Cider Pages

Apologies. One for the more hardened cider drinker than perhaps those who are exploring the different tastes and flavours that cider has to offer. If that is you - if you are just seeking good ciders to drink then 'Yer tiz!!'. You have a far more important job to do than worry about apple varieties... though if you get hooked, then perhaps you will come back to this post:-)


To those who just want a quick answer: Yes. Cider can be made from any apple. I guess the question is "SHOULD cider be made from any apple." Personally, I have made cider from all sorts of apples over the years, though these days many are a single gallon just to explore the end result. From personal experience (and notes):

Braeburn: Quite sharp and very uninteresting. Thin. Offers nothing (in fact, Braeburns greatest contribution to the world is that it is shiny, crisp and sweet. None of which (apart from the amount of sugar) is of any interest to a cider maker!

Bramley: Massively sharp and yet a fairly high sugar content too. Horrible cider to drink. I have heard that if you leave it for several years the acid dies away). Useful for providing a slight background acidity - i.e. protecting the cider from rope/mouse etc.

Kanzi (I think that is how it is spelled - it is known as something else commercially as it is grown under licence): Produces a very high sugar content but very little flavour and, quite frankly, not good at all..

Royal Gala: Quite a thin cider without much character. Good sugar content and blends well.A bulking cider.

Russet: Interesting nutty cider and rather dry. Thin but pleasant. Odd aftertaste sometimes. Makes a good SV but needs care. Acid drops after 12 months and becomes dull.

OK, that represents a few single variety ciders I have made - and focuses on dessert apple varieties as that is what is often available to anyone outside of the magical 'Ciderland'. I have tried others that have been very interesting; Yarlington Mill, Kingston Black and other cider varieties (in fact, I was so impressed with an SV Michelin cider that I almost made it on a larger scale). Trouble is, most people making a small amount of cider will find getting hold of cider varieties quite tricky - its hard enough for some commercial cider makers!

So, can dessert apples make cider? I mean, ultimately that is what it boils down to... isn't it?

In the UK, we have two distinct traditions of making cider - Eastern style and Western style. One is predominantly made from dessert fruit and the other from cider fruit. Both are equally valid (even if one or two cider makers don't think that is true... perhaps they should leave Somerset once in a while!) and both have venerable histories stretching back hundreds of years. And, if you want my own opinion, both are equally interesting (although there are more examples of good western style cider than eastern currently!). So in that sense, anything goes.

However, a brief story from my early years of cider making. The first year I went around my 'hood and found a dozen or so 'wilding' trees, growing at the side of the road. That cider was thin, acidic and I was the only one to drink it. The second, I was offered windfall Cox apples, which went in with the roadside apples. Better. The third year I was introduced to an orchard owner who let me have some dessert and cider apples... I let the roadside apples go. It was much, much better. The fourth year and onwards I have determined to just use known varieties from growers that I respect (and pay).


So yes, by all means make cider from whatever apple you can get hold of. I secretly smile each time someone says proudly "I made a bit of cider last year... it was easy" and then go on to tell a tale about how it nearly killed them to drink it! It isn't that easy... to do it well the most important thing is not kit; it's that you learn the apples... and that takes time and patience and a willingness to make mistakes! If you want to use wildings, make sure you try and eat one first to see what its like and please, if you do make and sell the stuff - make sure its something you can be proud of.

There you go. See, I am not just about reviews eh:-)

PS - feel free to agree or disagree. I already know one well known cider maker who dismisses anything made with dessert apples as crap. But then, he is an idiot and I can only recommend his cider, not the man who makes it!

First off, may I humbly apologise for being absent for, well, a month.

It wasn't you, it was me!

There are ciders waiting to be written up and there are ciders waiting to be tasted... there is even a 'missing' notepad with my last reviews from Winchester Beer Festival back in March! (n.b. to self - I haven't got my GBBF ticket yet!!)

However, I have been very busy. Not just busy selling cider to people... or busy winning a couple (or more) awards for my cider... (which is always great!). Lets face it, those are the things I want to be doing. Not even just doing a bit of judging of ciders... though that was a lot of fun! Nope, this is a little different...

You see, I have been involved in writing, consulting, re-writing, talking, meeting and finally getting a presentation for a proposal of a PGI for well made, traditional English cider and perry. Well, I have hinted at it no here for some time eh. And it looks like it has got some legs to it.

