The ciders from the 2024 harvest are now fermented and have had time to mature and are tasting great. That means it's time for one of the more under-sung cidermaking tasks - blending.
Blending gets a bit of a bad rap from the booze world. Single malts and single varietals are almost always more prized than blends when it comes to whisky and wine. However with apples, it’s a rare cider that is not improved by blending.
Each different apple variety brings something to the table. Spartan is a great background flavour. Macintosh provides aroma, Porters and Bulmers a punch of tannin, crabapples a bright splash of acidity.
We grow over 40 varieties of apples, each with a unique character. Blends are worked out depending on what flavours we want to showcase. The result is almost always better than if we stuck with just one apple. Ciders, like any company, are more than the sum of their parts.