How Cider Became Cool
THE SELLER
Felix Nash, founder of The Fine Cider Co
Felix Nash is the man behind The Fine Cider Co, which supplies restaurants, shops, pubs and bars across the country, including St John and The Fat Duck. It also organises the annual London Cider Salon at the Tate Modern, and hosts tastings and events at its London Fields shop.
How did you first get into cider?
“It started around 13 years ago when I discovered a few bottles in a wine shop in Ledbury, Herefordshire. I was spending time there doing some building work on a little family cottage, working from early until late, and this wine shop happened to stay open quite late. I came across a couple of bottles that completely blew my mind. I think lots of people who get into fine cider have a similar experience: they try something that completely changes their perception of what cider can be. For me, it was discovering just how much variety, complexity and history there was behind it.”
What happened next?
“There were really two things that came together. One was discovering these incredible drinks. The other was recognising that they weren't being presented or talked about in a way that reflected their quality. The labels, the language and the way they were being sold all needed to change. Most people know cider, but they don't necessarily know much about cider. I started experimenting with small pop-up events in warehouse spaces in east London, putting out open tables and benches and introducing people to different bottles. I wanted to see whether we could get some of these producers into London's restaurants, which are such important gatekeepers when it comes to food and drink. If we could get chefs and sommeliers excited about the category, it would help demonstrate just how good these liquids could be. That’s how The Fine Cider Co began.”
What’s the difference between fine cider and the mass-market product most people are familiar with?
“It's quite extraordinary how industrialised cider has become. In Britain, the legal definition is relatively broad: a drink only has to contain 35% apple juice to be called cider. That means there's a huge amount of difference between what's available in the mass market and what independent producers are doing. A lot of the biggest brands are essentially made using a combination of water and apple concentrate, with production cycles that can be incredibly quick. Some can go from concentrate to finished cider in as little as seven days. You're missing out on the possibilities of working with different apple varieties, traditional orchards, fermentation methods and the seasons.
“There's also a fascinating history behind sparkling cider itself. The traditional method of producing sparkling cider and perry pre-dates champagne. The development of strong glass bottles and the techniques that allow drinks to undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle have a much longer history in cider and perry than many people realise. I love telling people that if they're swapping sparkling wine for a traditional-method cider, they're drinking something with a heritage that predates champagne.”
When you first started approaching restaurants, did you have to convince them that cider deserved a place on their drinks lists?
“Yes, although my enthusiasm went a long way! I remember going around Borough Market, knocking on doors and cold-calling restaurants. I'm quite an introverted person, so it was terrifying. I would try to drop off a sample, say something vaguely coherent and then run away. But once people tasted the drinks and understood a little more about how they were made, they could see the potential. We started working with some brilliant restaurants quite early on, including Lyle's, and that helped enormously.
“One of the things I've found particularly interesting is how well cider works in wine pairings. Restaurants initially took to putting it on wine flights, rather than necessarily offering it as a standard by-the-glass option. Sommeliers could see that it offered something distinctive and memorable. If you give someone their first genuinely revelatory experience of cider, they're likely to remember the restaurant that introduced them to it. There's also an interesting commercial argument. Rather than offering customers a fairly expensive wine they might already know, you can give them something genuinely different, often at a more accessible price. When someone chooses a pairing, they're handing over a degree of agency to the sommelier. They're saying, 'Show me something good.' That's a wonderful opportunity to introduce them to something unfamiliar.”
Do you think the natural wine movement has helped people become more interested in fine cider?
“I think there's a wider connection. With craft beer and natural wine, people have become much more interested in provenance, quality, small-batch production and knowing where their food and drink come from. Cider benefits from that same shift. There are also some interesting environmental connections. Traditional orchards can be extraordinary ecosystems. You might have cider apple trees that are 200 years old and two storeys high, while some perry pear trees can be even older and larger. They can act as incredible carbon sinks and support a huge amount of bird and wildlife diversity. That's quite different from the way we tend to think about agricultural production. If people start valuing the fruit from these trees by drinking exceptional cider, they're helping support traditional orchards and the people who look after them.
“I wouldn't say the natural wine movement automatically translates into a boom for cider, though. There are different business models and commercial considerations. But I think it's helped open people's minds to the idea that what they're drinking can be much more interesting than a familiar brand on a supermarket shelf.”
Who are some of the British producers people should know about?
“Tom Oliver is a real pioneer. He's one of the most important figures in our world, and his knowledge is extraordinary. He's also responsible for some fascinating discoveries. There's a perry pear variety that had effectively been lost, and Tom rediscovered a tree. It took DNA testing and a couple of years to verify it, but he now makes perry from what is believed to be the only known example of that variety.
