Antioxidant capacity of cider can be accurately determined by means of the DPPH or the FRAP assays, both of them being simple and reproducible, as far as proper reaction times and reagent to analyte excess are optimised. With the DPPH assay, the analyses were performed at the steady stage, whereas for FRAP, significant differences were found between the results obtained at 4 or 40 min, thus the measures of reducing capacity of cider should be done at 40 min. Multivariate approaches based on phenolic composition were useful to predict the antioxidant activity of cider, Folin index and the contents of flavanols and hydrocaffeic acid being the most relevant variables.