Mid-Chilterns CAMRA are ecstatic to learn of a new cider-maker based in the branch area. As the sole cider-maker located in the Mid-Chilterns area, we were thrilled to chat with Bryan and Pippa Hart (cider-maker and sales & marketing respectively), the faces behind The Chiltern Cider Company and its tasty Black Lab Cider.
How did ‘Chiltern Cider Company’ come about?
P : “The Chiltern Cider Company was established in 2015, though Bryan had been making cider for years, before that and it was just shared with friends and family.
The family moved to Furzefield Farm in Lee Gate in 2000 and by the end of 2003 we had planted our first orchard. There were a couple eaters but predominantly it was filled with 16 cider apple trees sourced from Somerset.
Our first harvest was in 2008. A little consortium of five local friends had contributed to buying an apple mill from the Czech Republic and with a few new fermenting vessels the production of “Furzefield Fizz” began. Initially this was bottled in reused champagne bottles (sourced from a local caterer). We also relied on apples from villagers to swell the yield from our very young orchard. The result was a great hit with friends and family and launched at an inaugural ‘Cider & Sausage party’ in 2009!”
What ethos do you have in regard to cider-making?
B : “We all wanted cider drinking to be fun, local, without additives and minimal interventions – not specifically a moneymaking enterprise. This causes us several paradoxes with the customer wanting a clear, fizzy, long-life product and with cider, in its natural form, being very dry and cloudy.”
What happened from there?
B : “Sadly that was it for another few years as we were busy house-building and the barn was used to store all our worldly goods, so cider production took a back seat. Production re-commenced in 2013 with a couple of variations on the names of different batches – Furzefield XO & Hart to Hart!
We experimented with single variety ciders and all of them were different and equally delicious but a great deal of hard work. We decided that single sourced bottling was too much effort with little tangible reward.
In 2014 things were starting to get more serious and there were five new batches – one of which was Black Lab as by then our lovely Labrador, Bibi, had joined the family! Our black lab always joins us for cider making and constantly retrieves apples and joins in the fun.
In 2015 we registered The Chiltern Cider Company, though we had come to a bit of a dead end on working out how to bottle going forward. Everyone loved the champagne bottle size and fizz, but it was hard to produce this without sediment at the bottom of the bottle and the amount of fizz was hard to predict. Time stood still for a while as we tried to make up our minds on labelling and proceeding with a more traditional 500ml bottle. In the interim we were not idle – planting another 200 cider apple trees, all traditional varieties, and creating a new orchard on our land with some interesting new varieties of apple. This fitted into our wildlife preservation objectives, particularly in the hope that the apple blossom of so many trees will encourage bees and other pollinators.
In the meantime several year’s worth of cider were maturing nicely in the barn, and was finally successfully bottled and labelled by a company in Surrey in Summer 2021. Following the bottling, Black Lab as you see it today was launched on the local market.”
Tell us about the operation today and your farm in The Lee?
B : “We still welcome apples from friends and neighbours in the village but as the big orchard matures we should have a massive crop. Every year is going to be different, just like grapes the land, the sun, the winter, the spring, the rain etcetera will affect the taste, and I do not intend to overly blend the product. It is what it is, it will be what it will be – but it will be good.”
What is Black Lab?
P : “Our cider-making is an annual family affair, based from our home in the Chiltern Hills. The apples from our orchards, and those of our neighbours, are different every year as they reflect the weather, the tree variety and the terroir. After pressing we blend and balance the juice to make Black Lab, a slowly made discerning cider that matures with age.
B : Black Lab is a dry natural product, its naturally strong at 6.5% but this high alcohol level means there is minimal intervention between the raw cider and the finished drink. People are amazed that you can add a little honey or sugar to your taste and the drink is completely different”.
What next for The Chiltern Cider Company?
B : “We are working on developing a new range of ciders, probably a less dry, lower-alcohol version and a proper sharing bottle once I get to grips with the ‘Méthode Champenoise’ or ‘Méthode Traditionelle’ ways of bottling, in order to give a really new style for us. Answers on a postcard for new names!
B : We also hope to branch out with a slightly sweeter alternative in the future and are working on a way to deliver 20 litre cider-in-a-box for pubs and events.
P : It is very early days in our marketing and distribution but “Black Lab” is currently on sale at Fan Fan Pizza in Great Missenden, the newly renovated Cock & Rabbit in the Lee, Shop at the Lee, Peterley Manor Farm, Kings Farm Shop, Buckmoor End Farm Shop and the Tring Brewery shop. If anyone would like to stock it, please, give us a call.”
One for the road..
So there we have it, our very own local cider-maker in the Mid-Chilterns area, how immensely exciting!
If you are looking to try Black Lab, or learn more about The Chiltern Cider Company, please visit https://www.thechilterncidercompany.co.uk/
Raise a glass of Black Lab, to The Chiltern Cider Company!
