How often do you put a bottle of cider on the table when you have friends round? I may be doing you an injustice, but my guess is not that frequently, if at all. Most people regard cider as a summer drink, which they’re happy to enjoy down the pub, but would rarely think of pouring for friends. Frankly, those standard stubby bottles don’t really invite such behaviour, and the liquid inside them isn’t much to write home about, either, being, more often than not, made from concentrate and/or watered down.
And that is a problem for the new generation of cider-makers, who are producing some seriously impressive drinks, and it’s one they’re addressing by selling their wares in beautifully designed, full-sized bottles. These ciders are made from juice, not concentrate, and are often made with single varieties from low-yielding or forgotten orchards, which take time and skill to produce. That’s why they cost more than the vast majority of ciders on the supermarket shelves, although they’re still generally cheaper than natural wines, which they often resemble in packaging and marketing style.
In fact, cider is more like wine from the point of view of having a single annual harvest and (pét nats aside) the time it takes to produce a bottle, which is certainly much longer than beer. As a result, producers have generally gone down the artisanal, rather than the craft beer route. They’re also attempting to raise cider’s profile by holding “salons”, or live consumer events, which are a mixture of tastings and talks. There was one in Bristol this summer, and, more recently, another in London.
The campaign to get cider on the table is also driven by its natural affinity with food, especially cheese. Up to now, cider-makers haven’t worked in tandem with food producers, but the recent all-day cheese and cider summit at Little Pomona in Hereford, which attracted top cheesemakers such as Sarah Appleby of Appleby’s cheshire, George Keen of Keen’s cheddar and Joe Schneider of Stichelton, aims to rectify that. Tom Oliver has even gone so far as to produce a cider designed to go with cheddar (see my pick below) in conjunction with one of the energetic new young cider advocates, Sam Wilkin, AKA Cellarman Sam.
In fact, the positive news is that cider is in good hands. Many new producers have technical and marketing skills they’ve brought from different backgrounds: Little Pomona and Tillingham from the wine industry, and former chef Sam Leach of Wilding Cider (who makes an excellent Kingston Black) from the restaurant world, to name just a few. It just needs you – and me – to change our mindsets and start serving the stuff to our friends. The Halloween celebrations at the end of the month would be a good time to start.
Five ciders to put on the dinner table
Aspall Premier Cru Cyder £2.50 (500ml) Asda, £2.75 Tesco, £2.80 Sainsbury’s, £2.85 Waitrose, 6.8%. A small but stylish bottle of dry sparkling cider that would make a good cut-price alternative to prosecco.
Oliver’s Cheddar on my Mind #2 £9.06 Oliver’s Cider, 7.4%. Wonderfully rich, and made to go with cheddar, but just as good with any hard cheese.
Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Company C1 Foxwhelp 2022 £10 thecatintheglass.co.uk, 6%. If you like tart, borderline sour tastes (which I do), you’ll love this sharp, citrussy pét nat cider. Would be fantastic with seafood.
Welsh Mountain Cider Prospect Orchard 2021 £12.50 welshmountaincider.com, 6.4%. A fruity cider made without sulphites and fermented with wild yeasts, but thirst-quenching and fresh, rather than funky.
Little Pomona To Boldly Go: Who Mourns For Grapes £20 littlepomona.com, 7.2%. Not strictly a cider, but a dazzling hybrid of sour cherries, perry pears and discovery apples. Proof that fruit cider can be sublime.
For more by Fiona Beckett, go to fionabeckett.substack.com