The aim for a 'Heritage English Cider/Perry PGI' is to showcase the highest quality cider and perry produced within England and set a standard for quality products way beyond the pretty loose regulations set by HMRC. It seeks to differentiate the good stuff from the lower juice, mass produced 'brands' and to create something that is recognisable to the public.

A PGI, or Protected Geographical Indication, is a device used within and run by the EU via DEFRA (in the UK). It sets out regulations and criteria for a product - essentially ensuring that traditional products and methods can be protected and promoted. Sounds just right for high juice cider eh! Beyond that, criteria for quality can be included within the PGI - well, it is true that both the best AND worst ciders in England are traditionally made, high juice ciders! (though I realise some may disagree with the 'worst' bit:-)

It all started some 12-18 months ago and has taken time to get to a point where discussions can be held with the National Association as well as attempting to consult with as many craft/high juice producers as possible. And now it has been presented at the Cider Trends summit in Bristol it is well and truly in the public domain.

The nuts and bolts are found in the 'infographic' below... well, when you are presenting to PR and marketing types it is wise to at least try and speak the language:-)

click for larger version

Done well, it could add value to high juice cider and maybe even encourage some to raise their bar a little. And it does all of this without throwing any toys out of the pram, upsetting the 'apple cart' and allows the larger family of cider producers to continue to innovate and/or do whatever they do.

With nearly 50 producers signalling their support for the PGI so far - and more looking at it (and yet to look at it), this process is not complete yet. However, it has dispelled the common opinion that cidermakers cannot agree on anything - or that we aren't organised enough to do something new!

There are so many reasons for applying for a PGI - reinforcing traditionally made cider/perry and separating them from the mass produced cider is one thing (it will only be when numbers of producers are using it that it becomes a recognisable and reliable indication). It is also something that cider and perry producers can pin their credentials to... without having to comply with silly 'definitions' and restrictions on parts of the process that, quite frankly, just end up misleading and confusing drinkers all the more!

And saying that, it is probably worth saying that this is a process worked out by cider/perry producers for the benefit of the drinkers. Of course opinions are always welcome from anyone; its just that the opinions that will make a difference are those of producers.

There is a lot of work still left to do - but hopefully I can at least get back to the ciders and perries - after all, the drinking is so much more fun than the talking! I will post more detailed information as I am able.

Having taken a poll asking specifically whether high juice cider ought to be differentiated from the stuff on the mass market, I did say that I would report back once it was done with the results. No, I am not going to try and put together some clever graphs to justify an argument - I have a healthy skepticism of statistics and polling. Here, though, is an image of the final results for the poll:


On the face of it, it is a clear 98% message that quality, high juice cider does need something to identify it from the mediocrity of mass produced ciders. Only 4% either didn't care or disagreed (and I think that one of those may have been me testing the form out:-) Do bear in mind though that by and large this blog is read by people who are bothered to look up the cider they are drinking... even though I hope that some of those are coming to cider from the mainstream. Also bear in mind that 100 odd votes is not exactly representative of those consuming cider in the UK.

That aside, it is a clear message. And if I am to put my cards firmly on the table I am very happy with the result - I feel that there has started to be a groundswell of movement in the cider industry who feel the same way. Not - and I must emphasise this - not in any way to denigrate the mainstream producers! As someone who came to cider through drinking Magners, and as a small producer, I recognise that there is a place for 'easy access' ciders. I also have to bear in mind that both the high and low juice industry have been entwined in the UK for over 40 years: from orchards to equipment, from bottles to markets.

So, if this is to be done it has to be sensitive. It has to give producers on the cusp of high/low juice cider the opportunity to participate. So it needs to be reasonable but differentiate effectively. And that takes the cooperation of the producers - not easy by any means but certainly something that consumers cannot force or lead on. There are many who feel that each decree from CAMRA just loses potential CAMRA producer/suppliers - some of very high quality cider... so telling producers what to do is not the answer, producers need to opt to do it for themselves.

So, do I have anything to say about this? Well, yes and no. There IS an opportunity to raise the profile of quality high juice cider on the table. However, currently I cannot say anything more (and I suspect I am stretching it at that!) All in good time, but I really hope that cider makers realise its potential!

The Cider Pages guide to drinking cider - For the novice!

NOTE - If you haven't already, please do take the time to respond to the question at the top left of this blog. It is very much of interest and I promise to publish (and try to use) the results!

