About Cydr Dwaj Bracia – (Polish for Two Brothers Cider) I heard for the very first time at Nordic International Cider Awards’23 in Riga (for my visit recap click here) in September 2023. When the results were made public, I went through the list of winners and noticed a name of a Polish cider maker that didn’t sound familiar to me at all. Interestingly, Cydr Dwaj Bracia won Bronze for Boiken in the category Acid Dominant and Silver for Alwa Naturalna 2022 in the category Naturisider/Sidra Natural/Sagardoa. A new cider maker and already an award-winning one! As you may imagine I got intrigued as I thought that I am usually up to speed with the Polish cider scene. In Riga, I didn’t have a chance to sample any cider from Cydr Dwaj Bracia but soon after an opportunity occurred.
Cydr Dwaj Bracia was established in Warsaw, Poland in 2022 by, as you have rightly guessed, two brothers. With one of them, Tadek I met up in Berlin where he was spending time with his family. I felt honoured that he took out some time from his schedule to pay me a visit and pass two bottles of cider, a single-varietal cider made from Cortland and the awarded at NICA’23 Alwa Naturalna 2022. Cydr Dwaj Bracia is a microcidery and the brothers use apples grown in old apple orchards around Warsaw.
Briefly about the apple varieties, Cortland is an old U.S. heirloom apple variety that was developed in the New York state in 1890. Alwa is a Polish dessert apple cultivar that was developed through controlled breeding in Skierniewice. It is slightly acidic in taste.
Below you will find an overview of four ciders that I’m going to review today.
| Name | Vintage | Description | ABV |
| Cortland 2023 | 2023 | a single-varietal cider made from Cortland. Fermented using both wild yeast and selected wild yeast at different stages. | n/a |
| Alwa Naturalna 2022 | 2022 | a single-varietal cider made from Alwa. Spontanously fermented using wild yeast. | 6.5% |
From left to right: Cortland 2023, Alwa Naturalna 2022
Tasting notes:
| Name | Appearance | Aroma/Nose | Taste | Overall |
| Cortland 2023 | very cloudy, pale golden yellow, low carbonation, medium body | Moderately strong, fruity with notes of fresh skin of red apple and flesh of red apple | a touch of sweetness, almost no acidity, fully ripe red apple flesh, red apple skin, fresh pear, mineral. | It is clean, light with a pleasant and fruity nose and you can tell that it was made using Cortland. Light, drinkable but in a way unexciting. I guess Cortland alone is not best apple for a SV cider. 3.5/6 |
| Alwa 2022 | slightly hazy, pale golden yellow, moderate carbonation, medium body, builds a foam that quickly dissipates | Strong, fruity with notes of fresh apple skin, fresh pear and a spicy touch of liqourice | dry, low acidity, lemon juice, brioche, some mineral notes, fresh pear, a note of dessert apple, off notes from lees, no astringency. Finishes dry with a touch of bitterness. | With the ABV of 5% I expected this cider to be on the sweeter side but it was interestingly dry. The nose is strong and fruity, thus very pleasant. Therefore, when you take a first sip you are a tad disappointed as you expect the same on the palate. The palate is not unpleasant as it is fruity, has a good body and length. But due to some off notes that I think may come from aging on the lees, it is not as superb as you’d expect. Yet, a quaffable and refreshing offering. 4.5/6 |
Summary: Both tasted ciders are single-varietal ciders made with two different dessert apple varieties, Cortland and Alwa. It is rather a challenge to make a cider using dessert apples that doesn’t taste like a flavoured water. Also, ciders made from these cultivars often tend to leave an aftertaste typical for dessert apples. I don’t have a better expression to name this note. Anyhow, the brothers from Cydr Dwaj Bracia took up the challenge. And, in my opinion, they did well. And, you can tell that they are capable of making a good cider. But maybe using a more suitable fruit. Both sampled ciders have a structure, pleasant nose and you can actually taste an apple that these ciders were made from. Especially, the Cortland. I remember eating this apple variety as a child and still have a good memory of its characteristic taste. My personal favourite was, however, Alwa as it was fruity and had a pleasant refreshing acidity along with a good length and complexity. I would like to stress that Cydr Dwaj Bracia has their own style, which is different when you compare it with other cidermakers in Poland. I’m sure both ciders can go well with many kind of foods due to their light nature. I look forward to trying more ciders made by Cydr Dwaj Bracia but this time using old apple varieties such as Croncels or Boskoop. These made by Cydr Dwaj Bracia must be surely yummy.
Availability: different locations in Warsaw, Poland- see here for the list of vendors. In Porto, Portugal at Restaurante Sidraria Celta Endovelico.
Price: Tadek provided me with cider samples.
Cider Explorer 
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