Liberty to Cider – with Elisha Mason

We take an apple-tinted journey into the past with our guest this week, Elisha Mason, @museumofcider Archives and Collections Officer.

Leading us into the mysterious (and, apparently, heavily haunted) archives and cellars of the magnificent Museum of Cider in Hereford, Elisha talks us through British Cider Riots, and how they inspired revolution in America, dream teapots and finding an unexpected foot in a box (different museum…)

Continuing to answer the big questions we ponder who would be the best starship captain amongst historical pomologists and orchardists, ask what an ingenio is and string out the great Cider Voice debate: Bulmer’s Norman vs Thorn Pear. Also, is Adam secretly the Scrooge of Wassailing (and can he even pronounce it?)

We loved recording this episode with Elisha. Drop us a line at [email protected] with your suggestions of people we should speak to next, or just to talk all things cider and perry.

Ciders by @aldesider @tomolivercider @rosscider

After receiving an eloquent letter of encouragement from one of our 12 listeners, we re-run our extremely thorough and official tournament for the greatest cider apple or perry pear.

Bigger, better, with no apples off the table and two bonus judges in @helenannesmith and @ratchellle, this is Pome Total War, with apples and pears judged on every factor – taste, yield, vibes, name, treacherousness and level of freckles.

Who’ll triumph in Bulmers Norman vs Thorn II? Just how perfect is Porter’s Perfection? What’s the proper pronunciation for Plant de Blanc? And just who is ’T.O.’?

Discover the answers to some of these questions and more, as well as the identity of the true greatest cider apple or perry pear. Plus drinks by @palmers_upland_cyder, @littlepomona and (shockingly) @rosscider

Once again we dive into the inspiring international scene, this time learning all about cider in Japan thanks to our guest Lee Reeve, @inciderjapan.

We talk through Japan’s cider beginnings in the 1950s, its modern movement that began around 2017 and the different styles, makers, places and inspirations behind modern Japanese cider.

From French-style keeves to English bittersweets, from Fuji apples to wild indigenous varieties found in the mountain forests, there’s so much going on here to explore. 

Lee also talks us through his journey importing the best of English, French, American, Norwegian and Australian cider to Japan, and how cider is gaining a foothold in a country with such a strong and historic drinks tradition.

Shoutouts to producers including @kamoshika_cidre @vinvie.jp @sonofthesmithhardcider and @marukame_farm_cidery

Thanks for all the messages you’ve been sending – keep them coming to [email protected]. We love hearing from the 12 of you.

It’s about time we dug into one of the world’s biggest cider cultures – and the only only outside the UK with a large concentration of bittersweet and bittersharp cider apples – France.

So who better to catch up with than Virginie Thomas of @bouscule_tes_sens – author, consultant, advocate and trainer?

We cover all things French cider, chat through some of the similarities in how the drink’s perceived in the UK and France, then talk about writing a world cider guide during a pandemic, doing tastings with blindfolds on, the mighty crêpe and Brittany’s new cider route.

Follow the link in bio to listen, or head to your favourite podcast provider – we're on them all.

Something you'd like to hear us discuss? A guest we desperately need to get on? A hot take you'd like to share? We love to hear from our 12 listeners, so give us a shout at [email protected]. We might even read it out if you're very unlucky...

We level up once again this week as we welcome international cider dignitary Darlene Hayes to Cider Voice.

One of the most important and influential figures in the American and now global cider revolution, Darlene has played a central role in expanding cider education, especially through the Certified Cider Guide and Certified Pommelier Programmes.

We talk through Darlene's introduction to cider, burrow down a rabbit hole of varietal curiosity (with a shoutout to Albert's new Sherrington Norman) and then chat all things Pommelier following the course's worldwide expansion.

If you want the inside track on these new cider qualifications; what they are, how they were put together, what's involved in taking them – and how to avoid any obvious slipups, this is the episode for you. Plus a special behind the scenes glimpse at the shape that these cider education programmes might take next.

With Albert on Freya-watch, Adam and Justin decide to celebrate a year of Cider Voice by learning how to actually podcast, and chatting to our secret producer, Neutral Cider Hotel's Martyn Goodwin Sharman, aka @cidershit

Cue a wide-ranging chat with someone who's watched the aspirational cider revolution first-hand for almost a decade. Everything from Daniel Craig ice lollies to cider tie-die t-shirts, not really caring about varieties (sorry Albert) and the question of how to get people to care about cider.

Turns out all we need to take the next step in podcasting is a celebrity presenter, six-hour recording sessions, a pandemic and a few convincing impressions from Justin. Cheers Martyn!

Albert makes cider @rosscider

It's been a year since we relaunched Cider Voice and to celebrate, Albert's holding a massive festival at the farm and launching 14 special edition ciders.

In this episode we run through all the festival releases, from the last of a particular perry pear ever to be grown on the farm to an apple that isn't called Hagloe Lobster. Has Albert been coerced into releasing a perry by Adam? And is Ross-on-Wye just becoming a sea of acid.

Have a listen to discover this year's full festival release rundown, and if you haven't booked your festival ticket yet, hie thee to rosscider.com

‘The wobbler’. ‘The shakey shakey’. ‘Ladder method’. ‘Plank method’. ‘Squolch’. What does it all mean? With harvest rapidly incoming, Albert and the Cousins Wells sit down to discuss the vital topic of Toil.

The physical business of making cider is, we feel, much underdiscussed. But between Adam’s leather jacket and Justin’s ‘hands more suited to picking up cake’ we feel we’re the people to do it.

From trees that are laughing at you, to trailers that won’t tip their apples, splishy-splashy filth water and the squolch bucket, every facet of toil is covered. Plus has it turned out that the route to big sales is dressing in a medieval cowl?

In other plugs, Ross Fest is round the corner, Justin’s becoming a regular at the brilliant Joyce and The London Cider House and it’s definitely not too early to buy Adam’s book Perry: A Drinker’s Guide as a Christmas present for everyone you know.

Albert toils @rosscider

Bonus cider this week from @evescidery

The team pull a late one for an extra exciting episode with a serious time difference as we catch up with Camilla Humphries (@camillas_crush) cider maker, expert and advocate in Mornington Peninsular, Australia.

We see almost none of Australia’s amazing cider scene here in the UK so Camilla gives us the full rundown from climate to apples to the inspirational Cider Australia (@cideraustralia) movement.

We also learn about her travels around the cider regions and orchards of the world on a research trip for the Churchill Trust, and how her learnings have been applied by Cider Australia in their advocacy and research. 

Read Camilla’s report here: https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/project/to-investigate-orchard-growing-systems-for-improving-australian-cider-production/

Albert pulls all-nighters @rosscider