New parents with full-time professional careers and a central London existence — it doesn’t scream ‘new artisan cidermakers’. But that’s exactly what Becky and James Gerlis-Gray are. Launched just this July, Pom Cider brings artisan cider made with Surrey cider apples (yes, you read that right) to the big city. 

James and I got chatting briefly at the last Ross Cider Club; I asked if I could swing by in London sometime. One grey November Saturday, my partner Alfie and I visit the couple, whose first vintage of cider is currently for sale, at their Camberwell home. While their toddler naps, we chat in their airy industrial-chic kitchen over lunch and, of course, cider. And as so often in cider, we’re quick to dive into the backstory of what got them hooked.

Around 2020, the pair decided they wanted to make something with their hands alongside their desk jobs. After considering a couple of ideas including wine making, which they felt unqualified for and concluded would be impractical, they alighted upon cider making. As Becky puts it: “In cider, I saw a lot of stories of people who looked a bit more like us. Cider making seemed like something we could just have a go at in our home.”

They went on a one-day cider making course at the National Apple Collection in Brogdale, Kent and pressed one season of donated apples with a little basket press in James’ father’s garage in Essex, for fun. So far, so usual. Then, in an impressively bold next move, they decided to look for a partner to scale up their business from 40 L to commercial and went on a tour of Kentish cider makers with the intent of finding someone to make their cider under contract. 

Becky and James figured that finding a contract maker for their initial vintages would allow them to focus on branding and sales, bringing a high-quality product to a London audience. They planned to continue hobby making to perfect their craft on the side, thinking they wouldn’t have time to make a commercially viable amount themselves.

“People got back to us with quite basic questions about the recipe — dilution rates, sugar addition, and so on,” James says with a rueful smile. “I think we were incredibly naive at that point.” The decision to become cider makers themselves after all is what truly lit the fire in their belly: they fell in love with being outside rather than at their desks and making something with their hands. 

In an incredible stroke of luck, an ad popped up on Facebook right as James was first searching for second-hand equipment to scale up their operation. A design engineer in Surrey was looking for a cider maker to make use of his grant-funded belt press and small cider apple orchard of Dabinett, Browns, and Harry Master’s Jersey, both of which were lying unused. Becky and James quickly sealed the deal.

Bringing together family and friends to pick, pressing their 1,000-litre vintage over just one day, and bottling on second-hand equipment whenever they could find the time (the labelling machine currently lives on their kitchen table), James and Becky created their first ciders for sale last year. Pragmatic about the constraints on their time, they stuck with one base blend (c. 60% Dabinett/Harry Master’s Jersey and 40% Browns) to create two ciders: ‘Uprising’ (dry and bottle-conditioned) and’ Crowded Rooms’ (sweetened to medium with caster sugar and carbonated). 

This mix of tradition and innovation — of a desire be hands-on every step of the way while developing a ‘recipe’ and a brand — reflects the Pom team’s drive to learn as much as possible. This year, for example, while they’re sticking with the base blend + cultured yeast formula for their main releases, they’ve separated off a smaller tank to trial a wild, un-sulfited fermentation.

Becky and James say they only really discovered cider alongside making it; they have now completed Peter Mitchell’s beginner and advanced courses (rather enviably, they were part of the latter’s last-ever cohort this October). Over the course of conversation, they mention London Cider & Perry Club’s Alison Taffs, their respective business backgrounds, and CraftCon as other influences.

Pom Cider Uprising – review

How I served: From the fridge.

Appearance: Clear, light orangey amber with a visible head.

On the nose: Warm caramel apple and light tannin crispness.

In the mouth: Quite high carbonation. Stemmy tannin and red apple skin (no, not green, despite the label’s subconscious influence). A lemony high note on the back of the palate which I feel is the Browns.

In a nutshell: A dry cider that’s particularly light and crisp given its tannic profile. ‘Think of it like a really nice apple Cava,’ says James, and I totally see where he’s coming from.

It makes perfect sense that Uprising (named in homage to the nascent cider revolution) has just been added to the trendy Camberwell Arms’ menu as a by-the-glass alternative to sparkling wine. Becky and James say that being in London has allowed them to do a lot of their own “legwork” and get their cider out there; they’ve had the chance to sell it at a CAMRA festival and other drinks fairs as well as Brockley food market, and it’s currently being trialled on the shelves of the London Cider House in Borough Market.

“I feel like we’re mini ambassadors for the fine cider revolution!”, enthuses Becky, emphasizing that a personal chat with consumers most often translates into sales. I ask her if a particular cider ignited this passion; she thinks it was one of Tom Oliver’s. “We grow the best apples and make the best cider in the world. You have this moment where you’re like, people need to know about this!”

Pom Cider Crowded Rooms – review

How I served: Sat out of the fridge for a while.

Appearance: Clear, light orangey amber; a bit less carbonated this time.

On the nose: Very concentrated caramel nose, almost like Cracker Jack!

In the mouth: Similar to the nose, but with a bit of that stemmy tannin contrasting. The same high acidity in the back. It’s clear that it’s the same cider, just brought up to medium sweetness. More French vibes.

In a nutshell: While I think the base has lost some of its complexity through the sweetening and carbonation, as Becky points out, this is ‘party cider’.

This very accessible cider, which won a Gold at this year’s Bath & West show, is the one Becky says she’d use to persuade a fine cider newbie. Crucially, this would not be done by downplaying the cider-iness of the product: “I feel strongly that we should own the fact that it’s cider.” Still, Pom Cider is consciously steering away from what they called the “farm shop look”; their Roy Lichtenstein-esque labels, featuring a big, brightly coloured apple, were designed by the Edinburgh-based designer who also works with Port of Leith Distillery (“We found him on Instagram”).

Of course, the pragmatic Pom pair know who their audience are: the bottles are designed and priced — around £14-16 at most outlets — to target the (natural) wine drinker. In fact, they recently shared a stand with a friend’s ‘6% wine company’ at a drinks festival, highlighting artisan cider as a “perfect lower alcohol alternative to sparkling and natural wines” (as their website says).

I certainly enjoy the ciders with our ploughman’s lunch, marvelling at how we’re chatting like old friends even though we’ve only just met. As we are all agreeing how welcoming the real cider community is, Becky and James relate that they’ve found the same in other artisan drinks communities. Given their cosmopolitan location outside the cider heartlands, they’ve integrated into, among other groups, a community of micro-distilleries, which they’ve found to be equally warm and helpful.

Two bottles and several hours have disappeared, and I realise it’s probably time to let Becky and James get their daughter up from her nap and label the “few hundred bottles” that lie waiting in their living room. They very kindly let me try out their snazzy labelling machine; I promptly mess it up and insist on purchasing my shoddy handiwork (to enjoy at the ‘Champagne only’ party we were headed to later, naturally). I can’t wait to see where that pop-art Pom apple goes next.

Photos not by the author were kindly provided by Becky and James.