Honestly this is such a boring missive (I won’t dignify it with the word ‘article’) that it’s almost not worth writing. You’re guaranteed not to learn anything new about cider or perry from it, and it shouldn’t really affect anything or anyone in any meaningful way.

But we’ve always valued transparency in these parts so, with that in mind, just to mention that I’m retiring from editorial duties on Cider Review for the foreseeable future and handing the reins over to Barry Masterson, who has always been our token grown-up in the room anyway.

A few reasons for this, uppermost of which is that I think I have, finally, found my limit on ‘too busy’. Besides running a site which published some 86 articles last year, 46 of which were my own, I have a full time job which I am very lucky to love, an amateur theatre habit which is about to see me direct my third show in a year (I also assisted on a fourth and acted in two more), a podcast that brings me endless joy (mandatory shout-out to our 12 listeners), a book coming out (which I should shamelessly mention is now available to pre-order here…) and a very patient partner who I really ought to check in with now and again.

All in all, I’m at ‘butter over too much bread’ point, something really ought to give, and this is the easiest and most sensible thing to say au revoir to. I hope, by surrendering the day-to-day running of the site and its socials, that I will be able to mentally invest more in writing, which has always, for me, been the point of having this site in the first place. There is an awful lot that I want to cover, as well as articles on the likes of the Sagardo Forum and CiderCon that are long overdue. 

One last small aside, before handing over to Barry, which really circles back to what I wrote in our year-end roundup. Cider advocacy, in whatever form it takes, is a rarefied gig. There aren’t many of us banging the drum – which is why it’s all the more special when we congregate in numbers, at events like Bristol’s Cider Salon or CiderCon, where an incredible 1250 people braved the absurd elements this year. There are still fewer doing any sort of long-form content, such as we attempt here at Cider Review. I’m enormously proud of what we’ve achieved – 386 articles written and some 950+ ciders and perries reviewed, all on a volunteer basis, about a drinks category which remains very much a niche. 

At the same time, covering cider and perry is one of the loneliest beats in drinks writing. As proud as I am of what we achieved, I’d optimistically estimate that we’ve just about received as many views in our three years as a dedicated space as we did in just one as a column on a whisky website. That our numbers are going up is testament to the continued – indeed growing – international interest in cider and perry, but the online conversation nevertheless seems quieter than it did a couple of years ago, and that makes me nervous and sad. I’ve really only a couple of regular cider writing peers to compare notes with, lift each other up and offer a virtual arm to (one reason it was such a joy to finally meet Cider Explorer’s Natalia the other week) and sometimes it can all feel a little Quixotic. I think about this article, written in 2020, a lot these days. For all that’s changed, a great part of it is still true. Indeed many of the communicators listed within it have long since called time.

What’s more, whilst there should always be debate and alternative points of view, I have seemed (perhaps it’s just my perception) to see an increase in subtweeting, ill feeling and accusations of gatekeeping recently. I certainly haven’t always got everything right in my approaches and interactions, and I’m aware that since James (so often the voice of calm) left there’s only been one editor running the whole show, and an often-prickly editor at that. So I expect it will prove good for the health of the site for it to be influenced and led by a new perspective, at least for a while, and dare say it’ll be good for my own health to gain a little distance from its social media outlets.

As I’ve often said, the CR readership are an incredible bunch. I’ve been and remain grateful for every single one of you and I know you’ll give Barry the support he deserves to keep things not only ticking over but flourishing. As for me, a change will (I hope) be as good as a rest. And this time I’m not really going anywhere anyway.