I have spent some time reflecting on my attitudes towards cider and perry of late. Whether it is through Weston's dishing out Christmas pressies to MP's to remind them to leave cider tax alone, or SIBA falsly persuading beer drinkers that cider tax is too cheap. Whether it is those banging on about high juice vs low juice cider (my personal choice of drum to bang), the quality of ciders, adding fruit to ciders and misleading marketing (which I am sad to say is on the increase at the expense of honesty and integrity).

It almost feels that there is a cacophony of issues (isn't there always?). By the way, whilst all this is going on, what CAMRA APPLE are most concerned with is the evil of pasteurisation and 'hot filling' bag in boxes... nice priorities guys! Mind you, with some beery blog feigning shock and horror at the fact that CAMRA support cider and perry at all - and for them to have held some position within local branch level - suggests that CAMRA APPLE have got more work to do  focussing inwards than trying to proclaim what producers should do.

However, most recently, all of this has got me wondering about something that I feel potentially is the biggest danger to cider as a category. I guess it was while reading about the 'Cider Summit' - an event that will probably fuel the Morning Advertiser for a while longer and then disappear into obscurity. However, reading the phrases and language used to describe the category... isn't cider and perry in danger of being classed simply as an alcopop?

Let me explain. Cider is made from apples and perry (or even pear cider) from pears. No so - according to those PR guru's who know the industry better than we know ourselves! Innovation includes strawberries, blackcurrents or even beetroot. How about a cider with a twist of lime? Well, this is low juice cider (often) coupled with something else to make it interesting - or 'unique'. After all, it has to stand out on those supermarket shelves!

Supermarket shelves are a nice analogy to the problem. At my local Sainsbury's (pictured) you have the better ciders at one end, leading through the pear ciders into the fruit ciders. Then there are the ultra low cost ciders and, following, the alcopops. They are grouped together - in a separate aisle even from the beer.

I have heard commentators talk of fruit cider and some low juice ciders as the new hiding place for alcopops. I tend to agree - these things are gimmicks - sweet beverages designed for the young and frowned upon by the establishment; this is borne out by the higher taxation and anti alcohol lobby strategies that led to alcopops being without a home in the first place.

At the same time, you have bar managers at CAMRA festivals fighting to stock fruit ciders. The excuse I have heard before is that "these are good introductions to cider". No, I disagree.

And they are not the way forward for the cider 'category' either.

Aren't all these fruit and alcopop ciders just going to drag down high quality, decent cider with them?

What? I hear a few CAMRA people in Kent screaming something about fruit cider being traditional?! I have looked in to this (alongside other people) and the only traditional/historical use for fruits in cider is to cover faults and poor cider. Sorry, the only way it can be traditional is by doing some clever soft shoe shuffling.

I recall Hooch of old - sweet, lemony and fizzy with bright appealing labels.

Don't get me wrong. if there were a hint of those in authority starting to view cider as merely an alcopop - and to be taxed as such - then I would join in the chorus of producers and drinkers to cry 'get lost'... much as we all did when the Labourists decided to chuck 10% on cider duty. However, isn't this a topic worth discussing and dealing with - much as those who PR feel that they can decide how the cider industry must be 'innovative'. They didn't say a word about the down side of dilution... sorry... innovation (I suspect they didn't even think that there was!)

Okay, apologies if this comes across as negative. As mentioned, this is the silent assassin of the cider industry. When producers pimp themselves out to marketeers to lead the way for them an alarm goes off. Right now, I see quality (let me say that again, QUALITY) as being the most innovative thing that the industry can do for the better of cider/perry right now.

Not being someone that likes to sit and moan without offering a solution, I do see a sliver of light - an opportunity that high juice, quality (that word again) producers of cider and perry can take... though I suspect it involves some girding of loins and action.

Couldn't the craft end of the industry set a marker in the ground? Seek to differentiate itself - even distance itself - from the 'stuff' that excites cider PR people? My thinking is 'yes' it can be done. However, it would not be without a lot of thinking, planning and agreement. You see the low juice end of the industry, over the last 40 years or more, have entwined 'cider' and 'perry'. From orchards, to bottle manufacturing to campaigning - the big industry players have all the contracts, deals etc. It is more than a tiny bit true that many of the higher end producers hang on to the coat tails and get 'told' from on high when things change.

