It’s not all booze, booze, booze

🌱 Special offer inside (ooh, intriguing!) on our new product (ooh, intriguing!)

Greetings, Ciderling!

Try our SHINY NEW Apple Shrub non-alcoholic aperitivo

£5 off for a limited time

Yes, we make cider. But that doesn’t mean we’re massive boozers - we love a tipple, but always with balance. And more and more people we know are changing their drinking habits to include non-alcoholic drinks on special occasions and nights out. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since the only alcohol-free options were coke, lemonade, or orange juice. Now, you can get grown-up soft drinks that don’t make you feel like you’re 12. 

Last year, with this in mind, we did a little experiment. 

Sometimes our experiments work. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they’re a very expensive disaster. Thankfully, this one was a winner. We infused our apple cider vinegar with hedgerow bitters and botanicals and a hint of lemon to make an aperitivo of sorts. Our Shrub came out beautifully, so this year we’ve blended it with apple juice for a smoother, sweeter alcohol-free tipple.

Try it for cheaps - get a fiver off!

We sent it out to some non-drinker pals, and it’s gone down a treat, especially mixed into fizzy water or a Nosecco. Like the Shrub, the Apple Shrub adds that touch of bitterness that makes your mouth feel funny. In a good way. You can also have it neat as an invigorating shot. Give it a try and let us know what you think.  

🍏 Learn how to do it yourself

We're running our hands-on cidermaking day again this autumn. We’ve got two dates - 19th September and 17th October. Both are Saturdays, both are 10am–4pm, both are at the cidery in Framfield (where else?)

• pick fruit from our trees

• press it into juice

• have a communal lunch

• head home with 20L of fresh apple juice 

• ferment your own cider at home

Expect lots of apples, maybe a bit of mud (or dust if it’s dry), stories, and a whole lot of cider tasting.

You can still get our Early Bird price of £160. There's also a bring-a-friend option at £300 for two, because everything's better with a pal. Save cash by buying now - the price will go up to £175 per place.

[book your place]

🌞 We don’t want to complain but…

This hot, hot heat we’ve had can cause havoc with the apples. Apples can get sunburnt just like us - there’s even a special apple suncream to protect the fruit. We don’t use it though. We like to interfere as little as possible. The leaves get a bit frazzled too, which reduces the available surface area for successful photosynthesis which (in case you’ve forgotten) is how apple trees turn sunlight into energy.

The heat can also make the fruit ripen too quickly, before it’s had time to grow all plump and juicy. Less juicy = less juice. Bad news for us cidermakers! That said, the higher sugar content caused by hot summers means a higher ABV%. Comme ci, comme ça. 

So far, our orchards are doing okay - hopefully there won’t be a great cider shortage in 2028. We’ll find out soon when our apple appeal starts next month. 

Cheers,

BN&B