Three vintage ciders to press our taste buds this summer

At the core of every good cider is naturally fermented, freshly-pressed juice. Sounds simple enough, but the devil is in the detail.

The best of British drinks, cider is part of our heritage and with authentic, traditional ciders getting the attention they deserve right now, as we engage with artisan drinks and something new to talk about, our ancient apple orchards are enjoying a revival – and bearing fruit.

Thirsty to taste more of this precious crop? These three vintage ciders pressed our taste buds:

Sainsbury’s TTD English Vintage Cider 2020 (6.8% abv), 50cl, £1.75, Sainsbury’s

Hot on the Herefordshire cider trail, another vintage cider to tantalise your taste buds. Fifthgeneration H Weston & Sons crafts this medium-bodied cider with traditional bittersweet apples from a single year’s harvest. Its appealing, fruity sweet character is laden with rich apple flavours, with a proper, celebratory cider complexity and crisp, fruity finish to keep you coming back for more.

There’s also a growing market for fruit cider and Ben Kaye, Sainsbury’s cider buyer, says its Taste the Difference range is increasing threefold this summer, with new flavours launching May 23.

“While traditionally many fruitflavoured ciders tend to be sweet, we wanted our new additions to stand out for being both refreshing and flavoursome,” says Kaye. “Taking inspiration from the crisp, summery feel that rose wine offers, this summer pink hues are big on our agenda, so you’ll see English Blush (pink apple cider), Raspberry and Lemon, and Cloudy Lemon flavours hitting the shelves shortly.” Priced £2 each (5.5% abv, 50cl).

Waitrose Leckford Cox’s Apple Vintage Cider 2019 (6% abv), 50cl, £2.25, Waitrose

Easy drinking with straight up refreshing deliciousness, this medium dry cider is made with Cox’s apples grown in the Waitrose & Partners farm at Leckford, Hampshire, and made for it by Suffolk-based Aspall. Unoaked, light, crisp and bang on the money.

M&S Somerset Vintage Cider 2019, £2.25 (7.4% abv), 50cl, Ocado

A golden nugget, sixthgeneration Sheppy’s in Taunton is behind this medium dry cider, which clocks in at 7.4% abv, but you’d never guess from its moreish, appley, fantastic fruity freshness. It cries out for Cornish Cruncher extra mature cheddar cheese, wedged between thick, crusty bread. Cheers!