This is not all bad, but isn't it about time that cider and perry drinkers had some way of distinguishing the two? Sure, those who want to make the effort to seek high end cider. Also: yes, the 'Magners' advertising effect has been good for the industry in general (though perhaps it is often overstated). But - is that a reason to simply all ride together down the slippery slope?

I don't have all the answers, but I do have an idea... what about some kind of distinguishing or protected status for high juice cider? There are mechanisms available under the EU... the French use them - as do the Spanish and Austrians. The Welsh are seeking to use them too. It would possibly need to involve CAMRA as much as NACM etc. And it could be something that larger producers could opt to join in with. Often these things just watch out for ingredients and practices - but quality must also be built in; If only producers could agree on the terms and CAMRA could agree with the producers!

I know the argument - the public want sweet, fizzy ciders... and the public gets what the public want. I don't believe that this is strictly true: The public often are led to want what the public get - supermarkets and PRists have proven this true time and time again. What large companies have believed for decades is that the public want stuff that is easy to get hold of, recognisable and cheap. However, as with battery farmed chickens and eggs, I see the public do take notice of the little labels that declare provenance.

So. What do you think? Is the cider industry heading for a crunch at the hands of its new alcopop friends? Is it time for the high juice section of the industry to put a stake in the ground? And that, my friends, is why I am trying to take a poll...

This blog post was meant to be a review of a Weston's cider bought at the Euston Cider Tap. I felt it was a fitting way to mark three years of reviews. Sorry - you will have to wait until the next post to see that review... I started it and then got into pontificating over the last three years. Once again, sorry!

When I first started writing these reviews, there was a bit of a cider shaped hole in the blogging world. Sure, Nick Edwards had just started his excellent 'The Cider Blog' and was writing up just about every festival and event that he could get his hands on (love the blog, Nick!) However, where you could find plenty of beer and even more wine commentary there was not much to go for cider.

Some of the ciders and perries on the Cider Pages 'Cider Shelf' for 2014

And so I figured the best way to serve the industry would be to start writing up my notes on ciders, coupled with something of a rough scoring system (the apple awards were simply a flourish I had seen used for wine and whisky with good effect).

Because of other projects - not least of all being my growing cider business - I had to do this anonymously. To be fair, it isn't exactly that anonymous... I wanted to be as objective as possible about the reviews and that meant saying it as I see it. I didn't want to offend friends and industry colleagues, but I wanted to serve the drinker. My ultimate goal was to reach out to the millions of people drinking commodity cider - low juice and industrially made stuff. I figured that I could not only increase their view of real, quality cider products, but if it could lead just one or two people to develop their palate for quality cider then it is all worth it.

I am very happy to say that this blog has already achieved this with many more people than I expected - if comments and direct messages have been any indication. I am very proud about that (although let's face it, its the producers themselves who make the quality products that really should feel proud - I have just enjoyed the result of their endeavours!).

I have also had the chance to air a few views on the various processes that go in to making cider - and that go in to making commodity cider. These are much more personal to me and, although I have never taken a poll on whether others agree with me, it has been good to hear from other producers who share the same values - and interesting to hear from those who don't. Much of the problem that the cider industry faces is an identity crisis - what IS cider?. This is, in part, due to people not knowing how cider can be 'manufactured'. Many people just assume that all cider is made from apples and all pear cider is made from pears. I hope I have served to increase the visibility of some of that and even debunked some of the myths about brands and practices.

And so, I move on to exercise my bragging rights. With over 170,000 views of the reviews, and 24 people who follow the blog, Cider Pages has achieved far more than I could ever have expected. Over on Twitter, Cider Pages has over 1000 followers... not bad considering that I saw Twitter as just some device used by most for self promotion. OK, I still see it a bit like that (but you don't have to read everything that is written!!) All very respectable:-)

During the three years, there have been 365 cider and perry reviews. Of these, 16 have got 'Golden Apples' from me with a further 62 Silver Apples being doled out in the name of excellent cider. I reckon I could organise a pretty good cider festival with these!! However, it goes to demonstrate how many decent ciders are available!

