Proper Cider, Made By Proper Folk

The Best Small-Batch
Cider In Britain

Welcome. They call me the Yorkshire Cider and Perry Connoisseur. I've spent forty years drinking cider and I know what's good. This is my list of the small makers doing it properly. Real fruit, wild yeast, and no concentrate anywhere.

A bottle of Butford Infinite Possibilities medium dry cider A bottle of Tricky Wizard traditional Somerset cider A bottle of The Last Hurrah sparkling perry beside a glass A glass of cloudy cider in a Gwatkin pint glass A Crafty Nectar glass of cider on a garden table A bottle of Newton Court Panting Partridge organic perry A fridge of natural ciders in a bottle shop A bottle of cider and amber glasses on a windowsill A bottle of Claque-Pepin Poire Bouche with a glass of perry
🍎 100% pressed juice 🛢️ Wild yeast and patience 🚜 Real farms, not factories 🍐 Perry is perry, not pear cider

The Big List

The 14 Best Small-Scale Cider Makers In The UK

No factory cider here. Every maker on this list is a small outfit pressing real fruit from real orchards. Most of them will post a box to your door.

1

Tricky Cider Best Overall

Top of the heap, and by some distance. Tricky have been at it since 2004 at Netherham Farm in Low Ham, near Langport. They press apples gathered from orchards across the Somerset Levels. It's 100% juice. No concentrate, no additives, nothing. Everything ferments in open vats with wild yeast, the traditional way. They make still and sparkling farmhouse ciders, single varieties and blended bittersweets. Every bottle tastes of a Somerset orchard. Matt Gillett has run the show since 2018 and his cider is superb.

📍 Netherham Farm, Low Ham, Langport, Somerset · Farm open most weekdays · Delivers nationwide · trickycider.com

2

Gregg's Pit Cider & Perry Perry Royalty

Perry royalty, simple as that. James Marsden and Helen Woodman have made cider and perry at Much Marcle in Herefordshire since 1994. They press vintage fruit from traditional tall-tree orchards on a stone press that dates from the 1700s. Small batches, wild yeast, slow natural ferments. The trophy shelf is fantastic. Thirteen Big Apple Champion Perry titles and CAMRA's UK Gold Champion Perry among them.

📍 Gregg's Pit, Much Marcle, Herefordshire · greggs-pit.co.uk

3

Butford Organics Best Organic

A family outfit at Bodenham in Herefordshire. They started twenty years ago by fermenting forty gallons in an old whisky barrel. These days they have their own apple and perry pear orchards and do everything themselves, from harvest to bottle. Organic through and through. Wild yeasts only, no added sulphites. There's a triple-distilled cider brandy too. They also run orchard tours.

📍 Butford Farm, Bodenham, Herefordshire · Tours & tastings · butfordorganics.co.uk

4

Oliver's Cider & Perry The Legend

Tom Oliver is a legend in cider circles the world over. From Ocle Pychard in Herefordshire comes award-winning cider and perry, matured in casks that once held whisky, rum, sherry, red wine and even calvados. Each one lends something to the glass. Modern and old-fashioned at the same time. Very few can pull that off.

📍 Ocle Pychard, Herefordshire · oliversciderandperry.co.uk

5

Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Co Family Farm

A family-run orchard and cidery at Broome Farm, Peterstow. They make award-winning whole-juice ciders and perries, and those who know rate them among the very best in the country. There's a grand range of single varieties, with plenty of still and dry options for the purists. Call in if you're passing through the Wye Valley.

📍 Broome Farm, Peterstow, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire · rosscider.com

6

Gwatkin Cider The Trophy Cabinet

The Gwatkin family have been filling flagons and winning awards at Abbey Dore for years. That includes CAMRA's Champion of Britain for their famous Yarlington Mill. There are around thirty-five ciders and perries to choose from, in bottles or draught flagons from the farm shop. Their Farmhouse Perry comes from some of the last old pear orchards in rural Herefordshire. Farmhouse cider as it should be.

📍 Moorhampton Park Farm, Abbey Dore, Herefordshire · Farm shop · gwatkincider.co.uk

7

Little Pomona The Fancy One

James and Susanna Forbes make cider the way fine wine is made. Taste it before you scoff. These are bottles that belong on a dinner table, and the ferments push boundaries. Hops, cherries and quince have all made an appearance. If a friend says cider can't be elegant, pour them this and watch their face.