“Then there's Wilding, which is a favourite of mine. They make some brilliant natural ciders, including using a method called keeving, which can stop fermentation naturally before the cider becomes completely dry. You retain some of the fruit's natural sweetness without adding anything or manipulating the drink.
“There are some exciting newer producers, too, like Stockley, around the Dorset-Somerset border. Gospel Green makes some fantastic traditional-method sparkling ciders, while Fred and Ted are another producer doing brilliant things. Scotland has also seen a lot of new makers emerge over the past five years. Naughton in Fife produces some exceptional traditional-method bottles. The quality is really impressive. What I love about this world is that every producer has a different story, and the more you discover, the more interesting it becomes.”
Cider is often thought of as a summer drink. How should we be pairing it at this time of year?
“Cheese is an obvious starting point, and one of the best combinations is cider with blue cheese. Think about it in the same way you might approach a dessert wine with stilton. An ice cider, in particular, can be wonderful. You get that lovely balance of sweetness and acidity, so it doesn't just taste like a sweet pudding wine. The acidity keeps everything fresh and works beautifully with the cheese. Perry is also fantastic with oysters. You get lovely citrus notes, acidity and a little sweetness, which works incredibly well with the salinity of the shellfish. We once visited a beautiful perry orchard in Somerset, planted in 1909, with a group of chefs from Lyle's and Kitchen Table. We paired the perry with oysters and even tried using a splash of it as the oyster dressing. It was brilliant.
“White fish and shellfish generally work very well, as do creamy dishes, cured meats and anything with a bit of fat, because the acidity in many ciders cuts through it. But there are less obvious pairings too. Wintry vegetables can be wonderful, particularly if they're smoked or barbecued. Some of the more tannic Herefordshire ciders can also work beautifully with beef, offering an alternative to red wine. And cider can be surprisingly good with spicy food. There are certain styles that work brilliantly with heat, where wine might struggle. It's a broad category, and part of the fun is experimenting.”
What does cider offer that wine and beer don't?
“It can have the complexity and variety of wine, but with a completely different set of possibilities. There are fermentation methods you can use in cider that aren't possible with wine, and the range of apples and pears gives you an enormous amount to explore. I also think there's a good argument for thinking about cider as an alternative to wine at lunchtime. You can enjoy all those lovely flavours and the experience of having something interesting with food, but often at a lower alcohol level. It can be a brilliant choice for a long lunch or even an evening during the week.”
What are you most excited about in the future of the industry?
“In some ways, there's almost more happening elsewhere in the world than there is here. Scandinavia has been particularly exciting. Even Bergen airport has an amazing selection of ciders. I can't imagine Bristol airport offering the same range of independent British bottles just yet. There's exciting work happening in the US too, as well as Japan and South America. I recently went to a cider festival in Chile and discovered some wonderful things. The international scene has moved forward enormously over the past decade, and it's difficult to keep up with everything.
“I'm also encouraged by how much better the best producers are getting. The calibre of what they're releasing is constantly improving, and we're working with restaurants and customers who are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about the category. They're finding interesting ways to introduce these bottles to people, even when most of their customers might never have tried them before. There's a real momentum building. Given everything that's happening in the wider economy, it's encouraging that we've continued to see demand grow. Looking back ten years, I couldn't have imagined we'd be where we are now.”
Visit TheFineCider.Company
/https%3A%2F%2Fslman.com%2Fsites%2Fslman%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F11%2Fthe-newt-orchards.png)
THE MAKER
Charlie Inns, senior cyder maker at The Newt in Somerset
Five-star Somerset hotel The Newt doesn’t make cider. It makes cyder – a nod to the estate’s Georgian origins. Its orchards are home to 70 varieties of apple trees and each year the team creates four limited editions.
How did you get into cyder making?
“My grandad and great-grandad were both cider makers, so I was raised with it. It’s always been a part of my life. There’s a lot of soul in the cider industry. It’s a humble industry, and I really like the lack of pretentiousness. Everyone knows everyone, and there’s a real sense of community.”
Why do you think cider is having a moment?
“Alcohol levels in wine across Europe are getting quite crazy as the climate gets hotter. Higher temperatures mean more sugar in the grapes, which ultimately leads to higher alcohol levels. Apples can fill that gap quite nicely, as they naturally contain less sugar, allowing us to produce ciders with lower alcohol levels while still offering plenty of flavour and complexity.
“I think this moment has also been driven by tradition, and people having a greater respect for that tradition than they used to. People are looking for better quality, better-made cider. Drinking culture is moving away from the cheap, mass-produced cider that’s simply there to get you drunk, towards something more considered and higher-end, where cider can be enjoyed alongside food in the same way as wine.”
