Arizona lawmakers are moving to put pears on the same footing as apples for tax purposes. Right now, apple cider is taxed at the same rate as wine, $0.16-a-gallon, but pear cider carries a tax of $0.84-a-gallon, the same rate as beer. Lobbyist John Mangum is pushing the measure and said there is so little pear cider made in the state that the impact to the state would be less than $2,000 a year.

“So it doesn't have a great big revenue impact,” Magnum said. “But it does matter to the people who grow pears and make pear cider.”

The change is not to benefit Arizona’s small community of pear growers. It will however benefit one of their clients, the MillerCoors brewing company, which markets Fox Barrel Pacific Pear Cider.

The impact on the product’s buyers will hardly be felt. If the tax savings are passed along, the cost of a four-pack of 12-ounce bottles would drop only about a quarter, from its current rate, of $6.49.