside the sealed bottle by fermenting a small amount of sugar there; force carbonation dissolves gas into the finished cider under pressure before packaging.
English vs Spanish cider traditions
Two complete traditions with different premises: the English builds structure from tannic fruit and manages sweetness and carbonation; the Asturian and Basque build acidity and wild-ferment character and animate the drink at the moment of pouring.
Draught vs bottled
The same cider behaves differently in a cask or keg and in a bottle, because the container determines carbonation, oxygen exposure, dispense and how long the cider is open before it is drunk.
Where this comes up in a guide
An ordered path that passes through this page, for a reader who wants the sequence rather than the reference.
What people ask next
Questions readers ask about the things this page mentions. Each one goes to the section that answers it rather than to a page written to receive the question.
- Why is spanish cider so different from english cider — Asturian and Basque cider is fermented dry, is usually not carbonated, and is poured from a height to aerate it in the glass. English cider is more often sweetened, more often carbonated and rarely poured that way, and the two traditions use different fruit and different classification systems.
- What is the difference between bottle-conditioned and force-carbonated cider — A bottle-conditioned cider gets its gas from a fermentation finishing inside the sealed bottle, and leaves a yeast deposit; a force-carbonated one has carbon dioxide dissolved into it under pressure before filling. The first keeps changing in the bottle and the second does not.
- What does pétillant mean, and how is it different from sparkling
- Why does the same cider taste different on draught and from the bottle
Where to go next
- All comparisons — The rest of the pairs, grouped by what kind of difference is at stake.
- Glossary — Either term on its own, defined without a second thing to hold it against.
- Learn about cider — The background these pages assume, written from the beginning.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
The Science of Cidermaking and associated technical writing
Andrew Lea · reference work · passage verified 2026-08-24
Written by a food chemist who worked at Long Ashton on apple phenolics. Unusual among specialist cider writing in that it is primary-research-adjacent: the author is describing work he did, and cites the literature. This is why it is registered at tier 1 for chemistry while a general cider book is not.
The New Cider Maker’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers
Claude Jolicoeur, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013. ISBN 9781603584739 · reference work · bibliographic record verified, not opened 2026-08-25
Bibliographic record verified on 2026-08-25 against the Open Library union catalogue: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013, ISBN 9781603584739, one edition recorded. That establishes the citation points at a real book in a stated edition, which is what a citation needs and is all it establishes. No copy was opened and nothing is quoted from it. The book itself is in print and not digitised in any open collection; where CiderHQ needs a figure from this territory it uses an accessible research source instead and says so.
BJCP Beer Style Guidelines — cider and perry categories
Beer Judge Certification Program · classification framework · retrieved 2026-08-24
Opened on 2026-08-24, and the edition matters. CiderHQ registered the 2015 cider guidelines; BJCP has since published a 2025 cider edition, and the old URL now redirects into the current guidelines index. A competition style guide is a dated framework rather than a standing definition, and citing the wrong edition of one is the same class of error as citing a superseded specification. CiderHQ treats BJCP as one competition framework among several and never as the universal cider taxonomy.
Verordnung über alkoholhaltige Getränke (Alkoholhaltige Getränke-Verordnung, AGeV)
Federal Republic of Germany, of 29 January 1998, in the version of 30 June 2003 (BGBl. I S. 1255), last amended 11 October 2021 (BGBl. I S. 4683) · legislation · passage verified 2026-08-25
The binding German instrument for apple wine, and the striking thing about it is how little it says. It defines three umbrella categories by carbonation and by starting material, forbids the use of grape products, and governs how the word *Wein* may be compounded. It sets no minimum alcohol, no acidity, no extract and no permitted-additions list for Apfelwein. Every number a German apple wine is expected to meet sits in the Leitsätze instead, which are not law. German wine law does not reach apple wine at all: the Weingesetz applies to wine and other products of viticulture. Read as PDF on 2026-08-25.
Alcoholic products duty rates and the Alcohol Duty regime
HM Revenue & Customs · regulator · passage verified 2026-08-24
The UK alcohol duty system was reformed in August 2023 onto a strength-based footing, with draught relief and small producer relief alongside it. The rate table was read on 2026-08-24 and carries an effective date of 1 February 2026. CiderHQ records the band *structure* — which is stable and explains why producers make the strengths they do — and states rates only with that effective date attached, because a rate with no date on it becomes permanent and wrong.