Talk of a craft cider boom has been swirling around for a while now. Like the much-vaunted riesling revival and sherry comeback, it hasn’t quite taken off just yet, but there are signs we may have reached a tipping point, not least since craft cider sales rose 17% last year.
Cider is, after all, a logical drink for us to enjoy in the UK, yet it doesn’t attract a fraction of the coverage of what has recently been somewhat jingoistically rebranded WineGB, a name I find much less descriptive than English & Welsh Wine. (Wine is not a competitive sport, for heaven’s sake; even the French don’t promote theirs with a French flag.)
Anyway, back to cider. Another straw in the wind is that Brewdog has invested in London-based Hawkes Cider, which last year opened a cidery and tap room in Druid Street near London Bridge and is behind Urban Orchard cider, which is made with apples from Londoners’ gardens that would otherwise go to waste.
In fact, a growing number of hybrid ciders are trading on the craft beer boom. Aldi has just launched a hop-infused one, Twisted Tree, that smells rather beguilingly of apples stored in a hay barn, while Rekorderlig has added botanicals to its fruit-flavoured range.
There are also a number of genuinely interesting new ciders and perries around, most of which feature on the cider list at Birch in Bristol (themselves enthusiastic cider makers). I was really taken with Skyborry’s Waiting for the Miracle (£8.95 Beer Revolution; 5%), a light, floral perry that goes particularly well with the restaurant’s largely vegetable-based menu. Little Pomona’s Old Man & the Bee is equally good with food. Interestingly, both follow the natural wine practice of using indigenous yeasts.
What may change the game most effectively of all, however, is that the supermarkets are now adding more engaging ciders to their ranges. Waitrose, for example, recently listed a couple of appealing French ciders called Galipette, as well as a South African one called Sxollie that’s made from pink lady apples.
If you’re into cider, you may also like to know that from 22-24 June, Bristol (where else?) is hosting a cider salon where you’ll have an opportunity to try a wide range of ciders from Britain’s best craft producers. And if you’re not around that weekend, local cider expert Gabe Cook, aka The Ciderologist, has started a series of cider tours this summer – details on cidertastingtours.com.
Twisted Tree Hopped Cider
99p for 330ml at Aldi, 4%
Think scrumping apples in a hay field in late summer ...
Old Man & the Bee
£5.95 for 500ml at Hop Burns & Black, 7%
Put this on any dinner table. Drink with roast pork
Sxollie Pink Cripps
£1.99 for 330ml at selected Waitrose, 4.5%
Light, naturally sweet and refreshing. Perfect for a salad
Hawkes Urban Orchard
£2.10 for 500ml at beer merchants.com, £2.29 selected Waitrose, 4.5%
Crowdsourced from fruit from London orchards. Properly appley ...
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