Talk us through the cyders you make at The Newt…
“We approach cider in much the same way as wine, and different styles naturally lend themselves to different foods and occasions. At The Newt, we produce quite a varied range. Our Wyvern Wing is a fine still cider made from Braeburn apples, with a lovely freshness and crispness that makes it particularly good with fish, scallops or as an aperitif. Our Dabinett is matured in oak, giving it a rounder, more complex character that works well with richer foods and cheeses. We also produce The Winston, a bottle-fermented sparkling cider made using traditional techniques, which is wonderful for celebrations or special occasions. At the sweeter end, our Yarlington Mill ice cider is rich and concentrated, making it a lovely match for desserts.”
What does cider offer that wine and beer don’t?
“Cider is much more light-hearted and fruit forward, and generally lower in alcohol than wine. There’s also an environmental argument to be made. Beer production requires a lot of energy, particularly when it comes to heating and boiling the malts, and rising energy costs have put increasing pressure on the industry. With cider, you’re essentially taking a locally grown fruit, crushing it, fermenting it and, ideally, selling it locally. There’s something wonderfully simple and sensible about that. It’s a good way of making a drink, and one that really celebrates the land it comes from.”
/https%3A%2F%2Fslman.com%2Fsites%2Fslman%2Ffiles%2Farticles%2F2026%2F11%2Fsl-man-cider-111126-showerings-landscape.jpg)
Is the language around cider changing? Are people talking about terroir, vintage, fermentation and orchard varieties in the same way they talk about wine?
“Definitely. Particularly in the US, where I think they’re a couple of years ahead of us in this respect. People are increasingly talking about cider in the same way they would talk about fine wine, looking at the varieties, the vintage and the influence of terroir. This estate is particularly special because it’s the original terroir of five of the world’s great cider apple varieties. There’s an incredible amount of history here, and I think people are beginning to recognise just how much the land and growing conditions influence what’s in the glass.”
What makes a really good cider?
“It begins with the best ingredients – just as a top chef would insist on the highest-quality produce. You start with really good apples, carefully grade out the bad ones, and take proper care of the fruit from the beginning. Then it’s about fermenting it nice and slowly, using the correct type of yeast and paying attention to every stage of the process. You care about ester development (the compounds that create fruity and floral flavours in cider), the secondary and tertiary flavours, autolysis and the racking techniques. You don’t just ferment it, filter it and put it in a bottle. You mature it properly and give it the time it deserves. Ultimately, it’s about putting time, love and care into every stage of production, and I think that’s what separates a really good cider from what most people traditionally imagine cider to be.”
How much does the apple variety affect the flavour?
“It’s very similar to grapes. Some apples are more tannic, some are more acidic, some have higher sugar levels, and others produce interesting esters that influence their aroma and flavour. For instance, we grow Red Love apples, which aren’t traditional cider apples, but they contain particularly high levels of ethyl butanoate, a compound associated with those lovely fruity, strawberry-like aromas. Some varieties also need a great deal of maturation. We make a Vilberie cider that has taken us two and a half years to produce because of the tannins in the apples. By maturing it in oak, we can gradually soften those tannins, and the result is just fantastic. It’s beautifully smooth.”
What role do the orchard, the soil and the climate play in the finished product?
“A huge role. A Yarlington Mill apple grown within the village limits of Yarlington will have a completely different flavour from a Yarlington Mill apple grown in Herefordshire. I recently tried a Yarlington Mill cider from Korea, which was incredible, but completely different again. It had the same recognisable aroma, but a really different flavour. Climate makes a big difference too. Essentially, the hotter the climate, the more sugar you’ll tend to get and the smaller the apples can become. So you end up with less juice, but potentially more alcohol. A hotter climate can make for a stronger cider. Soil is equally important. Here, we’ve got quite brackish soil with a lot of sandstone, so it’s very free-draining. We can end up with fairly high sugar levels, but we also experience waterlogging in the autumn, which can influence the development of sorbitol, an unfermentable sugar, in the apples. That gives the cider this rather unusual underlying sweetness. I know a grower in Radstock who’s growing exactly the same varieties, and the results are completely different. That’s the fascinating thing about terroir. You can take the same apple variety and end up with two very different ciders simply because of where it’s grown.”
What is the most exciting thing happening in British cider right now?
“I think one of the most exciting developments is that we’re now making ciders to the same rigorous specifications as champagne, using traditional bottle-fermentation methods. That’s making a real difference to the quality and complexity of what’s being produced. People are also starting to take vintage years much more seriously, recognising that, just as with wine, each growing season produces something different. I think that’s a really exciting step forward for British cider.”
Are restaurants, bars and specialist retailers treating cider differently now?
“Definitely. Cider is gaining a much stronger reputation, and we’re seeing it being taken much more seriously, particularly in restaurants. The fact that fine ciders are now appearing on wine lists is a really positive sign. Our Wyvern Wing, for example, is an 8% cider that’s made using precise winemaking techniques, and it’s a great example of how cider can sit comfortably alongside fine wines. It’s encouraging to see restaurants recognising that quality and giving cider the attention it deserves.”
