MY CIDER EXPERIENCE

After being so warmly greeted by the staff at the Stable we had a welcome glass of cider and took our seats. They taught us the difference between West Country, modern, flavoured, perry and keeved ciders (who knew there was so many types of cider?).

I struggled to pick my favourite between Crafty Nectar’s No.8 and the Dudda’s Tun’s apricot cider. I ended up voting for the No.8 cider because of my love for rhubarb and custard flavoured things. Not only this but the bottle has drawings of different shape and size boobs on it like my phone case! The apricot cider was very delicious too and was like drinking fruit juice, so I highly recommend both if you like flavoured cider.

My next favourite was the Nightbird cider, it was light in colour and is made from dessert, cox and bramley apples so it has a very appley flavour. Another cider that tasted appley (if that is even a real word) was Cockeyed’s Mad Jack, which is cloudy, 100% juice and is a West Country cider. Cider only needs to be 35% juice so any that are 100% you know are good quality. If you like West Country ciders Bumblebee’s Hard Cider was popular amongst the crowd. This was a fizzy cider that I found slightly bitter like a wine or Prosecco. The thing I loved about this brand is they use bumblebees to pollenate the orchid (hence the name) and we all know those little guys need some help.  The other cider that has a cool story behind the name is Trenchmore’s Silly Moo cider. This cider is 100% juice, made in Sussex from cider and mostly eating apples which they feed to the cows after and they get a little tipsy.

Hallets’ PX cider is matured in a sherry cask and was smooth and not bitter. You could really taste the sherry flavours coming through, making it unique. Another cider that is unique is Ramborn’s Perry cider as it is from Luxemburg and the Stable is the only place in the UK that sells it in keg form. I found it not too bitter, fresh and easy to drink. This is a pear cider and is the only one from the tasing making it even more unique.

Pilton’s Murmuration cider had a strong, farm smell (which is a really good thing apparently) and way back when this was what people strived for. This cider is made with green apples which you can taste as it has that slightly bitter sweet taste. Finally, Gospel Green’s cyder is a champagne cider made in Herodforshire. This tastes just like champagne which I’m not a fan of and so this wasn’t one of my favourites but if you like champagne you will love, love, love this one.

The whole cider tasting experience was thoroughly enjoyable and I would highly recommend heading to your local Stable to give it a go. We even got to try Spanish cider tasting which was so fun. Even if you aren’t a massive cider fan, the food that they provided us with was incredible so go try your favourite items on the menu, the staff are so friendly and will be happy to host you.