These articles are hand picked issues and topics that are of interest to cider producers, publicans and cider fans.

Here are July’s collection:

• Apple strength to help cider makers avoid extra tax
• Planting for cider making
• More Welsh foods to get ‘protected’ status
• Burglar left his prints on can of Blackthorn

I spotted this recipe in the Mendip Times during a recent visit to Somerset. A Mendip version of recipe created by John the Chef from Fernhill Farm.

We haven’t made it yet, but if you do please let us know what you think of it!

View this years Cider and Perry winners at the Show.

See you next year!

There are over 25 cider producers in Somerset alone, many of them small family businesses. Shepton Mallet, Somerset, is home to the largest cider plant in Europe, Bulmer’s.

Many of the orchards are attractions in their own right so make a little time to explore. Get out and about down the backlanes, take in the countryside that produces the apples and meet the people behind some of the best brews!

Download the Cider Lover’s Somerset Guide published by the ‘Visit Somerset’ Tourism Board

The guide outlines all you need to plan a cider lover’s break in Somerset. Visit in May when the trees are covered in blossom, in the Autumn when the air is filled with the wonderful heady aroma of crushed apples, in January when the traditional ‘Wassailing’ ceremonies take place, or at any time through the year!

These articles are hand picked issues and topics that are of interest to cider producers, publicans and cider fans.

Here are June’s collection:

• Fourth cider win for family firm sticking with tradition
• Cheers and fears over budget for the South West

Bath and West 2010 News

• Rose celebrates the double
• The sweet taste of success for cider guru Andrew
• Cider and perry award winners

Obviously you don’t have to follow these tips, but if you do you will ensure you get the best taste from your selection of ciders.

Cider being poured at the Bath & West 2010

Pouring cider is a useful technique for still or conditioned bottles that have sediment, usually yeast cells at the bottom of a bottle or container.

Pouring cider correctly means you will get the cider and leave the sediment at the bottom of the bottle, assuming that the bottle hasn’t been shaken or inverted in the previous few hours.

Instructions on how to pour cider

The flow of the cider has to break against the rim of the glass. In this way, the air mixes with the carbon dioxide of the cider and the organoleptic characteristics of the cider, such as taste and perfume became significant and are released.

If you are pouring cider from a bottle, you need a glass that can take the whole bottle in one go, holding the bottle at shoulder, eye level.

The glass should be held by the thumb and first finger with the second finger on the bottom of the glass. The ring finger and the little finger should be folded over the palm of the hand.

You should always attempt to prevent frothing of the cider poured, so poured slowly in one smooth movement.

How is cider drunk?

The cider from your glass should be swallowed rapidly, but not as a shot of whisky for example. The cider will loose its spark or organoleptic qualities due to the traditional way of pouring if sipped or swallowed slowly.

Pouring cider Spanish style

The last part of the cider in the glass is emptied onto the floor, a traditional practice in Asturias, Spain.

This is a social tradition as much as it is ancestral.

The traditional pouring technique for sidra is to hold the bottle at head height, and the glass at the waist. The devices shown in this video ensure you get more of your cider in the glass!

View our listing for real cider and perry producers in Herefordshire.

View our listing for cider and perry producers in the Wye Valley.

So travelling by bicycle on a fine spring afternoon, first stop was trendy Pimlico and Chimes SW1V 2LP. First impressions are a colourful British restaurant that doubles as a shrine to cider and perry. It’s your chance to get stuck into glasses of Old Rosie, Stowford Press, Kent’s Bibbenden Extra Dry or the house cider here. Very relaxed atmostphere.

Central London and it has to be the The Harp WC2N 4HS in Leicester Square, to escape tourist hoards. A marvellous pub. The Harp always comes up trumps with a superb selection of off-the-beaten track. CAMRA London Cider Pub of The Year 2008 They have a changing range of ciders from jugs/bottles in the fridge.

Next up, in Fitzrovia is The Green Man W1W 7EP, described by its owners a traditional London cider house, albeit a quirky one. The Green Man has a choice of 32 different ciders (View cider list PDF). Perhaps Fitzrovia’s best kept secret – and the main characteristic all these pubs had is that they were not the commercial pub you normally find in the city.

Next we headed north to Islington and The Wenlock Arms N1 7TA, CAMRA’s 2009′s London Cider pub of the year. Always a interesting selection of at least 1 draught and a selection of bottled ciders.

Leading the way for superior Spanish cider in London is Bar Camino, N1 9NR, the Islington bar and restaurant are open until 1am. One of the most enticing drinks on its extensive menu is Zythos Sidra Natural, a small-scale cider from Asturias, northern Spain’s apple-growing region.

Next up the road in Kentish Town is The Dartmouth Arms, NW5 1SP. Cider is big with gastropub-goers, too. The Dartmouth Arms has more than a dozen bottled boutique ciders as well as draught on rotation at the bar. The fresh lobster served with a bottle of Dunkertons’ organic perry is on promotion at £15 until the end of the month.

The Dartmouth Arms, NW5

Finally heading back towards the city, a very traditional pub in Hackney is The Pembury Tavern E8 1JH, has sold a vast range of regional ciders since it has opened. The website will tell you what it is currently serving. Interesting building and interior, plus a bar billiards table complete with instructions! With regular beer and cider festivals.

View all our listings for cider pubs in London and London cider map (external link).

Also don’t forget the cider stall at Borough Market every weekend managed by New Forest Cider.

Why?

Beer’s been jinxing English football since 1966.

Every pint of lager and ale has been a nail in the coffin of our national team for nearly 50 years. And only real cider can break the spell.

The new web site to send this message out to all fans of football, friends and family is www.drinkciderforengland.com

You can share your stories with other passionate football and cider lovers on the site. Were you, or someone you know drinking beer when England lost last time? Did real cider help?

You can download our beer mats designs that have actually been placed in pubs across London and the South-East during the World cup.

It’s a campaign that hopes to generate a lot of fun, and change the thinking of people in pubs drinking boring old beer or lager. So order a pint today and do your bit for Fabio and the boys in South Africa!

Designs of Beer Cider mats that are being used to market the ‘Drink Cider for England’ Campaign across pubs in the UK.