Oct 20, 2016
The National Association of Cider Makers and (NACM) the All Party Parliamentary Cider Group (APPCG) hosted its Autumn reception at Westminster last night. The event showcased the diversity of ciders available in the marketplace and the strong focus on innovation, in what is a highly dynamic category.
As well as highlighting the NACM’s support for all cider makers, big and small, the Reception also underlined the cider industry’s continued commitment to its local communities and the rural economy. The event was a great success, with over 150 people from across Government and the wider drinks industry, in attendance.
Delivering the keynote speech was Helen Thomas, Managing Director of Westons Cider, who takes over the Chair of the NACM for the second time, having previously held the role from 2005 – 2007. She follows Martin Thatcher who has been in post since 2014.
Recalling her last stint as Chair, Helen noted the changes in the dynamics of the cider industry over the last decade, remarking how the rapid volume increase back then has been impacted upon in later years by the introduction of the duty escalator.
Helen, continued, however, to highlight that the cider industry remains resolute in its support for great British cider makers. She said, ‘The most important messages shared in 2007 are all still as relevant today. Our long term, sustainable industry is still down to the way that we work, pulling together for the greater good of UK cider producers as a whole. Investment in our communities remains at the heart of the cider industry and nearly 2,000 people who we employ across our rural communities are critical to our success. A further 9,000 jobs, from companies and individuals providing us with goods and services, exist because of the cider industry.’
Reflecting on the need to pull together as an industry, Helen discussed the significant changes made by the NACM in the last 12 months, which includes a full time team to now run the Association. The launch of the new website was the first visible evidence of a shift in focus to a broader communication on the great British cider industry, and the wonderful diversity of ciders here in the UK.
Helen summed up the mood of the evening. She said, ‘This reception is a celebration of everything that we have achieved in nearly a decade as an industry and of our wonderful history and heritage going back centuries. Most crucially it demonstrates our commitment to supporting great British Cider Makers.
Oct 12, 2016
The National Association of Cider Makers (NACM) and the Crown Inn at Woolhope, Herefordshire, have combined to create some truly mouthwatering recipes that have cider and perry at their core.
As we are now in the midst of the harvest, it provides the perfect opportunity to showcase the versatility of cider and perry as ingredients, and demonstrate that recipes can go beyond staple classics such as pork and cider.
The award-winning Crown Inn not only produces fantastic food, but is regarded as one of the best cider houses in Herefordshire.They even make their own cider and perry, appropriately called ‘King’s’.
Matt Slocombe, proprietor at the Crown Inn regularly uses cider and perry in his dishes and is a passionate advocate for using local products. ‘Cider and perry provide flavours, aromas and textures that no other drink can. They are integral ingredients for many of the dishes we create, specifically chosen from the wealth of local producers on my doorstep.’
Head Chef at the Crown, Dave Brewin, has created 3 dishes exclusively for the NACM website: Halibut with trompet mushroom & sweet perry sauce; Pigeon breast, black pudding, beef dripping fried bread & cider demi-glace; and Salt beef with reduced cider.
Gabe Cook, Communications Officer for the NACM is suitably impressed with the results. ‘I am lucky enough to have tried these three dishes and they are absolutely exquisite! They really show how, with a bit of skill and creativity, cider and perry can be the star of the show.’
These new recipes, alongside many existing ones, can be found at www.cideruk.com
Oct 11, 2016
Westons Stowford Press Cider is unveiling a refreshed design for its cans, bottles and glassware to reinforce the authenticity of the brand. The updated packaging forms part of Westons £2.5m investment into the brand this year
The new design has been applied across Stowford Press’ pint and half-pint glasses as well as its 500ml bottles and cans. It features the brand’s new strapline of ‘100% local home-pressed apples’, which aired for the first time in the summer in its latest TV ad. The packaging also now utilises a new watermarked tumbling-apple design as well as an updated, more authentic-looking, gold-coloured apple icon. The words ‘Herefordshire since 1880’ now feature on the glassware, reinforcing the provenance of the Westons brand.
