Tastebuds tingling courtesy of some sensational cider

I am a cider lover. Since the tender age of… well, let’s not go there. Katy has always been my cider of choice. She’s light, fun on a night out and deceptively dangerous – I may go so far as to say that I would consider myself somewhat of a Katy. However, in all my Katy drinking years I have never thought to drink her with fish! Enter my cider education.

I was lucky enough to be invited down to a cider tasting experience hosted by Thatchers with Pasture which has newly opened near Bristol Temple Meads. The tasting menu matched each dish with a specific cider; intrigued and mildly terrified of the potential combinations, I purposefully avoided looking at the menu beforehand…

Walking in I was greeted with a glass of prosecco, or so I presumed, before being informed it was actually my beloved Katy apple jazzed up through Thatchers reimagining of the classic champagne recipe to produce their Family Reserve. The bubbles were so fine, I had to be convinced it was actually cider; light and refreshing it was a perfect start.

After being seated I was talked through the history of cider and taught how to taste it properly. The key is to let the liquid rest on your tongue; the sweet tones will sit at the front of the mouth and the tanning will hit the back. Balancing the sweetness of eating apples with the sharp tanning taste of cooking apples is what develops the depth of flavour for each strain.

Technicals ticked, it was onto the tasting! First up was Katy with ceviche. Let me say right now, hat’s off to the chef, who explained his patching of scallops marinated in tigers milk made with lime juice and coconut was to compliment the light fresh taste of the cider. It was absolutely divine, took me right back to my first memory of ceviche tried in Peru. The scallop melted in the mouth, matched with a sip of Katy, the flavours enhanced tenfold.

Thatchers Haze with Forgotten Onions was essentially cooked down onions until they were sweet and sticky on top of some of the most delicate pastry I’ve ever had and a pickled walnut. Although I enjoyed them separately, this match was a little too sweet for me when sampled together. I’m also not a huge fan of Haze as I find it surprisingly tasteless – however, when the pickled walnut got involved it tied the flavours together beautifully.

Thatchers Vintage with a truffle macaroni cheese ball deep fried in Panko crust – ummm, yum! The Vintage is one strain that I have strayed to on a couple of occasions and do enjoy it; the depth of flavour is undeniable. Strong and bold, I finally understood how to recognise tanning (yay, I’m learning!) as the deep, bitter taste balanced with the sweet were complimented by the earthy truffle tones wrapped up in a cheesy ball of goodness. Delicious, I could have easily eaten a vat of them.

Crowned Supreme Champion at the International Cider Challenge 2017 and the World’s Best Sparkling Cider in the Cider Awards, I have no idea how Thatchers Redstreak managed to passed me by for two years! Matched with slow roasted aubergine over open coals spiced with cumin and harissa. This was a little disappointing for me as I am a lover of spice – however I felt the aubergine was a little lacking as it doesn’t hold much flavour on its own. When tasted with the cider and without the harissa sauce it was easily overpowered, however when the harissa did get involved it was uplifted by the peppery notes of the cider and went very well. At 8.4% this single variety cider is made from the Redstreak cider apple, grown in Somerset since the 16th century. The taste is so dry you have to immediately take another sip and when that spicy, peppery, apple pie flavour hits your tastebuds it is a wonderful thing.

An incredibly enjoyable evening, I can safely say Family Reserve and Redstreak will be going on my summer shopping list and I’ll definitely be visiting Pasture again!