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Cider and Perry to the Front
by John Cryne
October was a busy month for North London CAMRA as far as campaigning for real
cider and perry was concerned. A whole host of events was held, including visits
to regular outlets, a mini festival at The Wenlock Arms and finally the local
launch of CAMRA’s Good Cider Guide. All this has proved that cider is one of
Britain's growth products in the drinks sector both in pubs and at home.
Our launch of the Guide took place at The Dartmouth Arms in NW5 where two
varieties were on draught together with an impressive range in bottle. This
long-awaited, 5th edition is the bible for real cider-loving connoisseurs.
It lists information on every producer in the UK, along with details of the
best places in which to buy and sample your favourite tipple. Very often the
best source of cider is to go direct to the producer as many of these are tiny
and the drink is easily served as a takeaway. The Guide contains maps, listings
of producers, and a selection of approximately 600 real cider outlets. It also
features over 10 interesting articles on different areas of cider interest
including: DIY cider, recipes, and the plight of cider orchards, a guide to
bottled ciders and tips on serving and storing. It can be bought from CAMRA
at www.camra.org.uk and at local pubs
such as the Oakdale Arms and hopefully the Wenlock Arms.
The national launch of the Guide took place at Dunkertons in Leominster where
Ivor and Susie Dunkerton were presented with CAMRA’s prestigious Pomona award
for their tireless work in establishing cider and perry as a premium product
since founding their company in 1979, being the first producer in Herefordshire
to be awarded the Soil Association certificate in 1988 and extensive orcharding
work including the recent planting of specialist perry pear trees. Gillian
Williams, CAMRA’s Director of Cider & Perry Campaigning said, “Dunkertons have
led the way by establishing both cider & perry as premium organic products;
they have acted as an inspiration to others. Perry trees produce perry pears
for about 400 years. Ivor and Susie’s recent planting of perry trees means that
in the year 2405 Pembridge could still be toasting the fruits of their labour.”
Keeping up the theme of awards, CAMRA also announced that The Miners Arms in
Whitecroft, Gloucester is the best pub in Britain for cider and perry. This is
the first time this award has been made to a pub. Pub goers were encouraged to
enter their favourite cider and perry pubs and CAMRA received over 40 different
nominations from across Britain. The final judges report summed up their
success: “The Miners Arms regularly offers three real ciders, all served on
handpump. These were tasted, and served in excellent condition and at the right
temperature by friendly, welcoming staff who made you feel at home straight away.
The pub feels like the heart and soul of the village and attracts all age groups.
There is a wide selection of traditional games to enjoy, occasional live music
and an attractive garden. All in all, The Miners Arms is an excellent asset to
the lucky locals of Whitecroft. It made us wish we lived a lot nearer!”
CAMRA also launched a new competition, as part of the National Cider and Perry
month celebrations, to find Britain’s best bottled ‘real’ cider and perry and
to help revise its definition on what constitutes a ‘real’ bottled cider or
perry. Gillian Williams again, “We feel that the bottled cider and perry market
has changed over the last few years and this new competition will give us the
perfect platform to help us constitute exactly what a ‘real’ bottle of cider
and perry is. The competition is therefore open to all types of produce –
pasteurised and carbonated as well as entirely natural.” So all in all a busy
month for one of our oldest and most natural drinks – lets keep on sampling!
For more information go to
www.camra.org.uk/cider.
Reproduced from the Full Pint, Issue 33.
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