The Ten Best Ciders and Perries

2. Cox’s Apple Cider - £1.79 for 500ml
With supermarket and off-licence shelves dominated by “over-ice” ciders and the familiar mass-market labels, it’s fantastic to see a traditionally made bottled single-apple variety on sale – albeit not from a traditional cider apple. This refreshing, tasty and worthy introduction to “real” ciders and perries is produced at Waitrose’s own farm in Hampshire.
www.waitrose.com; 0800 188 884

3. Vintage Herefordshire Cider - £1.99 for 500ml
A bouquet to good old M&S for getting in on the authentic cider market with this own-label brand, made for them by Westons. This is an oak-vat fermented bottled cider made frombittersweet cider apples and with a complex taste that’s both fruity and sharp. A fine accompaniment to a proper ploughman’s lunch, with strong cheddar and pickles.
www.marksandspencer.com; 0845 302 1234

4. Sparkling Herefordshire Perry - £5 for 750ml
Napoleon dubbed perry “the champagne of England”. This naturally fizzy beverage is a magnificent example of a drink made only in Herefordshire and nearby counties. Like champagne, it’s now protected under European law. It is part of a large range of ciders and perries made at the village of Ocle Pychard by Tom Oliver. Complex and refreshing; treat it like wine and savour it slowly.
www.theolivers. org.uk; 01432 820 569

5. Janet’s Jungle Juice Cider - £4.50 for 2.5 litres
What better time to celebrate the glories of British apples and pears than autumn, when the fruit is at its best? And this is awonderful example of British ciders, an oak-cask fermented draught cider from a traditional Somerset farm at the foot of Brent Knoll. It was awarded the Gold Medal in Camra’s National Cider and Perry Competition earlier this year.
01278 760 762

6. Seidr Dai Cider - Prices vary
This range of award winning single-variety and blended ciders and perries is lovingly made by Dave Matthews, founder of the Welsh Cider and Perry Society. His mission is to preserve the rare, ancient apple and pear trees of South Wales. Hellen’s Early Perry won theGold Award at the Camra championships last year. Sadly, it’s mainly sold only at festivals and functions.
www.welshcider. co.uk; 029-2075 8193

7. Three Counties Fine Dry Perry - £3 for 500ml
Just to demonstrate the variety of different drinks that come under the generic “cider and perry” label, here is something at entirely the other end of the spectrum from farmhouse scrumpy: a dry, refined, blended perry, in an elegant tall bottle, that just cries out to be put on the dinner table and sipped along with the cheese and fruit.
www.theolivers.org.uk; 01432 820 569

8. Somerset Cider Brandy - £12 for 350ml
A remarkable drink distilled from cider apples and easily comparable with the finest French Calvados. Although cider brandy was first recorded in 1678, the Somerset Cider Brandy Company was granted a licence only in 1989. The result iswonderful: a rich, earthy, autumnal, mellow drink, with a long, long finish.
01460 240 782

9. Special Reserve Cider - £6.15 for 750ml
This is special cider, matured in oakwhisky casks, made on aKentish vineyard that has diversified into apple-growing. The result is a rich, dark, highly alcoholic cider, at the same strength as wine and deserving to be drunk slowly, perhaps after food rather than with it.
www.biddenden vineyards.com; 01580 291 726

10. Orchard’s Kingston Black - £3.75 for 750ml
Single varieties are the best way for makers of authentic cider and perry to distinguish themselves from the mass market, giving an identity akin to, say, wines made from chardonnay or syrah grapes. So, here’s a brilliant example from the appropriately named Orchard’s of Gloucestershire, celebrating the distinctive taste of Kingston Black cider apples.
01291 689 536