Green Man Cider is spread across three South West orchards, including its newest in Barnstaple, North Devon.
Catering for all cider-loving palates, Green Man Cider creates a range of great-tasting ciders, from sweet to dry. The taste is a marriage of the apples, the orchard and the weather conditions in which the fruit is grown. The apples are hand-selected, meaning that every barrel has a unique character and taste.
Green Man Cider can be found in local and independent stores, as well as pubs in North and Mid-Devon. A full list of stockists is available on the website.
If you’re looking for a small, independent business that creates a fantastic range of drinks, including an array of tasty ciders, try Lyme Bay Winery in Shute, just outside Axminster.
How does still cider aged in rum barrels, with sweet notes of apple, vanilla and spice sound? Or how about the Winery’s Jack Ratt vintage dry ciders, as well as a selection of traditional scrumpies and mulled ciders?
Lyme Bay Winery’s ciders are available to buy directly from the Cellar Door shop, where you can sample some drinks and ask the friendly and knowledgeable staff any questions you like about the ciders.
Honey Wood Orchard’s cider comes from a small, family-run business based outside Great Torrington. The Tattersall family creates a variety of products, including cider, from the wonderful apples grown in its orchard.
Made using a mix of West Country cider apples, these ciders are unfiltered and left to settle in the orchard, producing an authentic taste. Four ciders are currently produced, with strengths ranging from dry to medium, including Honey Wood Haze – a blend of the orchard’s cider and cloudy apple juice.
The drinks are exclusive to the local area and can be found in pubs around Torrington. And if you’re passing by the orchard and want to visit, you’ll receive a warm welcome at Honey Wood.
Chucklehead Cider – based near Bampton – creates smooth, traditional West Country ciders using apples grown on its orchard at South Hayne Farm, as well as using apples from other local growers.
It produces sweet, medium and dry farmhouse ciders, a traditional sparkling cider with a slightly sweet taste, and even a ‘redhead’ cider with an added ginger kick. Its warming mulled cider is perfect for the sillier months.
Chucklehead Cider is available from its online store. Alternatively, you can buy its cider directly from the farm.
Solland Farm in West Devon is home to Sampford Courtenay Cider, a traditional producer making cider with only the apples that are grown on the farm’s orchards.
A number of different apple varieties are used, including Bramley, Ellis Bitters, Dabinette, Michelin and Fair Maid of Devon, meaning that each cider has a unique taste and character.
These apples are then used to create a range of tempting ciders, including traditional medium/dry ciders, as well as other varieties such as Warhorse, a cider which reflects how it was made in Devon back in 1914, or even Grenville’s Revenge, a naturally sweet cider made using a traditional Devonian method dating back to 1795!
Sampford Courtenay Cider has an online store where you can purchase its cider, as well as a farm shop selling a range of local produce. There are also cider and orchard tours too!
Hunts Cider is located near Stoke Gabriel and has been making great-tasting cider since 1805. This family-run business uses high-quality cider apples grown across South Devon, and ferments them to create a fresh bitter-sweet apple juice that can then be made into cider.
Perhaps the sound of a sweet, cloudy cider called Misty Maid is intriguing, or even a thirst-quenching medium-dry cider named Thrasher leaves you longing to try some?
All produce is stocked on the online store, with free local deliveries across the South Devon area. Additionally, if the cider-making process interests you, there are informative tours and tasting sessions hosted throughout the summer months.
Four Elms Fruit Farm is on the outskirts of Sidmouth and offers a wide range of products from the fruits grown on the Smedley family farm, including a delicious range of ciders.
There are three ciders to choose from: Devon Hills has a sweet-sparkling taste, Devon Roots is a gently sparkling medium sweetness cider, and Devon Ridge is dry and gently sparkling. All three ciders reflect the taste of the refreshing, luscious apples that are grown across the East Devon hills.
Available to buy at The Apple Shed – the Four Elms Fruit Farm’s shop which is located on-site.
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