So erm... 15 years of being T total came to an end recently, realising there is actually (in my opinion) some alcohol I like drinking in moderation. I always hated getting drunk and out of control, and hated pretty much everything except the odd Cider.
Sat drinking a Thatcher's "Cox's" Single Variety right now, very nice it is too. Have tried pretty much all the usual suspects (all the Thatchers range, Stowfords, Stella Cidre, Strongbow) and some of the less well known so far over the last few weeks. What I have learnt so far is that I tend to prefer a medium to a dry cider (but not sweet), and to some extent the stronger it is (Henry Weston's Vintage, Aspall's) the better it tastes!
What else to try? Short of going down to the local scrumpy house that is... Looking for something I'm likely to find in my local Supermarket or Bargain Booze, that will tickle my tastebuds nicely!
Mulled cider. It taste's like Strudel.
All other cider is a nasty alternative to beer. Scrumpy....*shudders*.....bad times
Now I've remembered Beesting....and I'm about to puke.
Currently holding a bottle of Wild Wood Classic Cider - not my usual tipple but very refreshing and surprisingly relaxing!
All other cider is a nasty alternative to beer.
Wouldn't drink beer, of any sorts, if you paid me mate! Different strokes for different folks of course, but I like apples rather than hops...
Currently holding a bottle of Wild Wood Classic Cider
Hmmm... A Weston's Cider I've not yet tried, will have to go get some soon!
mboy - youre localish to me, so somewhere in your locals you should be able to get hold of some Robinsons Flagon cider.
Ive been brought up on Stofords from the teet, but That flagon is excellent - nice balance of flavour, sweet & dry.
TBH I drink quite a bit. Im rarely ashamed of that. Pubs are the heart of the places I live, its where I meet new friends and leanr a lot of new stuff. I respect teetotalism, but it grates when teetotallers start a phrase with a line that (probably unintentially) belittles those who like to drink in moderation as part of their social life.
I have some of my own brew cider and perry in the shed, and am going to have a crack at beer soon.
I highly recommend a visit to Stofords (westons) if you get the chance, fascinating stuff, especially the naming of the casks! 🙂
You're right, I think I've just drank myself to oblivion one to many times on cider.
Westons oak matured medium sweet cider is as close to perfection as it's possible to get without tearing a hole in the space time continueum. If it weren't for the potential liver failure it would be the only thing I'd drink.
I love cider (Henry Weston Vintage Reserve....yum), but have recently found a love for proper alcoholic ginger beer 😀
For barn door Tesco type, can't beat the Stella Cidre...
DrP
Another recommendation for Flagon here, I've only found it in one pub local to me in Droitwich but it tastes good enough to keep going back 🙂
For big brands, Westons all.the way.
For smaller, slightly different, try Crones "User Friendly".
Black Rat - Costco were doing it cheap as well
Black Fox by Dunkertons I think
Henney's do some nice stuff - esp their dry cider
Westons Wild Wood is their organic cider re-branded.
Dunkertons use to make Rum Perry that was quite a little rib tickler.
Westons Perry also interesting.
For barn door Tesco type, can't beat the Stella Cidre...
I find all stella products taste chemically - & give monstrous hangovers, even after 2-3..
I do like the claen crisp taste of Aspall, but it does make one fall over frighteningly quickly!
I am lucky enough, though, to have this nice shop local to me!
http://www.theessexcidershop.co.uk/1_2_Products.html
Thatchers Cheddar Valley ,real cider not like that poncy stuff from Stella
That Stella stuff really is pretty rank. For the same effect you may as well stuff a handfull of Haribo in your mouth and wash it down with a slug of vodka
A summer favourite is a pint glass, loaded with ice, a bottle of fiery ginger beer and half a pint of the strongest cloudiest scrumpy you can find. A real thirst quencher. I was introduced to it as "Steady Bonkers" by a former forumista for which Im ever grateful!
here's some of the vats at Westons:
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some of the vat names are great including:
Cosy Corner
Wembley next to...
...Hereford United (the closest Hereford United ever got to Wembley)
Ironclad
Wilfred
Wallace,
Grommet,
Wendolene,
Preston,
and Shaun
to name a few. I have the whole list here 🙂
Gwatkin, Yarlington Mill is good stuff. I order it by the box straight from their website from time to time, but it isn't cheap.
I'll like Aspalls. I had a lovely cider in the world beer bar in York-can't remember what it was called. I've had the Robinson's Flagon cider Stoner-i liked that too....I think that it was in a pub near to Ludlow?