📍 Near Bromyard, Herefordshire · littlepomona.com

8

Artistraw Cider Small & Mighty

Tom Tibbits and Lydia Crimp started in 2017 with a release of 550 bottles. Every drop since has been made the hard way. The fruit is hand-picked from unsprayed traditional orchards around Hay-on-Wye. The ferments are spontaneous, with wild yeast. Nothing is added. No sugar, no water, no sulphites, no pasteurising. They're also planting their own orchard of rare apple and perry pear varieties, with every tree grafted by hand.

📍 Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire · Tours April–September · artistraw.co.uk

9

Cwm Maddoc Cider & Perry Perry Wizards

Perry from Cwm Maddoc Farm near Broad Oak is spoken of as some of the best in the world. That's not an exaggeration. They do the whole job themselves, from picking to labelling. Everything is wild-fermented and unfiltered. The perries are kept as single varieties, so you can taste exactly what a Betty Prosser or a Pig's Face pear is about. Yes, those are real pear names. The ciders are excellent too.

📍 Cwm Maddoc Farm, Broad Oak, Herefordshire · via hollow-ash.co.uk

10

Wilding Cider Wild & Natural

Beccy and Sam Leach farm and ferment in the Chew Valley, North Somerset. They went full-time in 2018. The fruit is picked up off the ground the old way and left to ripen properly. Then it's pressed and fermented slowly with wild yeasts. No sulphites, no rush, no messing about. Honest cider and perry from their own orchard and a handful of others around Somerset.

📍 Chew Valley, North Somerset · wildingcider.co.uk

11

Monnow Valley Cider Pride Of The Borders

Kevin Garrod has been at it since 2015. He hand-harvests fruit from small traditional orchards along the Monnow Valley, west of Monmouth. The orchards are sheep-grazed and unsprayed. Some of the perry pear trees are over 250 years old. Think about that. Trees older than most countries, still filling bottles. The ciders and perries are full juice and award-winning.

📍 Penperlleni, Monmouthshire, Wales · via tccpa.co.uk

12

Welsh Mountain Cider Top Of Britain

Bill and Chava make cider 1,100 feet up in the Cambrian Mountains, near Llanidloes. It's the highest cider orchard in Britain. Their museum orchard holds over 450 apple varieties and 50 pear varieties. Everything is 100% fresh juice, wild-fermented, cellar-aged and unpasteurised, with no added sulphites. They graft and sell orchard trees too, so you can take the mission home. Hardy folk, hardy trees, fantastic cider.

📍 Near Llanidloes, Powys, Wales · Orchard tours · welshmountaincider.com

13

Redvers Cider & Perry Bottle Magic

A proper heritage story. Redvers is named after the founding family's forebear, and the family still picks the same Herefordshire trees today. It's 100% juice, fermented slowly over many months. The sparkle is made naturally in the bottle rather than pumped in by a machine. The old way, the slow way, the right way.

📍 Herefordshire · redverscider.co.uk

14

Vagrant Cider The Wanderer

James Fergusson has no orchard of his own. Hence the name. Instead he has mapped nearly 800 wild seedling trees across a corner of Cornwall, and he rescues the forgotten fruit of neglected orchards. Some mornings it takes hours to gather thirty kilos. The result is tiny batches of cider and perry from trees nobody else is pressing. Superb, and completely unique.

📍 Cornwall · vagrantcider.co.uk

Who Is Behind All This?

The Yorkshire Cider & Perry Connoisseur

No name, no photo, no fuss. Just a Yorkshireman who drinks a lot of cider and knows what's good.

I do my tastings on my own in the evenings. I pour a glass, take my time and give each cider a score. The scores rarely go below 7.5, because most of what I sample is good. I can review bad cider if you want me to.

Nobody has paid for a place on this list, and nobody could. These fourteen are simply the best small makers going.

The plan is simple. Help cider grow across the UK. More orchards in the ground, more small makers pressing, and more pubs pouring the real stuff. Britain's cider industry deserves to be big again. Every bottle you buy from the makers on this list helps. Go and get yourself a box.

Get This Straight

Perry Is Perry, Not "Pear Cider"

Let's settle this once and for all. Perry is not pear cider, and it never was. Perry is its own noble drink with centuries of history. It's made from proper perry pears, grown for nothing else. Not from eating pears, and certainly not from pear flavouring. Nearly every maker on the big list presses the real thing. Here is the roll of honour.

1

Gregg's Pit

Much Marcle, Herefordshire

Thirteen-time Big Apple Champion Perry makers and CAMRA UK Gold champions. Vintage pears and an 18th-century stone press. Nothing left to chance.

2

Cwm Maddoc

Broad Oak, Herefordshire

Single-variety perries rated among the finest in the world. Betty Prosser, Pig's Face, Red Longdon and more. Wild-fermented and unfiltered.

