Sandford Orchards is launching a Vintage Straw Pressed Fine Cider (6.8% ABV) created in collaboration with Ben Collins, formerly known as The Stig.
Barny Butterfield (left) and Ben Collins
The cider will be launched on 30th July at the first ever Bristol Cider Week and will be available in 30-litre kegs and 750ml bottles from Sandford Orchards and specialist distributors.
“Not many people know that there is a very different side to the racing driver who was once The Stig on Top Gear and a stunt driver for James Bond,” said Barny Butterfield, founder of Sandford Orchards.
“He is also now a farmer in Devon, who wants to grow apples and make fantastic authentic cider. We have been working with him on that journey, and Straw Pressed is the result of our first collaboration.”
Using a centuries-old, single-screw, Devon straw press, Ben and Barny hand-pressed apples from an ancient orchard at Prowse Farm, which contains a unique collection of cider varieties. The result of their labours is a spectacular cider with a burgundy hue and notes of grapefruit and melon running through a classic Devonian bittersweet farmhouse blend.
It is a cider with truly extraordinary lineage, born in the 19th century. Slowly fermented and naturally bright and unfiltered, a whisper of yeast may remain as a final reminder: this is living history in a bottle.
Ben’s Cider will be launched at the first ever Bristol Cider Week, the Oktoberfest of cider that aims to firmly establish Bristol as the undisputed ‘Cider Capital of the World’.
Running from 25th July until 3rd August, there will be parties, tastings, dinners, talks, and workshops, alongside a city-wide Cider Trail and a city centre block party hosted by Cider City.
‘Barny shares my passion for doing things “right”‘
There will be two opportunities to meet Sandford Orchards and Ben, and be the first to taste the new cider as well as a diverse selection of Sandford Orchards’ craft ciders, all made with fresh juice from British cider apples. Join Sandford Orchards and Ben at 5pm on 30th July at The Apple (unticketed event), or at 7pm at The Steam Crane (admission by tickets available here).
Ben said: ”My early years were spent on a farm in Devon, and I have always had a dream to return to that life. It has been immensely rewarding to tap into Barny’s vast experience to help me to create my own cider orchard and to make my very first cider.
“Traditional English cider making is a rare process that touches your soul through every sense. Barny shares my passion for doing things ‘right’ and I’m delighted to be working with one of the best cider makers in the country. We are both looking forward to slaking the thirsty with our first batch of this straw-pressed special.”
