Calvados is a French cider brandy made principally with apples, though often also with pears as a subsidiary ingredient. Almost 20kg of fruit is needed to produce 1 litre of undiluted Calvados spirit. Calvados has been distilled in Normandy since at least the 16th century and production is relatively simple - a cider is made from one or more of the apple and pear varieties approved for Calvados (of which there are over 350) and is then distilled in either an alembic pot still or a continuous still.

Calvados, like other French food and drink products, has its own Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC), encompassing clear rules for regional production. Alongside the main Calvados AOC there are also two smaller prestige AOCs that have more restrictive rules and regulations governing production. These are Calvados Pays d’Auge, and the pear-heavy Calvados Domfrontais, which was given its own AOC in 1997.

In geographical terms the main Calvados appellation contrôlée covers a wide area of Normandy in northwest France, and some other smaller districts in Brittany and Pays de Loire with a history of Calvados production. Calvados AOC regulations state that the spirit may be either pot or column-distilled - though in practice the majority of standard AOC Calvados is column-distilled - and must be aged in oak casks for at least two years before bottling.