CheritonFitzpaine

Badges Earned (9)

Orchard Lurcher from Budd & Sons Classic west country medium aroma in bottle, and pronouncedly oaken. Champagne in colour in glass, and dead still. Pleasing dryness to the smell - sharp apples and seville orange. Oak mellows. Flavours quite reticent at first sip – lime and bitter orange attack, very tasty grapefruit sustains, and floral qualities of elder finish along with spring greens. Texture is light but just about avoids watery, while tannic presence is mild and a little chewy. The alcohol never seems to hit. Oak reasserts in aroma, as do juicy table apples, spring greens and parsley. On the palate, these continue to be outmuscled by citrus, and it makes for a very stimulating and pleasing contrast between nose and mouth. The oak mixing with the fruit yields a nice hint of rhubarb. In the final third, mulberry hits the nose and mouth in an unexpected and delicious development. Flavours are varied and complex, but never intense – it's exceptionally well-balanced and restrained, super easy drinking, and develops beautifully with every sip. Reviewed on 03 Jan 2026 4 likes

Port Wine of Glastonbury from Hecks My bottle is 6.5%, not the 6.0% listed on this page. Lively apple aroma in bottle, with parsnip, and abundant oak. Pale golden colour, medium carbonation. Apples smell crisper in glass, with the parsnip and oak brought to heel. The taste of the apples is a good mixture of crisp and tropical, including papaya and bitter pineapple. Bitterness comes with very fresh lemon - which though fleeting in the flavour cycle, emboldens tastily as the pint develops - and a delicate mineral finish. The parsnip in the aroma never materialises on the palate. Texture is very pleasing, with superb balance, gentlest of tannins, and none of the over-abundant carbonation which spoiled the Kingston Black. Body is light at the strength, and the easy-drinking nature of this makes it one which you could easily double up on. Reviewed on 27 Dec 2025 4 likes

Medium Sparkling from Severn Cider My bottle clocks in at 5.4%. Appetisingly spicy aroma in bottle. Golden, clear, and frizzante in glass. Smells rounded and rich, with bitter and sharp apples particularly prominent. Sweetness hits palate with white sugar, then golden syrup, then sherbet. Rich apples are joined by lemon and lime. The concoction pronouncedly brings pale ale to mind – and deliciously so. Pomegranate seeds join the fruitbowl halfway through the bottle, and there's a hint of red wine aided by moderate tannins. A savoury touch is provided by a nettle-like allusion. This is very clean in flavour and mouthfeel, and medium-bodied. Medium is an appropriate description of the profile, though it nudges towards the sweet end of the designation. If you're fortunate enough to live in the “catchment area” of this wonderful cidery, this is one of many tasty options worth your time. Reviewed on 19 Jan 2026 3 likes

Summer Solstice from Budd & Sons Aroma in bottle is oaken and fruity in equal parts. In the glass, straw in colour, virtually clear, and with less fizz apparent than expected. Smell is less sweet, with a hint of furniture polish. In the mouth, sparkle is pleasantly light, barely frizzante, and well-judged. Apple flavours are forward – they start sherbet, embitter to a clean and lightly tannic cider apple freshness, before finishing on a baked quality. A third of the way down, swirling brings out an autumn leaves aroma. There's a little rubber to the flavour, not like it's off in any sense, but it's nevertheless slightly inelegant. Otherwise, oak and sweet lemons are inoffensive and understated currents. It does lack complexity, and develops little in the glass. To my dry tastes, this is probably medium-sweet rather than truly medium. You can do worse – the light flavours, minimal body, and clean texture make for easy enough drinking. But there's nothing particularly special to recommend for this. Though maybe i shouldn't be drinking a cider called Summer Solstice on December 21! Reviewed on 21 Dec 2025 3 likes

Yarlington Mill from Hecks Aroma in bottle has vinegar and oak, which survive in the glass alongside autumnal notes. Pours golden, with token turbidity and fizz. Fruity attack on the palate is something – bittersweet apples, oranges, and lemons. Fresh orange juice is especially apparent in flavour and texture. Spearmint sweetness, amygdalin, and stout tannins finish off, and late in the glass this delivers a quinine quality. Vinegar remains in the nose, but scarcely hits the mouth. This is very much a west country definition of medium sweet, which to my own palate is just as well, but even those expecting something sweeter won't go wrong with the simple, inoffensive, and well-delivered fruity flavours. This is an archetypal thirst-quencher and decent exponent of this apple. Reviewed on 18 Jan 2026 2 likes

