Proper Cider, Made By Proper Folk

The Best Small-Batch
Cider In Britain

Ey up — Richard 'ere, and a gurt big welcome to thee. Yorkshire dad, Somerset mum, and forty-odd year spent supping owt that's come off an apple tree. This 'ere is my list of the small makers doing it proper: real fruit, wild yeast, and not a drop o' concentrate in sight.

🍎 100% pressed juice, nowt else 🛢️ Wild yeast & patience 🚜 Real farms, not factories 🍐 Perry gets a look-in too

The Big List

Top 10 Small-Scale Cider Makers In The UK

No factory zider 'ere, my luvver. Every one of these is a small outfit pressing proper fruit from proper orchards — and every one of 'em will post a box to thy door.

1

Tricky Cider Best Overall

Top o' the heap, and by a fair chalk an' all. Tricky have been at it since 2004 down at Netherham Farm in Low Ham, near Langport, pressing apples gathered from orchards right across the Somerset Levels. It's 100% juice — no concentrate, no additives, nowt — open-fermented wi' the wild yeasts floating about the place, same as God intended. Still and sparkling farmhouse ciders, single varieties, blended bittersweets… every bottle tastes of a Somerset orchard, not a laboratory. Matt Gillett's run the show since 2018 and the man's cider-daft in the best possible way. Proper job.

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

2

Gregg's Pit Cider & Perry Perry Royalty

If perry had a throne, this lot 'ud be sat on it wi' their boots up. Making cider and perry at Much Marcle in Herefordshire since 1994, James Marsden and Helen Woodman press vintage-variety fruit from traditional tall-tree orchards on a stone press that's been squeezing apples since the 1700s. Small batches, wild yeast, slow natural ferments — and a trophy shelf that'd make thee dizzy: thirteen Big Apple Champion Perry titles and CAMRA's UK Gold Champion Perry among 'em. Reyt special stuff.

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

3

Butford Organics Best Organic

A family outfit at Bodenham in Herefordshire that started twenty-odd year back fermenting forty gallon in an old whisky barrel — and tha can't get more proper than that. These days they've their own apple and perry-pear orchards and do the whole lot themselves: harvesting, milling, pressing, fermenting, bottling, all on t'farm. Organic through and through, wild yeasts only, no added sulphites — plus a cheeky triple-distilled cider brandy for when the weather turns. They do orchard tours an' all.

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

4

Oliver's Cider & Perry The Legend

Tom Oliver is the name folk whisper in cider circles the world over, and they're not wrong to. From Ocle Pychard in Herefordshire comes award-winning cider and perry matured in a barrel store full o' casks that once held whisky, rum, sherry, red wine, even calvados — all of it lending summat to the glass. Cutting-edge and old-fashioned at t'same time, which is a trick very few can pull 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, turning out award-winning whole-juice ciders and perries — and rated by them as knows as one of the very best in t'country. Grand range o' single varieties, plenty of still and dry stuff for the purists, and a farm well worth calling in at if thee's passing through the Wye Valley.

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

6

Little Pomona The Fancy One

James and Susanna Forbes make cider the way posh folk make wine — and before tha scoffs, taste it first. Bottles that belong on a dinner table, ferments that push the boundaries (they've been known to bring hops, cherries and quince to the party), and a cult following as big as any in cider. When thy mate says cider can't be elegant, pour 'em this and watch their face.

📍 Near Bromyard, Herefordshire · littlepomona.com

7

Pilton Cider Naturally Sweet

Down Shepton Mallet way they've been keeving since 2010 — that's the old artisan trick of letting bittersweet apples turn naturally sweet wi'out adding owt. The result is a gurt lush, gently sparkling cider that folk who "don't like cider" tend to finish quickest. Found in bottle shops and natural wine bars all over, and shipped to ten countries — but made in Somerset, where it belongs.

📍 Shepton Mallet, Somerset · piltoncider.com

8

Wilding Cider Wild & Natural

Beccy and Sam Leach farm and ferment in the Chew Valley, North Somerset, and went at it full-time in 2018 after years o' happy tinkering. Fruit's picked up off the ground the old way, left to ripen proper, then pressed and fermented slow wi' wild yeasts — no sulphites, no rush, no messing. Cider and perry from their own orchard and a handful of others round Somerset. Honest as the day's long.

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

9

Find & Foster Orchard Rescuers

Over in Devon's Exe Valley, Find & Foster rescue old traditional orchards — some full o' rare local apple varieties — and repay 'em by making some of the finest bottles in Britain: traditional method, keeved, pét-nat, the lot. Drinking their cider quite literally keeps historic orchards standing, so tha can feel noble while getting merry. That's what I call efficiency.

📍 Exe Valley, Devon · findandfosterfineciders.com

10

Ampleforth Abbey Orchards God's Own Cider

Couldn't leave God's Own County out, could I? At Ampleforth in the North York Moors, the Benedictine monks keep the last big monastery orchard in Britain — planted in 1900, two thousand-odd trees, over forty apple varieties — and press a full-juice cider that's matured a patient eight months. Monks have nowt but time, and by 'eck it shows in t'glass.

