Tis the season of Cold/Covid/Flu! Ho Ho Ho! I’ve come back from my work trip to Dubai to find my left ear is completely blocked and my lungs wish to remind me of their existence with a little shudder and raspy retch every couple of minutes. You’d think I was knocking back 10 cigars a day. If it’s all cleared by Christmas, I’ll be happy. Winter is just around the corner, with the Solstice readying itself this Sunday 21^st December. There are definitely less daylight hours to contend with, something I’m acutely aware of having moved out to the proper countryside this Summer and now experiencing pitch black dog walks at 4:30pm (the starry night skies more than compensate for the lack of sunshine at this time of day). I eagerly await the delivery of dormant fruit trees from various nurseries across the UK, ready to start bringing an eclectic range of cider apples, perry pears, and awesomely named plums (Shit Smock) to my little corner of West Norfolk.

The rain that arrived here in the UK end of September/start of October seems to be a blessing to a lot of cidermakers – not everything is quite the astronomically high SGs that the August and September fruit were promising. Perhaps offering up a slightly more balanced spread of fruit for the season as a whole? I know this is only a small snapshot of total cider and perry production across the globe, yet it is amazing to see the variance of growing styles, climatic conditions, and harvest yields based on good/bad seasons on show. I’ve started reading Ben Rawlence’s The Treeline, all about the six tree species that present themselves as being happy growing right on the outer fringes of latitude and altitude. Even just 50-odd pages in, its apparent this treeline of the Boreal forest is moving higher and further north, in a manner slightly out of synch with previous generations of forest. I would imagine that a pear tree would be happier than an apple tree growing at altitude and further north in a Boreal orchard.  From what little I’ve seen with producers like Jessica Deathe at Three Saints Perry, where her ancient perry pear trees happily grow on a steep, isolated hillside in Monmouthsire. Bill and Chava at Welsh Mountain Cider too offer good real time 2025 data of what these lovely trees will put up with on exposed hillsides, at sizeable altitude. It’s brilliant to feature Caledonian Cider in this edition of the Harvest Producers Summary too as Ryan is definitely testing the latitude principle out with his late season Black Isle Dabinett. I think we may need to find a producer growing fruit on Shetland to fully lean into this Boreal Orchard notion even further…

Onto the next 15 Producer Summaries from the memorable Harvest 2025!

Artistraw Cider. Clifford, Herefordshire, UK

First date and last date of Harvest: Our first picking day was on the 23^rd September, our last was 30^th November. Pressing continues although we predict finishing (hopefully) in the 3^rd week of December.

Total amount of cider/perry made: This year we’ll make the same as usual – 6,000- 7,000-ish litres which is the maximum amount our 4x4m cider shed can hold.

A highlight of harvest 2025: There were many highlights this year and just as many lowlights. 2025 was probably the biggest rollercoaster of a season we’ve ever had.

My highlights included seeing five (!) Mistle Thrushes sitting in one of the apple trees we’ve grown in our home orchard, getting to bang the drum for natural cider on an episode of BBC Country File, helping to press fruit for two dear friends and first time cider makers, Tom getting the pump on our vintage press working (the stress reduction was immense) and lastly, being gifted use of the most magical, 250 year old perry pear orchard only 5 minutes from our house! Somehow hidden from us until this year, it was almost as if it had been conjured into being overnight. It might have been extreme harvest-induced tiredness or a result of the admittedly pretty far out synth harp music I was listening to at the time, but on one ever memorable evening, as the light was quickly fading, I was in this orchard alone, listening to the calls of tawny owls and picking up minuscule russetted pears from under a particularly impressive gnarled old giant when I had a feeling of such perfect contentment that I could have just stayed in that spot forever more. Spending time in these orchards, picking fruit and making cider and perry has become so profoundly important to me that I feel a pang of sadness as every season draws to a close. What an enormous privilege to call oneself a cider maker!

I’ll reserve tales of the lowlights for an evening in the pub.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? It’s far too early to say… ask us again in 18 months! Some SGs were higher than usual, some were average and none were particularly low. We hope the shed full of juice that we’re currently sitting on will turn into something delicious given time and a nice cold Winter.

