Northwest Cider Cup Info

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  • Awards
  • Best of Show
  • Entry Acceptance Rules
  • Entry Registration
  • Judging Categories
  • Judging Sessions
  • Rules

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Entry Registration

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Rules

How to Enter NW Cider Cup

Review the NW Cider Cup 2026 COMPETITION GUIDE

Register as an Entrant & Submit Entries

• Click Register > Entrant at the top of this page.
• Use your company email when registering. After the competition, you’ll log back in with this email and password to view your cider evaluation score and comments.
• Submit cider entries from March 2 - May 15.
• Pay for your entries, print bottle labels, and print shipping labels.
• If you are a NWCA member, make sure to add in the discount code prior to paying.
• If you started making cider after April 1, 2025 you qualify for two free entries as a new cidery. Email nwcidercup@nwcider.com before paying for entries.

Ship or deliver your cider

• See the Info page for shipping & delivery dates and locations.
  Each Entry will consist of:
• THREE (3) bottles/cans if 750 ml or larger
• FOUR (4) bottles/cans if 16 oz - 24 oz (e.g. 500 ml, 16 oz, 19.2 oz, 22 oz, 24 oz)
• SIX (6) bottles/cans if less than 16 oz (e.g. 12 oz, 375 ml)
• Specialty Fortified category: THREE (3) bottles/cans if 375 ml or larger

Return to this site after the Awards Party

• After June 25, return to this site and log in to view judges' evaluations of your cider.

Rules and Provisions

Download and review the 2026 NW Cider Cup Categories Accepted, prior to submitting your entries. Competition organizers are happy to answer any questions you may have about the best category to enter a cider into. Please email nwcidercup@nwcider.com with your questions, including as much detail as possible about the entry.

1. The shipper must pay all customs, duty, and shipping fees.
2. All entries become the property of the Northwest Cider Association.
3. Any portion of the entries remaining after the competition may be used in any way as seen fit by the Northwest Cider Association.
4. Entry fees will not be reimbursed if cider shipment does not arrive or arrives broken.
5. Fee is $75 per entry for NWCA members or $105 per entry for non-members. If you are a current NWCA member and did not receive a discount code, please email Laura at nwcidercup@nwcider.com.
6. You must pay the entry fee for your entry to be confirmed.
7. Special rules for new cideries: If you started producing cider after April 1, 2025, you may qualify as a "New Cidery." New cideries may apply for two free entries by emailing nwcidercup@nwcider.com. All new cideries compete for the Best New Cidery of the Year Award, which comes with a $500 cash prize.

Entry Eligibility

1. All entries must be currently available for sale or destined for sale in the near future. It is strongly recommended that ciders entered are available in sufficient quantities for future sales.
2. All entries must be fermented and made with 90% or more by volume juice not from concentrate. Concentrate may be used for backsweetening.
3. Entrants must be a licensed cidery producing cider in the territory of the Northwest Cider Association which is currently Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia.
4. All entries must be made by cideries licensed within the territory of the Northwest Cider Association (Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and British Columbia). Ciders made in the territory but not sold by a cidery licensed in the territory are not allowed to enter. Cideries licensed in other states/provinces making cider via a contract with a producer in the region are not allowed to enter.
5. Collaborations between a cidery licensed within the territory of the NWCA and another entity may be entered by the cidery located in the territory.

Rules for use of competition awards and feedback in marketing:

1. Ciders that win a medal or award may reference that award via on-package marketing materials only with the prior written approval from NWCA.
2. Vintage/dated ciders that win a medal or award may only reference that award for ciders of the same vintage/production date.
3. Use of any award in a misleading way may result in that award being rescinded and the offending producer being barred from future competitions.
4. Producers are responsible for ensuring that distributors, retailers and restaurants use awards in advertising and marketing in accordance with competition rules. Failure to maintain proper control of the use of these awards may also result in the award being rescinded and ineligibility to compete in future competitions.
5. Feedback is supplied to aid producers in understanding how ciders were perceived by judges and what the relative strengths and weaknesses were perceived to be. Individual judges’ comments are not to be quoted for marketing purposes.

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NW Cider Cup Judging Categories

If a style's name is hyperlinked, it has specific entry requirements. Select or tap on the name to view the subcategory's requirements.

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Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 6

Judging Sessions

Judge Sensory Training
Sunday, June 7, 2026 2:00 PM, PDT

NW Cider Cup Competition
Monday, June 8, 2026 8:00 AM, PDT

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Best of Show

The winner of the Best of Show will be given the Cup with their cidery and cider name engraved on the plinth to display in their cidery for the upcoming year.

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Awards

Category Medals

The 2026 competition will award gold, silver, and bronze medals in up to 19 distinct categories. In most categories, a maximum of one gold, one silver, and one bronze may be awarded per category. Additional silver and bronze medals may be available in categories with a large number of entries with up to 6 medals awarded in very large categories. This means that multiple ciders might get a silver or bronze but there will still only be one gold per category.

Judges may decide to award no medals or a combination of specific medals. For instance, there may be a bronze medal to the top scorer in a category and no silver and gold medals.

Awards

Best of Show

The competition awards Best of Show and Best of Show Runner-Up to the two gold medal winning ciders deemed to be the best by a team of head judges.

Large Cidery of the Year

The cidery awarded the most number of medal points (weighted with gold as 3 points, silver as 2 points, and bronze as 1 point) producing over 250,000 gallons per year in the previous tax reporting year will win the Large Cidery of the Year award. Entrants must specify total annual production in gallons to be eligible for this award.

Medium Cidery of the Year

The cidery awarded the most number of medal points (weighted with gold as 3 points, silver as 2 points, and bronze as 1 point) producing 10,001 gallons to 250,000 gallons per year in the previous tax reporting year will win the Medium Cidery of the Year award. Entrants must specify total annual production in gallons to be eligible for this award.

Small Cidery of the Year

The cidery awarded the most number of medal points (weighted with gold as 3 points, silver as 2 points, and bronze as 1 point) producing up to 10,000 gallons per year in the previous tax reporting year will win the Small Cidery of the Year award. Entrants must specify total annual production in gallons to be eligible for this award.

Best New Cidery of the Year

The new cidery awarded the most number of medal points (weighted with gold as 3 points, silver as 2 points, and bronze as 1 point) will win the Best New Cidery of the Year award. Entrants must specify a company start date after April 1, 2025 to be eligible for this award. This award also comes with a $500 cash prize!

Additional prizes may be awarded at the discretion of the competition organizers.

Results will be posted to the competition website after the Awards ceremony concludes.

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