With the recent increase of cider products and new cideries bursting onto the scene, many individuals within the food and beverage industry have wanted to expand their knowledge with regard to hard cider. The United States Association of Cider Makers (USACM) is making such a goal possible with its newest online cider certification exam.
The United States Association of Cider Makers has released the Certified Cider Professional (CCP) program as an online exam that allows test takers to become CCP level one certified. Exam questions fall into five categories: apples, processing, fermentation, taste and style and history. The exam is 60 questions long and costs $75 for non-USACM members.
Paul Vander Heide, USACM’s Board Secretary and CCP spokesperson, shared, “The association is dedicated to providing a path for professionals to expand their knowledge of apples, cider production, history and regional styles. Cider is a fascinating beverage with deep historical roots and a vast culture, but outside of cider makers themselves, few people know about it. Our goal is to educate the frontline of cider sales—distributors, wholesalers, retailers and bar and restaurant professionals—and increase cider sales as a result.”
CCP was launched initially in Portland, Oregon, at CiderCon 2016; over 200 people were certified during that pilot launch.
“The program is designed to evolve,” shared Vander Heide. “The rebirth of our industry was not that long ago and consensus is still evolving. We’ll be helping guide the development of a broadly accepted cider lexicon, and that progress will be reflected in future iterations of CCP.”
Levels two and three will most likely be released at some point over the next couple of years. Learn more about this cider-centric program by visiting USACM’s website.
- Photo: Anna Miron/Six AM Studio