3

Oliver's Cider & Perry

Ocle Pychard, Herefordshire

Tom Oliver's perries are spoken of in hushed tones around the world. Superb barrel-aged work.

4

Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Co

Peterstow, Herefordshire

Whole-juice perries from a proper family farm. Single varieties that show you exactly what each pear can do.

5

Gwatkin

Abbey Dore, Herefordshire

Farmhouse Perry blended from old varieties, from some of the last pear orchards in rural Herefordshire. Draught flagons available.

6

Monnow Valley

Monmouthshire, Wales

Single-variety and blended perries from sheep-grazed border orchards. Some of the trees are more than 250 years old.

7

Butford Organics

Bodenham, Herefordshire

Organic perry from their own perry pear orchards. Wild-fermented with no added sulphites. Gentle, honest stuff.

8

Redvers

Herefordshire

Perry from the family's own heritage trees, bottle-conditioned so the fizz makes itself. Patience in a glass.

9

Artistraw

Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire

Low-intervention perry from hand-picked, unsprayed fruit. They're grafting rare perry pears for the next generation too.

10

Wilding

Chew Valley, North Somerset

Natural perry alongside their cider. Ground-picked fruit and slow wild ferments. A proper taste of Somerset.

11

Little Pomona

Near Bromyard, Herefordshire

Table Perry, pét nat perries and a traditional-method Brut de Poiré. Perry dressed up for dinner, and very good it is too.

12

Vagrant

Cornwall

Even the wandering Cornishman makes perry. Tiny batches from fruit nobody else touches.

(Tricky stick to apples, and Welsh Mountain's perry pears are still growing. We'll let them both off. For now.)

Get Yourself Down There

Top 5 Farm Gates Worth A Visit

Cider always tastes best in the yard where it was made. These makers welcome visitors. Ring ahead or check the website first.

1

Butford Organics

Bodenham, Herefordshire

Guided tours of the organic orchards and the traditional cider house. Each one finishes with a tasting, as all good things should.

2

Tricky Cider

Low Ham, Somerset

The farm is open most weekdays and the odd Saturday. Buy straight from the source on the Somerset Levels.

3

Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Co

Broome Farm, Peterstow

A proper working cider farm in the Wye Valley, with a grand range to taste and take home.

4

Bratton Seymour

Near Wincanton, Somerset

A tiny maker in prime cheddar and cider country. The fruit comes from two old orchards at North Cadbury and Woolston, either side of Montgomery's famous cheddar dairy. There's no visitor centre, so look them up before you set off. It's a fantastic corner of Somerset for a day out.

5

Gregg's Pit

Much Marcle, Herefordshire

A small place, so get in touch before you turn up. Much Marcle at blossom or harvest time is worth the trip on its own.

New To This?

Top 5 For Your First Box

New to proper cider? Start here. Five makers whose bottles will spoil you for the fizzy yellow stuff forever.

1

Tricky Cider

The proper farmhouse

A mixed case of their still and sparkling farmhouse ciders is a crash course in what Somerset tastes like.

2

Gwatkin

Spoilt for choice

Around thirty-five ciders and perries to pick from. There's a Gwatkin for every taste. Start medium and work your way to dry.

3

Little Pomona

The dinner party

Take a bottle instead of wine and watch eyebrows go up. Elegant and superb.

4

Oliver's Cider & Perry

The eye-opener

One barrel-aged bottle from Tom Oliver and you'll understand the fuss.

5

Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Co

The mixed case

A grand spread of single varieties and styles from one family farm. The easiest way to find out what you like.

Bonus List

Five Bits Of Cider Wisdom

Forty years of tastings, distilled. Learn from my mistakes. Or make your own. They're more fun.

1

Look for "100% juice"

Read the label

If the label doesn't say it was pressed from fresh apples, it's probably concentrate with fizz and sugar. All fourteen makers on this list press the real thing.

2

Still isn't flat

Serving it right

Proper farmhouse cider is often still, and that's by design. Serve it cellar-cool rather than ice-cold and it will open up nicely.

3

Cloudy is nothing to fear

Trust the haze

A little haze from a wild ferment is flavour, not a fault. Crystal-clear and very fizzy usually means it has been filtered half to death.

4

Perry is perry

Say it with me

Not pear cider. Never pear cider. It's made from proper perry pears and it's delicate, superb and criminally overlooked. Start with Gregg's Pit and thank me later.

5

Buy from the farm gate

Keep them going

Every box bought direct keeps a small maker pressing and an old orchard standing. Most of this list ships nationwide. Go steady, it's stronger than it lets on.