The new glassware has significantly changed and now uses gold leaf in both a band around the glass and the newly-designed apple icon. The shape of the glassware has also returned to one of the brand’s original glass shapes as well as featuring the brand’s new strapline of ‘100% local home-pressed apples’. Both the glassware and packaging designs were created by Cheltenham-based agency Brand on Shelf (BoS).
Sally McKinnon, Head of Brands at Westons Cider, says: “We are really excited to be unveiling our updated packaging, which features our new strapline of ‘100% local home-pressed apples’ and reminds consumers that all apples used in Stowford Press Cider are locally sourced to the Westons Cider Mill in Herefordshire.
“The new water-marked tumbling-apple design and more authentic-looking gold apple icon reinforce the authenticity of the brand while also giving a nod to the premiumisation of the brand, which is now the third largest draught apple cider brand in the UK on-trade, worth £76.5m.”
Sep 30, 2016
Life too busy to keep up to speed with cider news? Never fear, the NACM is here!
We’ve done the hard work for you and provided a roundup of cider news from September. Enjoy!
Jan 5, 2017
As we head back to work this week, full to the brim with a week of Christmas turkey and New Year’s excess, the cold, stark realisation that the merriment is over hits hard. The 6th of January, we are told, is the date by which the fun must end and all our decorations must come down by, or we will incur bad luck for the rest of the year. But what is the significance of this date? Also known as Twelfth Night, the 6th January is steeped in history, mystery and tradition.
In Christianity it marks Epiphany, the feast celebrating the physical manifestation of God in Jesus Christ. To the Pagans, however, this date marks the end of Yule, the ancient Mid Winter Festival. On this day, the Lord of Misrule is arises and is all sorts of shenanigans occur. It is a time of high celebration that, at midnight, comes to an end when the world is once more restored to its previous state.
It’s in this context of endings and beginnings that the first crucial marker in the cider calendar occurs: The Wassail. The name is derived from the Anglo Saxon ‘wes hal’, meaning ‘be whole’, or as we say today, ‘good health’. And it’s to the cider orchards that good health is wished. Wassailing harks back to a time when rural communities had no knowledge of weather systems, climate patterns or fruit biennialism. Instead, their approach to ensuring a bountiful harvest in the forthcoming autumn was to appeal to the apple gods and goddesses, ward evil spirits from the orchards and attract benevolent insects and birds to the trees.
The earliest accounts of the wassailing fruit trees come from St Albans in 1486 and Kent in 1585. But wasn’t truly until cider reaches its zenith in the 17th and 18th centuries that the Wassail starts to come to prominence. There are many interpretations of the Wassail depending upon where in the Country the event is taking place, The common denominators, however, are shotguns, fire and cider – a Health and Safety Officer’s worst nightmare! It begins with a torch-lit parade around the cider orchard with revellers crashing pots and pans to scare off insidious forces, often led by a Wassail King and Queen (think Pearly Kings and Queens but with more vegetative adornments and West Country accents).
The congregation then gather around the largest tree in the orchard, which has 12 small bonfires placed around it, to sing songs and appeal to Pomona, the apple Goddess, for a healthy harvest. The smallest boy in the crowd, known as the Tom Tit, is then hoisted up high and places cider-soaked bread into the branches of the apple tree – a signifier of good luck. And finally, just to make sure that they have been fully banished, shotguns are fired to rid these lands of malevolent forces. Finally, a bowl of cider is passed around from person to person, with ‘wassail’ being proffered and ‘drinkhail’ offered in return; quite literally ‘good health’ and ‘cheers’!
And this is what the Wassail is all about – an opportunity for the community to come together, to give thanks, to share and celebrate these traditions that are such a key identity of the landscapes and cultures of cider making regions. In these fast-paced times, it’s great to slow down a bit with a night out in the orchards, singing the songs of generations before and harking back to simpler times. Although the cider is probably tastier these days!
So if you go down to the orchard today, you’re sure of a big surprise….unless of course you’re celebrating the pre-Gregorian Calendar, in which case Twelfth Night isn’t for another week!
Wassail!