Before I cease this bragging for another 3 years, here are a few interesting facts, taken from the stats and tags:

• The highest scoring cider so far is still Ross on Wye's Headless Man (96). This is followed by Chateau du Briel Calvados (95) and joint Dunkerton's Premium Organic and Cider by Rosie (93)
• The most viewed blog post is, oddly, Waitrose Heston's Mulled Cider. Second place goes to Carling British Cider (see, it is worth looking at all forms of 'cider') and third is Thatchers Gold.
• Obviously, Cider Pages has most visitors from the UK. Second place (also fairly obviously) is the USA. However, there are also a fair number of visitors from Russia, China and even Argentina.
• In terms of searches - some like this kind of thing - 'Green Goblin Cider' is the most searched term. However, much more fun than that are the queries; 'Do Badgers like Cider?', 'Is Oakleys cider any good' (hope they found my response to that!) and, most recently, 'Does Henry Westons pear cider contain any pears?'

And so, I wonder what the next 3 years holds in store for Cider Pages? I wonder if I will be able to find another 365 ciders/perries to review? I suspect I could. What will the industry look like in 3 years time?

It is pointless to speculate that far ahead, although I can tell you that 2014 is looking like a good cider year... the quality of apples during last season were better than the previous year and things haven't been so cold and miserable - well, cold anyway. I can also say that I may well be running a tutored tasting event or two during the year - at a festival in the next couple of months (possibly) and at a larger event too (possibly). I haven't yet decided how or whether I will advertise these on here, though it would be nice to in some way.

For now, I do have one favour to ask. On the edge of this page there is a poll question... it is related to an up coming 'Cider101' and I would be very grateful if you could take the small amount of time required to answer it. I know it isn't too detailed - it's not meant to be. However, it may ultimately be of much interest and use to another new project I am working on.

Thanks to everyone who has visited these pages, commented on stuff, written to me personally. Here's to the next few years!

Yer Tis!

Well, it is that time once again. Another year out of the way and a whole bunch of cider tried. I hope readers have found this site helpful over the last 12 months - my intention is that it promotes good cider as much as comment on cidery things as a whole. I confess I do enjoy writing these; though having committed to a pattern of releasing reviews is a bit of a bind sometimes.

What is in store for 2014? Well, we will have the perennial budgetary discussions... no doubt some debate about the juice content or provenance of ciders. For me? Well, I am waiting to see how the new cider blends turn out and will continue the hunt for the best ciders in the UK... and France (if I can get more time out there) and anywhere else I can get to. Having won several awards in the time I have been making reasonable amounts of cider, I also hope to secure one (or more) for the award wall too.

To start the year off, I have decided to have a go at some perry. I have 6 to try currently, but of course this will grow as I am able to get more... I won't be rejecting 'pear cider' either - after all, as I have said a few times, if one cider drinker can move from a mass produced cider to something more expressive and individual (and truly 'premium') then my job is done!

Last year, I listed out my top 10 ciders of the year. This year, I figured I would copy Pete Brown... ho in turn copied someone else... though I believe it is a 'tradition' for many beer writers. Having said all that I now rip off the headings from Pete (sorry mate - I did at least acknowledge you:-) I have adjusted them for my own purposes - though even saying that I will not pretend I can complete them all... anyone would have thought they weren't written for cider.

Best UK Draught Cider

You know what, I am going to have to agree with CAMRA for once - certainly by my own scoring, this goes to Springfield's Wobblymunk Cider. Very nice.

Best UK Bottled or Canned Cider


Going by my own scoring, this goes to Gregg's Pit; Brown Snout, Chisel Jersey and Dabinet. It's not just the blend that makes this cider great, but the traditional method that it is matured by.


Best Overseas Draught Cider

I feel a little cheekiness coming upon me... of course, as the title is 'overseas' I guess it should be done properly. If it had been 'international' then, under the Welsh Cider rules I guess all Welsh ciders ought be restricted to this category. But nah, I am not that silly:-)

Sadly, I didn't try any draught cider from overseas this year, so its an n/a.

Best Overseas Bottled or Canned Cider

Browsing my scores 2013 wasn't as high scoring as other years. There are a number of French cidre (like Domaine de Lieu Gosset) that are excellent. However, the highest scoring cider was Heritage Valderance du Cidre, Cidre de Bretagne with a Bronze Apple score of 76/100.

