“For the true taste of the West Country, nothing beats cider” Some people may tell you that beer is the ultimate English alcoholic drink. Don’t believe a word of it. Hopped beer is an import – an upstart – from as recently as 1400. There is an argument for good old-fashioned unhopped ‘ale’ as the quintessential English beverage, but for the true taste of the West Country – and historically, further north to Herefordshire and beyond, including Yorkshire – nothing beats cider.
Apples have grown in the British Isles for thousands of years. Even the mythical Avalon, which some claim as Glastonbury, Somerset, is sometimes called ‘the Isle of Apples’. Cider was the backbone of the rural economy, the ultimate draw for a workforce. A labourer might receive four to…
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Britain (Digital) - 1 Issue, Mar/Apr 2025