Still, cloudy and often startlingly strong, farmhouse cider is Bristol's house drink, poured from boxes and barrels on a harbour barge, in Clifton's cider house and at railway-arch taprooms.

Cider is the West Country's oldest industry and Bristol has always been its city tap. Somerset orchards supplied the port for centuries, and the tradition never gentrified away: The Coronation Tap has poured cider in Clifton for generations, The Apple turned a Dutch barge into a floating cider bar, and a new wave of makers now ferments in the city itself at arch taprooms like The Cider Box.

Where to eat Somerset farmhouse cider in Bristol

4 editor picks for Somerset farmhouse cider in Bristol, ranked by editorial score. All Bristol signature dishes · Somerset farmhouse cider across every city.

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Make it at home

Serves Serves 425 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 1 litre still, dry farmhouse cider
  • 2 strips of orange peel
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 thumb of fresh ginger, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons honey or soft brown sugar, to taste

Method

  1. Pour the cider into a pan with the orange peel, cinnamon, cloves and ginger.
  2. Warm gently over a low heat for 15 to 20 minutes without letting it boil, which would drive off the alcohol and dull the apple flavour.
  3. Stir in honey or sugar a spoon at a time, tasting as you go; farmhouse cider is drier than supermarket versions and needs less than you think.
  4. Strain into mugs and serve hot.

Editor tip. Use a proper still cider rather than a fizzy commercial one; carbonation turns bitter when heated and the mull loses its orchard character.

Common allergens: Sulphites.