CEI Books, with the Cider Cup. Pictured are: Tammy Woodward, Andrew Boy, Kerri Calvert, Joy Knudtson and Herbert Alexander.
ATHENS-CEI Books won the Cider Cup based on the public ranking it the top concoction during the Spirit of Athens Sippin’ Cider event held in downtown Athens on Dec. 14.
“We are all about gaudy gold trophies,” said Tammy Woodward with CEI Books. She was referring to the gold painted award with gold foliage accents. “Right now it is at the front counter so we can talk about it to everyone.”
During the event, customers sampled at least seven of the 11 ciders made by 
participating downtown merchants and ranked them according to taste.
SOA Director Trisha Black said the contest was a close one. CEI Books won by four-tenths of a point and received 107 votes. Black said duplicate ballots and ballots without names were not counted.
“It is close every year,” Woodward said of the contest. “Last year we came in second to U.G. White, and it was a close race. When I saw the 2012 Cider Cup in U.G. White’s store, I said, ‘I want one.’”
Woodward came up with the winning recipe, but she is keeping the brew ingredients a secret.
“I do think the clincher for us was having whipping cream and caramel to drizzle on top,” she said. “That helped us have an edge. I tried my recipe with the cream and caramel and without, and I liked the caramel with the cider flavors and whipped cream.”
Once the bragging dies down, Woodward said the 2013 Cider Cup will be placed on the bookcase behind the counter where the store has its wall of history.
