Tastings at The Fine Cider Company Shop

Wondering what Fine Cider is? Wondering where to start, how to get to know what styles you like, or simply how exquisite the very best cider can be?

Our tastings are a deep dive into the glorious world of Fine Cider! They are the perfect starting point, the ideal way to get to know the makers and styles you love, and what makes fine cider so very different from mass market cider. 

You'll taste over half a dozen different styles: from Traditional Method cider, made in the same way as Champagne, and other wine like styles like Pet Nat, through to the complexity of barrel ageing, and cider only methods, naturally beautifully succulent bottles, even dessert wine-like Ice Cider, made up near the Arctic Circle in Sweden. You'll also learn about the makers, the regions, and all the depths of this exciting new scene.

Out tastings are available to book every Friday & Saturday, and always run from 6:30pm, to 8pm.

We have two options available:

- public tastings, for up to 12 people, where you can order as many or few tickets as you like, and  there will be a mix of cider lovers there on the day!*

- private tastings, for up to 12 people, where you get the whole of The Fine Cider Company shop for you and your guests!

*Please Note: we need a minimum of 4 people to book for a public tasting to go ahead, so we recommend you book with friends where possible, to avoid disappointment.  

About The Fine Cider Company:

We specialise in fine ciders & perries, mostly from makers in the UK; exquisite bottles sourced from different corners of the country, & made by some of the best cider makers on the planet. They have not travelled far - this is not wine shipped from a different hemisphere - & are in so many ways, as John Evelyn is said to have titled it ‘the native English wine’. Or as Laurie Lee put it, the ‘wine of wild orchards’, being the creation of our countryside, & the fruit of our summer.

Because cider has become a very industrial and misunderstood thing: for a drink to be called cider in Britain today, it needs only contain 35% apple concentrate, the rest can be water. Yet a renaissance is underway; a return to refined, small batch making, centring on provenance, and cherishing the orchard. And it’s not just the skill this new wave of makers have, or the variety of styles and sheer quality of what they make that is to be valued, it’s the orchards they support.

Orchards are undervalued, from the carbon sink they provide, to the unique biodiversity they support when managed well; they are the last stronghold of red list species like the lesser spotted woodpecker. Not only is this renaissance, this return of refined cider, a chance for each of us to have better cider to drink, more variety and depth of flavour, it’s a chance to value our countryside, our orchards, and the incredible creations that can be made when people work with nature.

Important info:

This event involves alcohol, so is strictly for over 18's only. If you look under 25, we will need to ask for valid iD when you arrive. Bookings can be made, and also cancelled for a full refund, up to 2 days before the tasting. We are unable to refund tickets within the last 48 hours before a tasting.