Chapel Sider. Fiskerton, Lincolnshire, UK

First date and last date of Harvest: First and last day of harvest was 28th September – yes we did the whole orchard in one day. Some fruit was ready, like the Somerset Redstreaks, but others were not, Dabs were way, way too early. Because the orchard is still young, and we only have a small number of trees of each variety we aren’t yet able to press each one when they’re ready, our tanks aren’t flexible enough. This is the earliest we’ve ever harvested, so fingers crossed.

Total amount of cider/perry made: As we closed the business in September, we only picked our own orchard which gave us 190 litres the most we’ve ever had by far.

A highlight of harvest 2025: The hardest part of the harvest this year was leaving all the other fruit we would have picked if we were still making commercially. There were so many apples on the ground it was heartbreaking. Focus now is to get it racked into some smaller tanks, 190 litres in a 200 litre Speidel tank still leaves a bit of head space…

P.s. The Cat in the Glass still has some of our 2023 Paddock Orchard in stock, it will be the last vintage available commercially, so get them while you can.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? The fruit varied, some like the HMJ and Michelin/Bisquet remained quite small. The Redstreak and Kingston Black were a fair size. Sugar levels were high, 1.060 which should give us around ~7.7% abv, higher than previous years, but would have been higher if we’d been able to leave all of them till they were ripe. If the blend from previous years is anything to go by we will have a pleasant well rounded fruity cider with relatively low perceptible tannins. A result of a very fertile paddock before it became an orchard, less stressed trees = less tannins. 

Dryg Cider. Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden

First date and last date of Harvest: Katja (Syn. Katy), kicked off our season on the 30th of August, a week earlier than usual from our main orchard 30 km from Malmö.

Last harvest. 24th October. Dabinett, Yarlies, Court de Wyck and HMJ, 90% of which were windfalls. All Pears were picked on the 6th of October. Brandy, Blakeney Red, a few Butt and a Wilding near the orchard which we’ll be grafting next year.

Total amount of cider/perry made: 7500 litres of cider and 300 litres of Perry all told as of last pressing day. This with bought and donated apples (Boskoop and Mutsu) on the 8th of December. We only needed to buy half as much Cox Orange and Boskoop as last year due to our trees planted in 2018/19 rewarding us with lots of fruit.

A highlight of harvest 2025: We’re agreed that the highlight of this years harvest was the wilding pear tree we found in a copse halfway up a steep field nearby. We had to drag each other up part of the slope through brambles to get to it which was a good laugh. We’ll be grafting it onto Pyrus Farold rootstock in February.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? This is our seventh harvest and the juice coming off the press gets more interesting every year. We split the harvest into tanks with early or late tannins, the later bittersweets being higher in tannin and sugar, deeper in taste and more viscous. These give us two orchard blends for Torun to play with at blending. Sgs have been between 1,053 and 1,063 which is slightly higher than usual. We are racking more often and hope for a gram or two more residual sugar per litre. The cider from this harvest might be ready in autumn 2026 but 2027 is more probable. It tastes a lot better from the bottle after 18 months.

Flemings Fife Cider. Leuchars, North East Fife, UK

First date and last date of Harvest:  We started pressing on the 6th September and finished on the 15th November.

Total amount of cider/perry made: Approximately 950 litres of cider and perry. About 800 litres cider and 150 litres perry. This was a big cropping year and is my largest ever harvest. I am on a very small scale, so this is huge for me. It might have been even more if not for the May and August storms that brought down fruit. My previously largest harvest was in 2023, when I did most of the picking myself. This year, although I still picked the majority of fruit, it was nice to have some brought to me as donations, which is a big help, as a part time maker with a young family. Thank you to all my fruit donors! I sourced fruit from more than 60 separate places, so it is a massive coordinating effort to get around to so many locations around the region. 

A highlight of harvest 2025: There’s a few nice ones – just being able to pick enough Discovery apples for a small SV batch again. Some wonderful pear trees including one planted by Mary of Guise 500 years ago that still produces fruit. Getting a good amount of fabulous fruit from Kilmany wild pear tree and Monimail crab pear tree for my 2025 perry. Getting enough fruit from my own young cider apple trees planted from 2021 onwards and combining them with cider apples from Naughton trees of a similar age, to make a substantial blend of Fife-grown cider apples – something that is very rare.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? The local fruit was slightly higher in specific gravity than most years. The difference in the starting gravity between Fife-grown fruit and that pressed from the south of England was striking though. I think that our southern colleagues will basically be making apple wine with their 2025 vintages! I’m hopeful for a good year, to match the memorable 2018 and 2022 vintages.

