Cider Week 2024 - Cider Session 2 in Hastings

My second British Cider Week 2024 'session' was at another micropub, The Jolly Fisherman (facebook page), 3 East Beach Street, Hastings TN34 3AR (tel: 01424 428811). Opening hours are Tuesday to Friday 4.00pm to 11.00pm; Saturday 2.00pm to 11.00pm; Sunday 2.00pm to 10.30pm; closed Mondays, although hours do vary sometimes for public holidays and for some events. I have written a blog about the history of this wee pub 6 years ago. They no longer serve food, other than bar snacks, nor do B&B anymore.

My first cider of the shift was from Kent, Turners Cider (website), and their 6.5% Dry Cider, 'made with 100% Kentish apples.' As you can see above, a very pale cider, with plenty of apple in the taste and nice and dry, I liked it! 👌

My second drink for Session 2 was actually a perry, [I'd already written about one of the ciders available here in Session 1 (blog)], and I didn't want to include any fizzy ciders, consequently, from Hecks Cider in Somerset (website), their 6.0% Perry, made with 100% perry pears grown in Somerset. A pale golden yellowish perry, with hints of berries and pear in the taste, a sour aroma, and a slightly tart finish, complex and very enjoyable indeed. 😁

My third drink of the session was from Newton Court in Herefordshire (website), their 6.6% Major, a single cider apple variety originating from further into the West Country. As you can tell from the photograph above, a very reddish cider, which comes from an apple variety that has a very red skin, unsurprisingly. Generally accepted as a 'bittersweet' fruit, this limited edition cider has a subtle apple aroma, a very fruity taste, and with a dry finish. I noted "very good!" 👍

My final cider of the session was from Luke's Cider in East London (website), their also 6.6% Queen Dab, made from a single apple variety Dabinett, a 50/50 blend of apples grown in Herefordshire and Somerset. A rusty reddish colour, sour apple aroma, a very dry and bitter cider, and pretty much like ciders I have drunk in the past when I lived in Devon (eg blog), authentic!

Some very interesting and flavoursome ciders (and a perry) imbibed over the two sessions, probably the Newton Court Major shaded it as my favourite, cheers m'dears! 🍻

Cider Week 2024 - Cider Session 1 in Rye

I've been looking forward to a few ciders for a change, and it being British Cider Week (blog), with the Rye Waterworks micropub (website) providing my first few ciders of the week. If you know nothing about the Rye Waterworks (above), and the building's 300 years history, please read this blog I wrote soon after the pub opened 6 years ago, oh yes, and the address is Tower Street (corner with Rope Walk), Rye, East Sussex TN31 7AT.

I started with the Biddenden (website) Biddies Kentish Kiss (5.0%), a pale rose blush coloured cider, with a natural sparkle, that I had never had before. This is a medium cider, created from apples with a 'slight red blush' on the skin and 'rosy coloured flesh' with the apples pressed and fermented on site at Biddendens in Kent, and 'very easy to drink' I noted.

My second was the excellent cider portrayed in the photograph above, as you can see, pale and very clear, the 5.8% Earl's Reserve Still Cider, made from Russet apples grown on their own 100 acre farm in Matfield, near Tonbridge in Kent, where they've been growing apples since 1964, that is Charrington's (website). What can I say, crisp and refreshing, with a dry finish and so easy to drink, now this is what apple juice should taste like! 😉

I finished off with East Sussex Perryhill (website) 6.9% Double Vision Dry Cider, they sell 2 versions at the same strength, this one a "crisp dry" cider, and a Double Vision Medium Cider. Anyway, I have written about this before (blog) and it remains pale, complex, and dry, almost sour, like being back in Devon again at Ye Olde Cider Bar in Newton Abbot (blog)! 

More to come in my next blog, cheers! 🍻

British Cider Week 19-28th April 2024

Many thanks to Martin for making me aware of this, that we are in the middle of British Cider Week 2024 (website). I'll have to visit a couple of good cider sellers (micropubs) later this week, and I have two in mind, I'll get back to you after the weekend, cheers! 🍺