Cider firm celebrates after seeing production double in a decade
ACIDER maker who doubled production in 10 years is celebrating a new milestone. Steve Hughes, 54, owner of Rosie’s Triple D Cider, based in Llandegla, Denbighshire, is now the largest exclusively Welsh-pressed cider maker in the country.
Steve, who originally worked in an aluminium can-making plant in Deeside, made his first batch of cider 12 years ago using apples he had picked on the family farm, Dafarn Dywyrch, in Llandegla.
To his delight, it won gold at the Campaign for Real Ale’s (Camra) national bottled cider championship, at which point he decided he was on to a good thing.
Little over a decade later, he has a shop and a series of national and international awards behind him.
Asked why his cider is a cut above the rest, Steve said it was “all about the apples”.
He pressed 120 tonnes of apples at his farm in 2016 – 100% up on the 60 tonnes he pressed in 2006.
The increase now means he processes more apples within the borders of Wales than any other cider producer, ensuring his products are as Welsh as possible.
“My ciders are full-juice drinks meaning there’s no added water or bulking agents – every drop of the liquid has been pressed out of an apple,” he explained.
“I’m making cider like they used to make in 1850. You press the juice, it ferments, and then it’s pretty much ready to go. It’s about as traditional as you can get.
“I can put my cider up against any producer in the country in terms of flavour and quality. I can and I have competed with the very best.
“I have 17 acres of cider orchard and I also buy apples in, many from Denbighshire, just local people who have two or three apple trees in their gardens. They’re all pressed in Wales.”
With a bevy of industry accolades including two second place titles in the medium perry and dry cider categories of the International Cider and Perry Competition in Hereford last year, Rosie’s Cider continues to attract orders from shops, pubs and restaurants across the north west and – more recently – in Cardiff and Stockport – as well as lots of holiday makers to north Wales.
Steve works seven days a week and during the pressing season in October and November will regularly work 18-hour days. His wife, Nicola, 57, and mum, Gwen, 77, continue to help out during busy times.
Rosie’s Cider produces a range of award-winning ciders from Rosie’s Triple D in dry, medium or sweet to Wicked Wasp and Black Bart.
The majority of the firm’s products are sold in bag-in boxes.
Steve grows 65 varieties of apple on the farm, mostly cider apples such as Broxwood Foxwhelp, Kingston Black, Porters Perfection, through to cooking apples such as Bramley and Newton Wonder, which are important for acidity.
Many of Steve’s original customers continue to buy his cider including the Crown and Willows in Llandegla.
Steve added: “The business has grown every year for the past 12 years and last year was my busiest year yet.
“I’ve always relied on people finding out about me through word of mouth and I rarely advertise. If I ever have to make a cold call I feel like a double glazing salesman, I’m just not cut out for it.”
Steve will be promoting his multi award-winning ciders at A Taste for Local, a major networking event hosted by Denbighshire County Council at Myddelton College in Denbigh.
The event, which will be held on March 8, is part of a packed programme of free workshops and pro-