It's the 44th episode of Cider Voice and in Albert's absence thanks to his exciting new role we have a huge question: do we finally have a 13th listener? To celebrate we're joined by whisky writer and new Cider Review contributor Beatrix Swanson. Bea talks to Justin and Adam about growing up in Germany's apfelwein country and how she joined the cider community. We extol the virtues of the bagnum and ponder whether cider and perry might be the ultimate drinks for Gen Z. Since, like all the best people, Bea's come to cider from whisky, we also turn our attention to the vital question of the perf ..read more

Well, it's another Albertless episode, but that doesn't hold Justin and Adam back from interviewing the once and future Cider Critic James Finch of Chapel Sider and Cider Review fame! They discuss Chapel Sider's origin and future, James' love of orchards, and the vicissitudes of cider writing and advocacy, along with a bit of a retrospective on Cider Review and how it came about. Not to mention the legendary Fine Cider Fridays ? What's next on the radar for James? Will Justin keep asking questions he asked ten minutes ago? Will Adam survive the brutal summer heat of Ireland? And, most importan ..read more

With the whole CV team back together again we thought about doing an earnest and serious conversation about apple and pear varieties. But with all the sport on we changed our mind and turned it into a knockout tournament to discover the greatest (British) cider apple or perry pear of them all.  Pitting 32 contenders against each other, Adam tasks Justin and Albert with finding the ultimate. Thorn vs Bulmers Norman? Egremont Russet vs Yellow Huffcap? Moorcroft vs Kingston Black? Stoke Red vs Butt? Which will be left standing at the end? Get ready for an extreme fund of sporting metaphors ..read more

With Adam still MIA, Justin and Albert make it all the way to the top, sitting down with the godfather of aspirational cider, Mr Tom Oliver @tomoliverscider. Drawing on Tom's wealth of knowledge and abundant wit we chat adventures in America, ordering everything on the menu and the increasing importance of aspirational cider on keg. As a kindred Herefordshire cidermaker Albert and Tom compare notes on the importance of the stamp of the maker, the recent inaugural edition of Cider School, pride in Herefordian produce, collaboration and the upcoming Apple Fest. A privilege, as ever, to talk to o ..read more

Absolute cider royalty comes to the pod this week as Justin and Albert are joined by Alison Taffs, head honcho at multi-award-winning might-as-well-keep-the-trophy cider pub The Hop Inn. We talk about Alison and Justin's shared background as drama students at Mountview, and how that armed them to become tasting host extraordinaires, we touch on managing alcohol intake when working in the drinks industry and Alison schools us on what makes good hospitality. Only momentarily distracted by Justin looking up directions to the Hop Inn on his phone, we learn how to build the ultimate cider list as a ..read more

In the latest instalment of 'Seminal Ciders' Adam catches up with someone who's been writing about cider even longer than he has – Natalia of @ciderexplorer. Based in Germany, Natalia's been covering the continental cider scene since 2017, shining a light on central European cider cultures as well as countries whose cider doesn't always get a spotlight. We talk about the cider that got her started, the current state of German cider, the magical event that is @CiderWorld, the first cider she ever gave full marks, the bottle that persuaded her perry could be good and more! Featuring ciders from ..read more

Albert and Adam sit down to chat with Gabe Cook aka The Ciderologist on everything from his origins in the cider world, to the state of bittersweet cider, to education in cider and perry and the way forward. Part trip down memory lane and part assessment of the current British cider scene. Join Gabe's substack: https://theciderologist.substack.com/ Sign up for the Certified Cider Professional Programme here: https://www.theciderologist.com/pages/certified-cider-professional-programme BBC Natural World: Wye, Voices from the Valley (2007). Albert grows weird apples at @rosscider @adamhwells asse ..read more

Albert’s away again so it all goes off the rails – Adam’s distracted by how good a cider is and Justin’s gone for a sauna. But then we rein it back in and chat about Justin’s first experience leading a cider and perry tasting – ‘an introduction to Herefordshire.’ We talk what he served, what he learned, preferences and preconceptions and and Gin Pear/Cookie Dough Affogato. Planning a tasting with some of your own friends? This is the episode for you. Albert toils @rosscider @adamhwells spoils @cider_review (and has written a book!) Justin broils @justinwellsjustin ..read more

For the third instalment of our 'this is your life, but in cider' series, Adam finally stops just talking to co-hosts and sits down with drinks writer Rachel Hendry (@ratchellle), who is definitely appearing in a full-length cider voice episode for the first time. With absolutely no technical hitches whatsoever we cover accidentally becoming an award-winning beer writer, the relationships between pub regulars and the staff who work in those pubs, ciders so good they make you scream and the trials and tribulations of fact retention. Have a listen and discover Rachel's five all-time most importa ..read more

In the second part of our series on the drinks that shaped our journey in cider, it’s Albert’s turn to reveal the bottles that have most impacted him. Shockingly, three of them are Ross-on-Wye – though Albert didn't actually press the apples in any of them, though he helped bottle and shape the latter two. Even more shockingly however, two of the ciders aren’t Ross-on-Wye's at all! In this episode we learn the bottle ‘that did it’ for Albert and the two Ross-on-Wyes that shaped his cider making trajectory. Plus the British cidery that’s most impacted him and a recent cider that inspired him to ..read more