Hand pressed, slowly fermented and bottle conditioned at Kilnside Farm, from our own apples and the orchards around us. Medalled at the British Cider Championships every year since 2024.
All our cider is full juice: apples, yeast and time. We ferment it slow and cold so it keeps the fruit, and we bottle it by hand. The labels are hand drawn too. There’s a story behind each one.
Strengths are from our current batches and vary a little year to year. We don’t sell alcohol to anyone under 18.
Light, crisp and naturally sparkling. Abbot’s Secret gets its bubbles from a second fermentation in the bottle, so there’s a little sediment at the bottom and a fine, lively fizz. One for a summer afternoon, or for toasting something.
Eight British Cider Championships medals, including five silvers.
A proper traditional dry cider, bold, earthy and full-bodied, with no sugar to hide behind. It holds its own with a Sunday roast or a sharp farmhouse cheese. In bottle, on draught at our stall, and in bag-in-box on request.
Bronze, British Cider Championships 2026.
Rich, mellow and easy to love. A gentle sweetness rounds off the natural bite of the orchard apples. Smooth, golden and a sure crowd-pleaser.
A small-batch dry cider on draught at our stall while it lasts. When it’s gone, it’s gone until the next good year.
Nothing but pressed apples. Fresh, and tasting of whatever the orchard grew that year. Also in a five-litre tap box, when we have it.
Silver, British Cider Championships 2026.
A two-litre flagon of dry cider, a bottle of our apple juice and a sachet of mulling spices. Warm it gently, never boil it, and the kitchen will smell of Christmas.
Our method is written down in a long document full of words like “titration”. Here’s the short version.
From our orchard at Kilnside, from Chawton House’s orchard, from Four Marks, and from gardens and private orchards across Surrey and Hampshire through the Apple Exchange. Nothing sprayed.
The apples wait for up to a month so their sugars and juice can develop.
Every apple goes into the water. Good ones float; bad ones sink and go to the compost heap.
The mill turns the fruit to pulp, which we leave to brown in the air. That’s where the cider gets its golden colour.
The pulp is folded into cloths to build square “cheeses”, stacked up and pressed until the juice runs.
Ten to twelve weeks, kept below 15°C. It’s slow on purpose, because a cold ferment holds on to the fruit.
We siphon the clear cider off the sediment into clean vessels and leave the lees behind.
Each bottle is filled and crown-capped by hand. Abbot’s Secret gets a little sugar to wake the yeast for its natural sparkle. The juice is flash-pasteurised so it stays fresh.
Each spring, cider makers from across the country send their best to Somerset to be judged blind. Here’s how ours have fared.
Results as published at britishciderchampionships.com.
Bottles, flagons and juice from the farm on Moor Park Lane, Monday to Saturday. Bring a jug and we’ll fill it.
Bottled and on draught at the Farnham, Ripley, Rokers and Alresford farmers’ markets, and at food festivals through the year.
Cases of bottles, juice, and still cider in 5 or 20 litre bag-in-box, made to order. Farm shops, pubs and weddings all welcome. Ask us for the trade list.
Every autumn, dozens of households bring us the fruit from their gardens. One green crate earns a bottle of cider; three earn two bottles of juice.