Gwatkins anything is good. Stella anything is bad.
Cheddar Valley is for mentalists. I just can't get away with the stuff no matter how hard I try.
Old Bristolian is lovely and so is Janet's Jungle Juice.
See here for inspiration:
[url= http://www.bristolcidershop.co.uk/ ]http://www.bristolcidershop.co.uk/[/url]
[url= http://www.robinsonscider.com/draught_cider.aspx ]Its made in tenbury, Tom, so quite probably found near ludlow.[/url]
Henneys Dry, Aspalls Dry, Malvern Oak, Cornish Orchards Gold, Gwynt y Ddraig Black Dragon to name but a few
Malvern Oak
Knights Cider Mill is open at the weekend for sales to the public. You can get bottles of the oak or gold direct (also sold in waitrose, but not sure how far a field as Knights is only a very small producer). But for proper gum cleaning, get a flagon of cider straight from the tap in the wall. 😯
If you're ever out near Mark Moor then Rich's is worth a visit,makes Cheddar Valley taste like battery acid 🙂 and you can mix your own flavour
Another vote for Henney's (dry), Westons (Vintage) and Aspall (Premier Cru)...with the clean crisp taste of the Premier Cru edging it more often than not.
Those of you who enjoy the Aspall but prefer something a little less strong, they do a medium-dry bottled 'draught' cider at around 5% which is very nice...fruitier than the Cru, though not as widely available.
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Aspall's is my current favourite.
That bottle above ^ you can get in my local Tesco. And very nice it is too.
Lilly's Cider Barn I can recommend; good delivery service of bottled cider and will also sell draught cider - which in my opinion is the best, but doesn't last long!
http://www.lilleysciderbarn.com/
Ashton Press is pretty good on draught, as is Bath Ales' Bounder. I tend to stick to cider in pubs - Aspalls and Stowford Press are also acceptable. Blackthorn isn't.
Whatever happened to Woodpecker? It was the heart of my under-age drinking in the late 60s.
I like Rekorderlig, but probably not to the OP's taste, as they are on the sweeter side.
http://www.rekorderlig.com/uk/
@mboy - I am a big fan of French cider primarily from Normandy and Brittany, generally less sweet. Often drunk from small earthenware cups and served with Gallettes (savory crepe's). Varying strengths but generally less strong than UK equivalent.
Waitrose do a Vintage French as well as a decent range of other ciders. Sainsbury's used to do a really good one, not sure if they still do.
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Seriously?
get a grip lads!
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Oh and the other rugby club favourite, Black Rat 😀
Has to be purchased in poly bottles to taste right
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Addlestones makes you keel over sideways, very, very quickly
If you are ever near Pershore, you've got to try the Monkey House at Defford
[url= http://www.heritagepubs.org.uk/pubs/national-inventory-entry.asp?pubid=191 ]The Monkey House[/url]
Ah, Addlestones. Whilst not particularly strong at around 5%, there is definitely a secret falling-over ingredient in there somewhere.
Weston's Reserve @ 8.2% is sublime.
Aspall's is also very good.
Cheddar Valley - is that the luminous orange one?
graham - I think the monkey house has pretty much closed down now has it not? I go past it twice a week and not seen any cars there for a few years now. I'd heard that the landlady has finally retired and it's her home.
Cornish Rattler...soooooooooooo nice ice cold on a sunny day. Very easy drinking. Have a sister that lives local so when she comes up to see us she put a good few bottles in the car.
http://www.thecornishcyderfarm.co.uk/prodcyder.htm
Been dribbling whilst reading this thread...
I like cider 😆
Not sure I could pin point a favourite, I like many!
There is one made in the Quantocks, that tastes much better when you pop a large gin in the pint 😯 a tip learnt from a 18 year old barmaid!!
Anything by Thatchers; the bottled single varieties you get in the shops are very clean. Cheddar Valley is perhaps a tad too orange but it's tasty!
Wilkins of Mudgely... giggle... nuff said.
Addlestones is probably the best that Gaymers are making at the moment, if you like industrial cider.
IF you live in Bristol you can always go down to the westons farm shop and try/buy cider by the gallon, win 😀
I was in Cheddar in the summer and came across Willikins cider - just a local press available in a handful of pubs. Still, a tiny bit cloudy, medium dry, and with an effect like Cheddar Valley.
Twas a fun evening!