Best Cider For quiet contemplation

Hmmm. I am going to say Olivers Gold Rush for this. Not that I have/had endless supplies, but there are very few ciders in 2013 that made me stop and think as much as this. It was joint third highest scoring cider for me this year... shame they only made a certain amount of it:-)

Best Cider for gabbling with mates and seizing the day

I am going to go with Henney's Vintage - or Aspalls Imperial. Easy to get hold of and very good. Well, we don't all live within spitting distance of a cider farm! Actually, I could have been lazy and said 'my own' but that would be cheating, I am sure! OK, none of these are from this year... I guess if I had to include something it would be Perry's Somerset Tremlett Cider (a Silver Apple with 86). Yum

Cider I haven't drunk enough of in 2013

It has to be the top cider of 2012 - and still a favourite: Ross on Wye Cider and Perry, Headless Man. A spirit cask cider that is done to perfection. Worth hunting down!

Looking over my records, it still is the highest scoring cider on Cider Pages!

Best Cider for crying into

Hmmm. Again, I cannot simply say 'my own', so I have to pick something from this year... OK, I am going to settle with a range - the Rich's 'Golden Years' range. All scored very well and are very interesting ciders. Perfect for distracting me (not that cider men really cry:-)

Best Branding, pump clip or Label

This is going to Dunkerton's. I really do like their range of labels - the Court Royal was splendid!

Best UK Cidermaker

Oh, cummon. That is a tough one. However, while I ought to do some clever Excel formula or maths I am going to take a punt (as it is the first time I have done this). Jointly awarded to Olivers Cider and Perry and Burrow Hill Cider and Perry/Somerset Brandy Company. Probably among the best in the world.

Best Overseas Cidermaker

As with above, I am going to take a punt and award this to Le Brun... a fantastic range of cidre and appley based spirits.

Best New Cidery Opening 2013

Sorry, nothing to say about this... I don't keep up with them.

Pub/Bar of the Year

I am going to award this to the Southampton Arms in London this year. Not for the broadest selection but for the atmosphere/experience and the commitment to delivering a good pint of cider. They also have Burrow Hill pretty much on permanently.

Best New Pub/Bar Opening 2013

Again, I don't keep up with this so nothing really to say.

Beer Festival of the Year

I think this has to go to the 2013 CAMRA Great British Beer Festival, as the cider was very good. OK, some felt it should have been a better representation of the UK (and said so at the time) but I still think that is just nonsense - good cider is good cider (and the 2013 range was better than the previous year!)

Supermarket of the Year

I am going to have to give this to Waitrose... although the others are catching up

Independent Retailer of the Year

As this is my first shot at doing this, I find I have a clean sheet of options. I ought to go for a shop locally to me, but will opt for the Bristol Cider Shop as having a great range and attitude to cider.

Online Retailer of the Year

Not used one. Therefore, not exactly qualified to nominate!

Best Cider Book or Magazine

Hmmm.The cider maker in me awards this to Claude Joliceur and his excellent book 'The New Cider Makers Handbook'. Probably a little technical for many but a good reference work for a cider maker.

I also have to give a big shout out for Pete Brown/Bill Bradshaw's 'Worlds Best Cider' too... no idea where they could have got the idea from:-) (only kidding fella's!!) I got it for Christmas though have yet to have enough 'own time' to give it a good read.

Best Cider Blog or Website

This may sound a touch cheesy, but I would say the blog I have read the most this year is Pete Browns beer blog... and I am not really that into real ale:-)

Best Cider App

You are having a joke eh?!

Simon Johnson Award for Best Beer Twitterer

As this is Pete Browns awards list, I have no place in changing this. As per Pete - it should go to Simon Johnson.

Best Cider Website/Social media

Again, its a clean sheet and I have to give this, obviously, to the Cider Workshop. with over 1200 cider makers discussing cidery stuff its a hard one to beat.

Music and Cider Pairing of the Year

I am going to go for Iron Maiden 'Phantom of the Opera'... soundtrack to this years pressing.. and a bottle of my own traditional method cider. Oh... has to be something else - OK - Kestor Gold (Little Weeke Cider Company). Silver Apple but a bit expensive.

Food and Cider Pairing of the Year

It has to be any eastern style cider and pork... the acid cuts through and enhances the meat. Works well with a salad too (for the same acidic reason).

Happy New Year everyone. Thanks for following these reviews over the year!!

Frank Naish

Having not noticed much comment on the passing of Frank Naish - with the exception of the fine work done be Bill Bradshaw, I felt that it needed remembering...

Frank was the last in a chain of the Naish family to take the helm of 'Naish's Cider' - a well known, if a little hard to get of late, cider company based in the heart of Somerset. At 89, he was also well and truly the oldest working cider maker in the UK - commercially in any case. More than this, however, was tat Frank represented the last of the 'old guard' of producers who used trusted old equipment to press the farms varieties of apples - what he had been taught by his father at 10 years old.