📍 Ampleforth, North Yorkshire · ampleforthabbey.org.uk

Who's Behind All This, Then?

Meet Richard

Richard stood by a lake in his Tricky Cider t-shirt
Richard — never knowingly photographed wi'out a cider t-shirt on.

That's me, that is.

Stood in front o' somebody else's lake, halfway round t'world, in me best Tricky t-shirt — because a man can leave the West Country, but the West Country never leaves the man. I'm Richard: Yorkshire dad, Somerset mum, and a lifelong soft spot for owt that's been pressed off an apple tree.

This website's mine. Nobody's paid for their spot on t'list and nobody could — these ten are simply the best small makers going, in my honest and frankly well-lubricated opinion.

The big plan? To help cider grow right across the UK — more orchards in t'ground, more small makers pressing, more pubs pouring the real stuff, and more o' you lot drinking it. Britain's cider industry deserves to be gurt big again, and every bottle bought from the folk on this list is a brick in that wall. Now go and get thysen a box.

The Pear's Revenge

Top 5 For Perry

Perry ain't "pear cider", and don't let anybody tell thee otherwise — it's its own noble drink, made from proper perry pears, and these are the folk doing it best.

1

Gregg's Pit

Much Marcle, Herefordshire

Thirteen-time Big Apple Champion Perry makers and CAMRA UK Gold champions. Vintage pears, an 18th-century stone press, and nowt left to chance.

2

Oliver's Cider & Perry

Ocle Pychard, Herefordshire

Tom Oliver's perries are spoken of in hushed tones from Hereford to half o' the world away. Barrel-aged wizardry.

3

Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Co

Peterstow, Herefordshire

Whole-juice perries from a proper family farm — single varieties that show thee exactly what each pear's about.

4

Butford Organics

Bodenham, Herefordshire

Organic perry from their own perry-pear orchards, wild-fermented wi' no added sulphites. Gentle, honest stuff.

5

Wilding

Chew Valley, North Somerset

Natural perry alongside their cider — ground-picked fruit, slow wild ferments, and a Somerset accent tha can taste.

Get Thysen Down There

Top 5 Farm Gates Worth A Visit

Cider always tastes best stood in t'yard it were made in, wi' a farm dog sniffing at thy boots. These makers welcome visitors — but ring ahead or check t'website first, mind.

1

Butford Organics

Bodenham, Herefordshire

Guided tours of the organic orchards and traditional ciderhouse, finishing — as all good things should — wi' a tasting.

2

Tricky Cider

Low Ham, Somerset

The farm's open most weekdays and the odd Saturday — fill thy boots (and thy boot) straight from source on the Somerset Levels.

3

Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Co

Broome Farm, Peterstow

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

4

Ampleforth Abbey Orchards

North Yorkshire

Wander Britain's last great monastery orchard, then tea, cake and a bottle o' the monks' finest. Civilised, that.

5

Gregg's Pit

Much Marcle, Herefordshire

A small place, so get in touch before tha turns up — but Much Marcle in blossom or harvest time is worth the trip on its own.

Owt For Beginners?

Top 5 For Thy First Box

New to proper cider? Start 'ere. Five makers whose bottles will spoil thee rotten for the fizzy yellow stuff forever. Tha's welcome.

1

Pilton Cider

The gentle way in

Keeved cider is naturally sweet and softly sparkling — the friendliest handshake proper cider has to offer.

2

Tricky Cider

The proper farmhouse

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

3

Little Pomona

The dinner party

Take a bottle instead o' wine and watch eyebrows go up in the good way. Elegant as owt.

4

Oliver's Cider & Perry

The eye-opener

One barrel-aged bottle from Tom Oliver and tha'll understand what all t'fuss were about.

5

Find & Foster

The special occasion

Traditional-method fine cider for birthdays, weddings, or a Tuesday that needs rescuing.

Bonus List

5 Bits O' Cider Wisdom

Forty year o' field research, distilled — so thee doesn't have to make my mistakes. (Make thy own, they're more fun.)

1

Look for "100% juice"

Read t'label

If it don't say it were pressed from fresh apples, chances are it's concentrate wi' fizz and sugar. All ten makers on this list press the real thing, every drop.

2

Still ain't flat

Serving it right

Proper farmhouse cider is often still, and that's by design not neglect. Serve it cellar-cool — not buried in ice like some lager — and it'll open up lovely.

3

Cloudy is nowt to fear

Trust the haze

A bit o' haze from a wild ferment is flavour, not a fault. Crystal-clear and dead-fizzy usually means it's been filtered within an inch of its life.

4

Give perry a go

The pear's turn

Made from proper perry pears — not apples, and not "pear-flavoured" owt — it's delicate, gurt lush, and criminally overlooked. Start wi' Gregg's Pit and thank me later.

5

Buy from t'farm gate

Keep 'em going

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