How should it be served?
“The beauty of cider is that you can drink it however you like. It’s not hung up on any particular rules or criteria, and I think that’s one of its greatest qualities. Personally, I quite like a warm cider. I’ll happily have a bottle that’s just been sitting in my front room, sit by the fire, play a bit of chess and enjoy a nice, oaky still cider. If it’s fizzy, I’d generally serve it cold, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with having it over ice either. I’ve done that plenty of times myself. Ultimately, it’s about enjoying it however you prefer.”
Finally, what should cider first-timers look out for when choosing a cider to drink?
“I’d generally look for a cider that’s above 5% alcohol, as some of the lower-strength, mass-produced ciders can be heavily diluted or made using concentrates, water and glucose syrup. That’s not to say all lower-alcohol ciders are like that, but it’s something worth being aware of. I’d also look for a cider made from 100% apple juice, without added sweeteners, and choose a reputable maker who clearly cares about the quality of their product. In terms of the fruit, it’s always interesting to try a single-varietal cider, where you can really get a sense of the individual apple’s character. But blends can be just as interesting and complex. The important thing is to look for something that’s been properly made, with good fruit and plenty of care.”
Visit TheNewtInSomerset.com
THE BRAND
Nick Showering, CEO of Showerings Cider
The Showering family has been making award-winning Somerset cider for over 180 years. Today, Nick Showering is in charge and he’s launched Showerings Triple Vintage, a dry and gently carbonated fine cider made from a blend of three vintages sourced from award-winning orchards.
What do you find special about cider?
“My family have been making cider since 1843. Conversations about cider started at home from a very young age. What I love about cider is the locality and history. At Showerings, we have control from apple seed to bottle and the whole process happens within a six-mile radius. I also love how ancient cider is. It’s one of the first sparkling alcoholic drinks, pre-dating the Roman empire and far outdating champagne.”
Why do you think cider is having a moment?
“There’s a collection of smaller makers who are producing cider as it should be, so people are starting to recognise its potential when costs aren’t cut. Cider has long been made cheaply, driven by price wars and competition between mainstream cider brands. Over the past few years, some makers have decided to put quality first. This combined with a wider alcohol consumption trend of ‘less but better’ has seen fine cider rise in popularity.”
What does cider offer that wine and beer don’t?
“Cider is a completely different drink to beer. The reason people associate the two is because they are often both served in pint glasses, side by side at the local pub. One difference to beer is that cider is gluten free. Cider is a far closer relative to wine. The easiest way to imagine the difference between cider and wine is to compare the difference between eating grapes and apples. They both have their merits and both serve different occasions and food pairings. For example, honey roasted ham – you’d struggle to find a wine that pairs better than a fine cider.”
What role do the orchard, the soil and the climate play in the finished product?
“Both soil and climate impact flavour profile and health of apples. This year for example, we had an incredible amount of sun, and very little rain. This meant the apples were very sweet, but small yields of juice. More sugar present means a stronger finished cider.”
How has cider-making changed over the past decade?
“The basic principles of making cider haven’t changed, but there has been a shift by some makers towards prioritising quality, rather than cost. That has always been my approach with Showerings – worry about making the best cider you can, then work out how much you need to charge people, rather than cost-engineering cider production with a retail price target in mind.”
How should it be served?
“Every cider is different, but with Showerings I suggest chilled, without ice, into an over-sized stemmed wine glass. The bittersweet tannic structure of Showerings pairs exceptionally well with richer dishes and spice. My favourite pair is a spicy lamb curry. More traditional cider food pairings also work, such as pork and creamy cheeses.”
Finally, are restaurants, bars and specialist retailers treating cider differently now?
“Progressive ones are. Simon Rogan, Alain Roux and Clare Smyth all stock Showerings in their three-Michelin-starred restaurants. These types of venues see the appeal to customers in the sustainability and local sourcing that cider can offer. One of my favourite restaurants is Rules, London’s oldest restaurant. It specialises in British dishes, especially game. As we’re one of the oldest cider makers in the country, I’ve always felt there’s a lovely synergy between Showerings and Rules. More widely, cider is often finding its way onto tasting menus as an interesting alternative to wine. Why not pair one dish with a locally made cider, instead of a wine that has travelled from South Africa?”
Visit ShoweringsCider.co.uk
SHOP THE EDIT
DISCLAIMER: We endeavour to always credit the correct original source of every image we use. If you think a credit may be incorrect, please contact us at [email protected].
/https%3A%2F%2Fslman.com%2Fsites%2Fslman%2Ffiles%2Fwebsite-images%2F2026%2F10%2Fslman-full-bleed-reversed.jpg)
