What we got up to when Adam Henson of Countryfile came to visit Artistraw Cider!
We were delighted when earlier in the year, one of the BBC’s flagship shows, Countryfile, got in touch to invite us to appear on an episode dedicated entirely to cider!
Presenter Adam Henson donned a pair of our iconic yellow dungarees (although sadly not a red hat) and joined us in Duffryn orchard to help us pick some Knotted kernel apples from a beautiful 90 year old tree. We were also delighted to show him the work we’ve undertaken to graft and re-plant sections of the old orchard. Later in the day we met back at Artistraw HQ and fired up our eccentric vintage French travelling apple press. Adam got stuck in helping Tom to build the cheeses ready for pressing whilst Lydia kept the machine fed with apples!
Where can I watch the episode?
The episode called 'A Tale of Two Ciders' was broadcast at 17:15 on Sunday 12th October on BBC1 and is available to watch on the BBC iplayer here.
Which cider did Adam Henson try on the Countryfile episode?
After a long day of cider making we treated Adam to a glass of our naturally sparkling cider ‘Flock’. As well as delighting at the deliciousness of the cider, Adam was also very complimentary about Lydia’s painting of orchard birds which we have used as the label art. You can get your hands on a bottle here.
What are the differences between small scale and industrial cider?
We hope that appearing on this episode of Countryfile will help to shine a light on the craft and mystery of natural cider making and lay bare the differences between the full juice, small batch wine-like drinks that we make here at Artistraw and routinely diluted cider made at an industrial scale.
The legal definition of cider in the UK stipulates that cider need only contain 35% apple juice. The other 65% of ingredients typically will include water, sugar, malic acid and sodium metabisulphite, alongside permitted colours, flavours and preservatives. Frustratingly for pure juice cider producers like ourselves, there isn't a universal legal requirement to list all ingredients on cider labels in the UK for alcoholic beverages over 1.2% ABV meaning that should they wish to, producers can legally get away with calling something that is majority added water by the name cider.
On the one hand the government is subsidising landowners to avoid further grubbing up of old orchards, which leads to losses of critical habitat for farmland biodiversity, yet on the other hand the alcohol taxation system encourages cidermakers to dilute their product and sharply reduce demand for the very things that orchards produce: apples. It’s little wonder that apples are not a particularly profitable crop for farmers when they can be substituted with much cheaper water at a rate of 2:1. We believe the legal definition of British cider is long overdue a review, if only for the farmers’ sake!
On the one hand the government is subsidising landowners to avoid further grubbing up of old orchards, which leads to losses of critical habitat for farmland biodiversity, yet on the other hand the alcohol taxation system encourages cidermakers to dilute their product and sharply reduce demand for the very things that orchards produce: apples.
We are proud to have an ingredient list on every batch of cider we produce. Whilst it couldn’t be any shorter, containing one single ingredient: apples; we believe it is important that consumers of our drinks know exactly what is (and isn't!) going into them.
Whilst our drinks will never be able to compete on price with the mass produced end of the industry, we believe and hope you also feel, that the money you pay for our cider is reasonable given the amount of time and back breaking work we pour into each bottle! Our ciders will always be made solely from fruit handpicked by Tom and I from ancient, unsprayed, biodiverse orchards. We’ve no interest in trying to turn our myriad different varieties into one predictable product. When you drink our cider, you’re tasting one of a handful of bottles created from the fruit from maybe a single tree, or perhaps an orchard blend. It’s a snapshot of a single season in that orchard’s life; a measure of how much rain the trees roots received and the reflection of warm sunshine that kissed a blush onto the skin of the fruit.
'[Our ciders represent] a snapshot of a single season in that orchards life; a portrait of how much rain the trees roots received and the amount of warm sunshine that kissed a blush onto the skin of the fruit.'
We're delighted that the wonderful Countryfile team took the time to help up shine a light on our greatest passion and we look forward to sharing our creations with you!
