Who's behind the cider and where is it made?

Hi! We're Lydia and Tom, husband and wife, natural cider makers and small holders based just outside the book filled town of Hay on Wye, nestled in the wild Welsh marches on the sun soaked slopes at the foot of the Black Mountains. 

How did you get into cider making?

With previous careers in theatre costume and science (green energy and solar cell research and development) and a shared love of the planet, art and excellent booze, we found ourselves perfectly equipped to join forces and launch Artistraw back in 2017.

Both passionate environmentalists, making cider seemed like a natural fit, and indeed something Tom has been doing each season since 2003! From caring for and restoring ancient orchards to protecting old varieties by grafting them and planting them into owr own orchard, we believe cider making offers endless ways to make a positive difference to the Earth.

What kind of cider do you make?

We make natural cider. That means no adding of sugar, water or sulphites. The cider is also unpasteurized and fermented spontaneously using the apples’ wonderful wild yeasts. We only use fruit that the two of us have handpicked from unsprayed, biodiversity rich, traditional standard orchards and are as local to our home as possible.  We're also super proud to be the first UK cidery to publish the carbon emissions associated with each bottle of cider. You can read more about that here!

How many different ciders do you make?

Every batch of cider we make is unique. When you make cider naturally there are many variables which change with each season meaning that it's impossible to produce exactly the same thing twice. Sometimes we are able to recreate a particular blend but it will always be slightly different from the previous vintage! It's what makes natural cidermaking so exciting for us! 

 We release two main collections of cider a year. One in the Spring and one in the Autumn. These collections always have a wide range of different styles and are a perfect way to get a feel for what we do if you haven't tried our cider before.

Who designs your labels?

All of the label artwork and graphic design is done in house by Lydia and stuck to the bottles using an up-cycled, and crucially, plastic free glue invented by Tom. They take an equal share in the orcharding and cider making, although if asked, each will tell you they are the chief cider maker!

We very much hope you enjoy trying our ever changing range of natural ciders!