Secret Orchard Cider, a small-batch craft producer with dual bases in Exmoor and Cornwall, has launched its largest range of ciders yet.
The brand is already ranked among the best of a new wave of craft cider-makers in the UK, having won Gold at The British Cider Championships in 2017.
The still and sparkling ciders are the result of a strong harvest last year and showcase the finest West Country fruit and low-intervention production methods.
Co-founder Joe Heley said: “We are really proud of these new ciders, and of the diverse range we are now able to offer. Each is made from pure juice rather than concentrate, and each has been carefully blended from fruit sourced from orchards high in biodiversity.”
Apples from Somerset and Cornish orchards are pressed, fermented and blended separately in order to preserve regional character; the Cornish ciders are “generally crisp and light”, while the Somerset blends have “more weight and body”.
Heley and fellow cider enthusiast Todd Studley have been perfecting their pruning, picking and pressing techniques since 2012.
Studley added: “Our methods are natural and labour intensive when we’re dealing with orchards and fruit, then once we have extracted the juice we do as little as possible, relying on wild yeasts and refraining from adding sulphites. Our approach is really paying off and we’ve gained a very loyal following.”