Just found [url= http://ciderpages.blogspot.co.uk/ ]this[/url] on the internets, a man after my own heart!
Edit - [url= http://wilkinscider.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=58 ]Wilkins Cider Farm[/url]
Dunkertons --
There is one made in the Quantocks
I drank a pint of something in the Blue Ball pub that was unlike anything else I had ever tried, burning feeling at back of throat, trouble focussing etc Turns out the bloke sat next to me made it, can't remember what it was called, he couldn't remember how strong it was, around 9% at a guess.
Mmmmmmm 😀
http://www.camrabristol.org.uk/news7.html
🙁
I knew Michelle for many years.
This was the bestest off license in all of Brizzle. She had 2 and sometimes 3 massive rottweilers and as a result the shop smelt of cider and dog. All local ales and cider on tap and in bottles. People came from all over the city. Massive loss IMHO.
Green Goblin - Originally Wychwood's now Thatchers.
[img] http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTE7IMP5lsfzhOQ9jxqu959Y2Kd42KPTWpvQDtSYhjYSXpdhLm0 [/img]
Hogans the local drop from a mile or so up the road ,Also do a perry
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Waitrose own is very nice too .. Again also do an awesome perry ,strong stuff too.
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And already mentioned Gwatkins. my fave being a perry
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Damn i'm feeling thirsty now ...
spectabilis if Hogans is just Up the road from you, where do you live? I'm in welland.
I'm sure Westons make waitrose cider.
ah, just seen you're in warks which means there are two Hogans 🙂
the "real" bulmers as brewed in clonmel.
Stoner,
yes im talking about [url= http://www.hoganscider.co.uk ]Hogan's[/url]
incidentally when speaking to Mr Hogan he suggested that Westons made the waitrose stuff ...
This was the bestest off license in all of Brizzle
Very sad day when she passed away. Gutted the family don't want to keep it going.
Went to an Asturias cider festival in June, definately similar to the scrumpy I had as a "yuff". very tasty.
For supermarket cider I do like the aspalls premier cru.
A local pub also does Old Rosie that I'm occasionally tempted by. If you want a rapid route to lying in the street a dribbling mess then it's definitely the way to go!
Have been put off my cider a little recently after a friend of mine who's a heavy cider drinker told me about his visit to the dentist 😐
[url= http://www.thatcherscider.co.uk/product/the-cider/premium/thatchers-old-rascal-cider.ashx ]My favourite, favourite[/url]
Just cracked this open...
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Not bad at all if a little dry for my tastes
Cider Bar, Newton Abbot. I don't care how much you think you can drink, it will make you fall over and probably puke. It's great !
There is another pub in Droitwich that sells Thatchers Gold with slush puppy ice in it !!! surprisingly refreshing after a ride !
If you are ever near Pershore, you've got to try the Monkey House at Defford
Properly made me laugh that!
I grew up in Pershore, and when I was a kid spent many a Friday or Saturday evening taxiing my mates back from the Monkey House... Still not sure even now I'd be brave enough to try it!
stoner, where do you drink normally? Was in the Nag's last Thursday night, [i]might[/i] have had more than my fair share of Thatcher's that night! 😳
Not bad at all if a little dry for my tastes
Sadly for a boy from Worcester, I can't abide the Pear! 😕 Apples all the way for me...
Another vote for Henney's (dry), Westons (Vintage) and Aspall (Premier Cru)...with the clean crisp taste of the Premier Cru edging it more often than not.
Will check the others out, but so far, the Weston's Vintage is definitely my tipple of choice. Quite liking the Thatcher's single variety's for a slightly less strong choice though. Had 2 pints of the Cox's single variety last night, very sharp taste, good for a pint or two but not so sure for after that.
There is another pub in Droitwich that sells Thatchers Gold with slush puppy ice in it !!! surprisingly refreshing after a ride !
Which pub's that Renton?
Hey Stoner, still opens a few days a week, def sundays, Mrs C is winding down to retirement.
As its a school night and normally a riding night, and I'm not riding, I am enjoying a nice big bottle of Morrison's med / dry.
Tastes like stoford press.... but its 5.3% compared to stofords 4.5%....
Its cheap as chips too! £1.26 a litre :-).
