Traditional products combined with modern marketing methods have proved a fruitful combination for North Devon cider maker Peter Hartnoll of Ostler’s Cider Mill

Peter first started producing cider at Ostlers Cider Mill in Goodleigh 17 years ago and over the years has added cider vinegar and chutneys to the output from the 1,200 apple trees he planted on what was previously unused and bramble-strewn land.

Interest has grown steadily and the onset of a website has given an extra boost, with products now being dispatched nationwide.

source: North Devon Gazette – Cider making is in the family.

Hello Ciderstore customers,

It’s our 1st Birthday next Tuesday, so we thought we’d celebrate by creating a Cider Selection featuring many of our best sellers at the great price of £18.99 (+p&p); this will only be available for a limited period.

After having bought ridiculous quantities of cider in May, we waited in vain for summer. We decided to stop adding to the stockpile until we’d sold some of our existing cider!.

Fortunately our decision to open the warehouse to the public has proved successful and 3 months on, and several thousand bottles lighter, we can resume building our catalogue. In the last week we have added 4 ciders from Hecks of Somerset, as well as Special Reserve from Biddenden with more to come.

happy birthday Ciderstore!

Low gravities of early juice

The poor levels of sunshine in the UK summer are blamed for low sugar levels in this year’s apples. The juice is predicted to be low in gravity and flavour, but this may only apply to ‘earlies’ because later fruit continues to ripen in the autumn, and in case it’s the yeast which accounts for a large amount of the flavour in finished matured cider.

Cider Field Research

Dave Reedy joins us from Hawaii. He’s doing a degree in Ethnobotany at University of Hawaii at Manoa, and has managed to specialise in the ethnobotany of cider and cider apples, even though there isn’t a single apple tree on the entire island! He’s also visiting the UK next month so perhaps we’ll have a meetup somewhere.

Still waiting

Ribbing camra for their failure to fulfil a promise to change the anomolous definition of real cider on the website.

French cider online

A new mail order service for bottled Normandy cider.

White labs cider yeast

Re-ordering soon. Dick doesn’t use it any more, but it could be the altitude. Andrew would like to know exactly which strain it is.

Ross on Wye cider festival

Reports from ukcider members who attended and had a thoroughly good time by all accounts.

Local Food Shop
Localfoodshop.co.uk is owned by the producer community, so 93% of the purchase price goes directly to the producers, supporting the local economy, reducing food miles, and keeping Britain’s farms viable.

They have a drinks category called “Beer, cider and perry” so that’s not bad.

For producers the deal is £10 a month to be listed with an additional pre-launch discount offer, and they promise to organise all of the IT side of e-commerce (since it’s all done through their site anyway) and negotiate good deals on freight.

For cider and perry producers this may well offer an opportunity, provided they can find a way to undercut the expensive courier prices which currently restrict the online bottled drinks delivery market. Maybe if they get big enough, the real cider and perry can be delivered in the same trip as the potatoes, groceries, fresh meat and fish, thus giving the supermarkets a run for their money.

Now there’s a thought.