Kingston Black from Hecks Oaky aroma in bottle, with custard making for an evocation of english trifle. Straw coloured and very fizzy in the glass, noisily so, but otherwise crystal clear. Aroma reinforced with a fresh grassy and floral touch. A little bitterness hits the palate, before sweetness brings forward the flavours from the nose. Bittersweet apples join, and with accompanying rhubarb the dessert theme is very much retained. After a few sips, the apple and rhubarb start to come out in the aroma too. The texture itself is nice, very clean and supple, but the carbonation is excessive and a bit obtrusive. It takes a good third of a pint for this to calm down to any extent. By this point, a mineral touch is happily present in the finish, though unfortunately the juiciness becomes a touch cordial. Towards the bottom of the glass, there's little development or complexity. Kingston Black varietals are hard to go wrong with, but though this couldn't be said to be a ruin, it is disappointingly bland. Reviewed on 14 Dec 2025 - Got cider at The Bristol Cheesemonger in Bristol 2 likes

Five Friends from Oliver's Cider and Perry Chartreuse colour, with a potent brandy nose, which quickly develops seaweed. Mouthfeel is immediately striking – thin, vinegary, and tannic, but quite pleasant. Acidity characterises the palate, with dry apples, seaweed, and light amygdalin, and a sinewy finish. The alcohol is initially in the nose – it finally hits the mouth in the final third in the glass. The profile of this kind of cider isn't to everyone's taste - but I'm not everyone and it's my kind of thing. But given the five varieites, a little more flavour development and intensity would benefit. Nonetheless, it's nice enough. Reviewed on 23 Jan 2026 - Got cider at The Bristol Cheesemonger in Bristol 1 like

Browns Apple & Kingston Black 2024 from Gregg's Pit Cider & Perry 750ml bottle. Uncapping releases an earthy, wet, orchard aroma with a touch of oak. In glass, citrine colour with minimal haze. Aroma suggests bittersharpness and perhaps minerality, but in the mouth this has abundant sweetness of a juicy, organic quality – just off-sweet fresh oranges and apples. Strong floral presence accompanies, and this tingling and lightly tangy combination evokes baobab in the finish. Tannins are soft, and mouthfeel is supple with smooth viscosity. There's no heat to the alcohol. Main flavour development is mixed spice, with what wooden presence there is feeling more like cypress - even while oak remains in the nose. Flavours are gentle, but very fresh and natural, and with the strength and medium-sweet profile, this would be a great cider to introduce non-cider-drinking mates to. Speaking of profile, some labelling on the bottle about the (lack of) carbonation and sweetness wouldn't go amiss. On the Gregg's Pit website, they claim 2024 was a difficult year for the weather – you wouldn't know it from this. Reviewed on 23 Jan 2026 - Got cider at Grape & Grind in Bristol 1 like

Brown's Apple from Hecks Sparkling and very pale in the glass. Aroma is mild, lightly vegetal and with baked rhubarb. In the mouth, the fizz is surprisingly inobtrusive. Flavour starts white sugar and gets to darker sugar as it sustains. The apples are fresh, clean, sweet, and lightly acidic in the attack. The finish yields a tasty note of menthol and a herbal touch. Flavours aren't bold or complex, but they are nice. For someone who's not keen on fizz, I'm surprised how much I like the mouthfeel, aided by a juicy texture with soft tannicity. The sugariness isn't to my personal preference, but if you like sweeter west country ciders I think you'll enjoy this very mild and light-bodied pint. Reviewed on 16 Jan 2026 1 like

Broad Down from Budd & Sons My bottle is from the 2023 vintage, and 6.5%. Uncapping produces aroma not only of oak, but root veg – sweet potato and parsnip especially. Frizzante fizz in glass, pale in colour. Dryness comes out in the aroma – chalky with light acid. Flavours are reticent on first sip. In fact the first thing i notice is the mouthfeel bubblier than expected, and texture a touch watery. Tannins are well-apparent from the off, though not aggressive. As the mouth accustoms to the texture, gentle flavours of chalk and mildly bitter apples and raspberries hold the strongest, while the finish has citrus pith, rhubarb, oak, and faint liquorice. This can fairly be described as dry, though not puckeringly so. Neither the strength of flavours nor the alcohol blow your head off – this could comfortably pass for well less than 6% - and with a good balance of delicate flavours, that is no sin. The texture's a separate matter, with the carbonation feeling like a distraction from the mineral flavour rather than a complement to it. It's a testament to the character of the taste that this doesn't much inhibit savouring a tasty and elegant pint. Reviewed on 10 Jan 2026 1 like