Emma’s cider has been such a success on our Festival Days, Bonfire Nights and other festive events, that we’ve convinced her to share all her cider making secrets with you on this fantastic one day course.
Emma will be here with her mobile cider press and mill, to show you the in’s and out’s of River Cottage cider making. Beginning the day with coffee and cider cake, Emma will explain the different varieties of cider apples, how to plant an orchard at home, positioning the trees, soil types, basic pruning and looking after an existing orchard.
She’ll then move on to the history of cider making - why and when cider making started and became popular in Britain, strange superstitions connected to it and the magical folk law which surrounds this ancient past time, steeped in West Country tradition.
Emma will then show how you actually make the cider - starting with the milling of the apples before pressing them. She’ll demonstrate how you build a ‘cheese’, layering the apple pulp with straw and explaining the different methods of pressing the apples.
Once we have got the “cheese up”, there will be lots of juice flowing, and we’ll show you how to store the juice, either to keep as apple juice or to ferment for cider, and then the whole fermentation process begins.
We’ll give you your own demi-john of juice to take home, with instructions on how to look after it, to turn it into your own cider as well as a pack of cider sozzled recipes including Emma’s wicked cider cake!! Emma bring her own cider along, which we’ll wash down with a delicious autumnal lunch half way through the day, prepared in the River Cottage kitchens.
Please note that Hugh does not attend this event
Price: the price of this course is £125 per person incl VAT
Location: This course is run from River Cottage H.Q on the Dorset/Devon borders. Full address details of H.Q. will be provided once you have booked.
Wine/drink: We are a licensed venue. We also have a Bring Your Own policy and we do not charge corkage. We have a wide selection of the finest organic wines. We will be serving Elderflower cordial and iced water from our own well.
Accommodation: If you need local accommodation, click
here
for a list of hotels and B&Bs, recommended to us by our customers. We don’t have camping facilities ourselves, but for information on local campsites and self catering accommodation, call the Lyme Regis Tourist Information Office on 01297 442 138. They will be very happy to help.
Age: We would advise that this course is only really suitable for 12 years of age and upwards. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult. We put these guidelines for the safety, comfort and enjoyment of all our guests.
Time: 10am-5pm