I'm a happy cider drinker 🙂
aha - still ticking over then graham. I must try and drop in with my bro (eckington) one night at the weekend.
mboy - I used to live a few hundred yards from the Nags. Its a Tough life 😉
But now my local is the Plume of Feathers on castlemorton common from whence I have just returned after a post-plumbing skool pint. Although I can be found in any one of 10 local pubs depending on the day and the weather 🙂
BTW - mboy, pershore was my haunt as a young'un. Used to go to my mates farm at Besford from Elmley on my scooter and then he and I would drive back to the Plough in his tractor 🙂
Fell through the back window of the angel one new years eve too 😳
As its a school night and normally a riding night, and I'm not riding, I am enjoying a nice big bottle of Morrison's med / dry.
Tastes like stoford press.... but its 5.3% compared to stofords 4.5%....Its cheap as chips too! £1.26 a litre :-).
I'm a happy cider drinker
I like your maths! I shall have to investigate...
mboy - I used to live a few hundred yards from the Nags. Its a Tough life
Forget the beers and ciders on tap in there. Have you tried their special Scotch Eggs? WOW! Quite simply the BEST PUB SNACK EVER!
aha - still ticking over then graham. I must try and drop in with my bro (eckington) one night at the weekend.
It ain't half a small world eh! My Dad lives in Eckington, just by the railway bridge!
Although I can be found in any one of 10 local pubs depending on the day and the weather
Good call! All post bike ride of course? 😉
those scotch eggs must be new. are they http://www.handmadescotcheggs.co.uk/ ?
As it happens the coppice I work is opposite them at Bishops Frome. They have a shop on the shambles in Worcester as well as at Clives Fruit Farm in Upton.
Bets scotch eggs in the world. And a great company too.
I think they are stoner, certainly the Chilli one I had the other day was bloody lovely (and sounds just like the ones from the website you linked to)...
Very sad day when she passed away. Gutted the family don't want to keep it going.
Me too. I grew up around the corner from there. It's where I used to buy my rizla!
Round here there is the Wilkins diet an afternoon at the farm and you lose 5 days
Cheddar Valley is perhaps a tad too orange but it's tasty!
Its the beetroot they colour it with that makes it look like that .They used to grow it where the cycle path crosses their land before they planted an orchard
Three pages in and nobody has mentioned this stuff http://www.gwyntcider.com/gyd/
Orchard Gold is gorgeous...Firey Fox is like freshly squeezed apple juice... but makes your legs stop working.... especially good when its a post ride guest pint at the Kinmel Arms also like Henneys and that Westons Organic does reduce hangovers... a :wink:bit
inspired by this thread I stopped at the supermarket on the way home and picked up something from the cider aisle that wasn't obviously a mass produced one, and purely by chance ended up with a bottle of Weston's Oak Aged Vintage, which has been noted a couple of times above. Lovely.
However, just noticed it's 8 and a bit % and because I'm such a lightweight / so out of practice, my head feels a bit wobbly now.
All good.
Westons Oak aged - two bottles and i start feeling happy
Thatchers vintage 2011 is nice as well
I tried a bottle of bulmers something or other about a month a go (yellow label on it) it was rank i couldn't even drink it all
drinking henry westons 8.2% vintage 2 for £3 at co-op
made 30 litres of cider from apples at work last year, old varieties by all accounts, really nice, but sneaks up on you !
try tillington hills from co-op - not too fizzy, in a clear wine bottle type bottle - really nice, my fav
Mmmmmmmmmmm... Lyne Down cider...
They used to do a cider that was matured in old whisky barrels; pure nectar!
Sadly, it's no longer available as they can't get hold of the barrels any more (all shipped off to the Far East, apparently).
Aspalls for me, on tap in my local. I love the way the colour changes throughout the year as the apples change.
I'll second the secret falling-over ingredient in Addlestones. Many unhealthy evenings and even more unhealthy mornings from my yout' can trace their origins to that particular tipple.
Westons Old Rosie is another brain melting favourite, and in fact was my weapon of choice alongside a nice full English at 9am on the day they brought on 24hr drinking... Happy times...
Mboy,
sorry for the delay.
The pub is called the Hop Pole which is down by the fire station.
Resurrecting this thread for a minor update on my findings so far... Oh and yes Renton, think I've been in there, though years ago with my ex GF, and I wasn't drinking back then.
Anyway... Currently sat drinking a Thatcher's Rose for the first time. It may look like a gay pink wine, but it's really rather tasty! Also been very partial to a Thatcher's Katy on occasion, Weston's Vintage and Weston's Medium Dry, Black Fox is quite nice. But I think my 2 favourites so far are Weston's Organic, and Aspall's Organic. Either are bloody lovely!
Anyone for any more suggestions?