As a fencing contractor I would see apples rotting on the ground in so many gardens, in 2012 I borrowed a small basket press and scratter and had my first go at making cider. What I ended up with was about 100 litres of cider that was dry and sharp but tasted really good. I was so impressed that I bought my own slightly larger press and scratter and did it again in 2013 this time making 200 litres.
In May 2014 I took a sample to Cambridge Beer Festival for the Cider Bar Manager to try, he said "If you can make cider like that, we'll sell it here next year" and Simon's Cider was born.
Made in a typical East Anglian style, Simon’s cider is slightly cloudy. It has a sharp initial taste that “makes your ears laugh” and a fruity finish. It is wonderfully refreshing on its own but even better with a pork pie!
The main driving force has always been to use fruit that would otherwise be wasted and we've stuck to that ethos. We maintain 4 small orchards and have access to 2 others, we take excess apples from peoples gardens and swap them for cider, and to top up we buy graded out apples from local orchards and help them clear out the cold stores at the end of their year. The majority of the apples we use are eating and cooking apples and we also buy in a small percentage of proper cider apples from selected West Country orchards.
