Rob first started making cider as a hobby. A hobby which quickly grew into a business. Along with Jim Howard Offley Cider now has a cidery in Offley Hoo, Hertfordshire where all cider production is now done on site The cidery will be open weekdays and weekends selling the finest real cider from our Bar-N for take away or for consumption on site.

 

We use local apples from the farm and known cultivars popular in classic cider making from across the country combining modern science with traditional techniques producing fantastic real cider with a fresh with deep aromatic notes that dance on the tongue!

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Amoungst our faviourate apples top use are Michelin which

is an apple that is like a canvas on which other apples can express their stylings. It has a bit of most things, without having a lot of anything. A touch of tannin. A touch of acidity. Its flavours aren’t broad or instantly arresting. And yet several of my favourite ciders have had this apple in their makeup. The point of a blend is to showcase qualities of varieties and hide their deficiencies, and few workhorses are better than Michelin.

 

We also use a lot of Dabinett
Cidermakers love this apple for so many reasons. Late ripening, crops massively, easy to mill, even easier to press. Drinkers love it because it is another in the category of “has a good bit of everything, without being overwhelming in any single regard”. Particularly alluring is a sweet vanilla spiciness – not of the sort you would derive from American oak, but of a juicer, fruitier complexion. It’s a little low on acidity, but it’s not entirely without it, and that – after all – is the point of blending. More tannin, more body, more ripe juiciness, more heft of flavour. Where Michelin exceeds Dabinett is in its gentle extra nudge of acidity.