Cider sales across the nation have dropped by a whopping $22 million over the past two years, but boutique cider makers are fighting against the trend, using historic apple varieties to bring the sexy back into cider.

Key points: Cider is declining in popularity across the country with sales dropping $22 million over the past two years

Cider is declining in popularity across the country with sales dropping $22 million over the past two years Boutique cider makers are turning to new and old ingredients to arrest this decline, incorporating heritage-varieties of fruit into their products

Boutique cider makers are turning to new and old ingredients to arrest this decline, incorporating heritage-varieties of fruit into their products The hope is that this point of difference, combined with 100 per cent Australian ingredients, will help boost interest in cider as an artisan product like craft beer

National retail data collecting company, IRI, which collects point-of-sale figures from outlets across the country, placed the blame on the homogenous range of ciders in the bottle shops and warned that cider drinkers were fatigued and looking for new inspiration in ciders.

"A lot of the ranges and brands and products you see in different retailers are very, very similar, they skew towards mainstream cider brands," IRI insights manager Daniel Bone said.

Boutique ciders keeping it all-Australian

Cider Australia's Sam Reid says craft cider makers are producing cutting edge products from historic apple varieties ( Supplied: Willie Smiths )

It is a call to action that boutique cider makers have already heeded.

They have designed a trust mark on their bottles that states their ciders are made from 100 per cent Australian fruit.

"The trust mark differentiates craft brands from the regular mass-produced ones," Sam Reid from Cider Australia said.

"It advertises a premium cider made with 100 per cent Australian grown apples or pears."

The only other way to check the craft ciders from the regular ones is to turn the bottle around and look at the fine print on the back of the bottle.

"On the back label, on the bottom in tiny writing, it'll say [on the mass-produced brands] 'made from local and imported ingredients'," Mr Reid said.

"Those imported ingredients are often reconstituted juice from China."

Historic apple varieties to the fore

Craft producers are getting even edgier in the push to stand apart from the regular ciders collaborating with scientists from the Institute of Agriculture in Tasmania to find the best cider apple varieties.

To move ahead, these agricultural scientists are looking back, sometimes hundreds of years and investigating historic cider apple varieties.

Agricultural Scientist Maddy Way is investigating heritage apples for ciders. ( Supplied: Tas Institute of Agriculture )

Agricultural Scientist Maddy Way is involved in the research and is looking at quality of apples grown in different regions, for cider-making.

She is working with growers in most apple-growing states around Australia, some of those tested include the historic varieties.

Kingston Black apples, old fashioned apples now sought after for some boutique, craft ciders. ( Supplied: Willie Smiths )

"They includes apples like a Bulmers-Norman or Kingston Black, old heritage varieties that you wouldn't normally eat, because they don't have that juicy or sweet tasting flavour," Ms Way said.

"If you took a bite out of them you'd probably spit it back out again — but it's great for cider."

Cider made from 100 per cent Australian fruit. ( ABC Rural: Laurissa Smith )

One of the bigger players in Tasmania, Willie Smith's, has been using heritage varieties for about three years and they said it is paying off.

"We're using 26 old varieties but we're focussing on a few like the Kingston Black and we do some single release ciders which have performed very well for us," said head cider-maker, Tim Jones.

The company's single-origin heritage apple cider is selling in retail outlets for upwards of $30 for a 750 ml bottle.

Micro cider brewer, Caro Brown, has the Brady's Lookout orchard and cidery in a region known for its sparkling wine, the Tamar Valley, in northern Tasmania.

Cider maker Caro Brown loves using a blend of heritage apples for her ciders. ( Supplied: Chris Brown )

She likes to blend heritage apples to make cider, using the same methods the sparkling winemakers do.

"You can put a bottle of cider to the market after a month, but we can have our cider in the bottle for 30 months," Ms Brown said.

Ms Brown does a primary fermentation, then a secondary fermentation which gives their cider its fine bubbles and flavours.

There are about 120 craft cider makers around the south-east of Australia and Sam Reid said they are cutting through and rising above the regular, cheaper brands in the bottle shops.

He is also working with retailers to segment their cider displays, putting every day cheaper ciders in one section and the Australian boutique ciders in another.

"I'm not suggesting volume will turn around, but we're hoping people will pay more attention to where the fruit is coming from and pay a little bit more," Mr Reid said.