It isn't that Frank was a farmer who made cider - although this is true. There are still plenty of farmers making cider today. But in our corporate world Frank stood out for me as someone who was the 'genuine article'. And I know of no one else left like that.

OK - I am not harking back to some kind of cider 'golden age', if ever there was such a thing. And there are real characters left at the craft end of the industry (though I confess to having seen a photo of Julian Temperley in a suit... (though I would struggle to make a case for him 'being' a cider industry 'suit').

I think the uniqueness of Frank is summed up superbly by this video. It is a little long, but well worth the viewing. This short film was made a year or two ago by Community Channel TV. I didn't ask permission, but am sure they won't mind


In 2011, Frank was awarded 'Lifetime Service to the Cider Industry' award at the annual Royal Bath and West Show. Reading about it since, I learned that he went along thinking that he was to be involved in judging of some sort... a nice story that says something of the man; and a well deserved recognition of his long career as a cider maker.

I confess that I only met Frank once - well, I wouldn't even call it that... saw him was probably more the correct phrase... and I fail to remember what was said between us. I doubt there would have been much other than cider in common though. So I am not the best person to give some eulogy or orbituary of him. However, I think I can speak for the cider community when I say that we have lost something in the passing of Frank... not all bad, but lost nevertheless.

I also have no idea what happens to Naish's Cider now... succession at the craft end of the cider industry is rather sketchy at best. But whatever happens, at least the company (and Frank) earned a rightful place in cider lore.  

So, whenever you are reading this, raise a glass to Mr Naish and, if it is of the commodity kind, just consider - all the effort that goes into making some of these larger companies look traditional and authentic... well, Frank was the real deal... no PR bull and no corporate marketing suits trying to fain respectability.

Cheers Frank!

Time for another single varietal cider that has been sat on my shelf. If there is one thing I will say about Old Grove, it is that they are not afraid to try new things... it takes a brave cider maker to do something with Bramley, for example (and I believe they have won awards for it too... which offsets the fact that I wasn't that keen on it nicely!).

I found this in Herefordshire earlier this year, as it is perfectly clear and with no sediment still I suspect I can safely say it is filtered without having to open the bottle. To be fair (and looking back at my notes on the other ciders) this is common to the Old Grove ciders I have tried. Polished and bright - the lot of them. In fact, looking at the bottle before opening it, it has a blush about it. Old Grove describe it as a 'delicate and well balanced rose cider'. Well, it is definitely rose coloured!

Red Devil is a dessert apple. It's actually quite a new variety (1970's) and is a cross of Discovery and Kent. Now, I do know that some producers start the pressing season with a Discovery blend... light, early apple which is quite acidic without huge flavours. I use another dessert variety to start things off - but as with most early varieties wouldn't necessarily make an SV from it. Now, Red Devil is early to mid season harvesting (September-ish), which I suspect gives it slightly more character. However, the notes I have got on it suggest that it isn't a keeping apple (so has to be pressed fairly quickly).  One thing all sources say is that the juice is pink in colour. To keep this from juice through to the cider though is quite an achievement.

It opens with a low/moderate fizz to it, which settles down nicely. In the glass the rose is more of a tint than anything, I am not getting much of a smell of it, but what I am getting is a light smell, citrus with a touch of body about it.

The taste is a bit odd - it is very light and delicate. It is also very clean (which probably is as a result of the filtering). Hmmm, it is a bit syruppy to be honest - though this isn't really the sweetening. I would say it is a medium to taste. However, because it is such a delicate flavour the sweetening overpowers it somewhat.

How can I describe it? Ithas a rather weak cidery taste, light and a little sharp. There is some body to it (though there aren't any significant tannins). However, the sweetening - whilst not huge - does build up in the mouth and becomes the dominant taste after a while. The aftertaste is fairly short (although the sweetness lasts a while).

I do feel that it has been over filtered. This is something I have said before about Old Grove and I do feel (especially with such a light cider) that it detracts from the overall experience. The fruitiness of this drink must surely be much more pronounced than it is.

However, alongside some ciders I have tried recently, it is not a terrible cider and for those seeking to try different single varieties then this ought to be on the list. It isn't going to challenge the sense though.

A score of 61/100