GCB. Westerlo, Vlaams Gewest, Belgium

First date and last date of Harvest: We started harvest on the 25^th August and finished on the 22^nd September.

Total amount of cider/perry made: This year we made around 2500 litres, up on last year’s production of roughly 1500 litres.

A highlight of harvest 2025: A highlight for me was the quince, we had a really good year for fruit in general. So as a result, there were a lot of quince to work with. Even some from our own garden. I’m really excited to see how they develop.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? As I said before it was a really good year for fruit, so also quite high SG. I think 2025 will be a good vintage.

Hoe Hill Cider. Fulletby, Lincolnshire, UK

First date and last date of Harvest: 2025 was our 6th harvest and a very important one for Hoe Hill Cider, with lots of lessons learned.   Due to working abroad in September and November, I had to squeeze all my harvest into a 5-week window, missing a lot of my early Foxwhelps and having to prioritise the best orchards over others due to lack of time. We started on 22^nd September and finished on 30^th October.

Total amount of cider/perry made: 1150 litres produced this year from over 2 tons of apples, ‘pinky and perkying’ with two hydropresses – could have easily been more but day job got in the way.  But it’s all high quality juice.

A highlight of harvest 2025: All the apples were red this year!

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? One of my usual orchards produced virtually nothing due to the drought – this was because the trees are all on very dwarfing rootstocks.   Quite apart from the fantastically high sugar levels and bountiful harvests, I’ve managed to gather mostly vintage cider varieties to make decent-size batches from a nearby orchard, which was planted around 20 years ago.  I’m very hopeful of some great cider in 2027! 

Hoe Hill Orchard itself produced 40 litres (!) this year from 8-year-old full-standard trees, so we have a simple orchard blend bubbling away at the moment.  Brown’s Apple really likes conditions at Hoe Hill, and Broxwood Foxwhelps are doing consistently well.  From now on the number of quality cider apples available to me from my own orchard and others will grow, so I need to be more efficient in harvesting and pressing to make best use of time.  I’ve been producing cider on an experimental scale up to now but after this year, I’ve decided to bring forward plans for upgrades and improvements so I can make the most of future harvests.

Caledonian Cider. Conon Bridge, Highland Council, UK

First date and last date of Harvest: Our harvest started maybe a week earlier than last year with the usual suspects; Katy, Discovery and a whole load of unknown garden apples coming in the first week of September. Harvest finished 30^th December with around 1500kg of Dabinet from Evanton.

Total amount of cider/perry made: This year I’ve made around 4000 litres of cider (no perry).

A highlight of harvest 2025: As mundane as it seems, the absolute highlight for me was buying a bag loader, absolutely revolutionary in terms of my harvest! Think of these as big bags you can load your fruit into and out of with ease.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? I was expecting higher sugar content after the Thatchers hype but most of this early stuff was around 1046. The harvest then progressed through more katy this time from further north (ripening at the end of September) then Major and the James Grieve / Bramley glut in mid-October.

The gravity improved as the season progressed finally reaching 1062 for the Dabinetts – the highest I’ve ever seen in the Highlands. The tannin structure on the bittersweets seems robust but the standout characteristic of this harvest for me has been the aromatics, hopefully this will transfer through the fermentation as it’s been good and cold here (and i ferment outside in the orchard).
I wonder if the aromatics have been concentrated by the lack of water through the summer, I suppose while this manifests further south as higher sugar we’re still a good bit cooler (despite having plenty of sun this year) so perhaps it just reduces the water giving a higher concentration of aromatics for us here.

Luke’s Cider. Walthamstow, London, UK

First date and last date of Harvest: As I don’t have my own orchards (I source my juice from Ross Mangles down in Crewkerne, Somerset and David Weaver up on the Herefordshire borders. They both supply top quality single variety juice from either their own or local orchards around their respective areas) and don’t press for myself I’ll go with first juice arrival and last which is pretty reflective of their harvesting.  29th September: Somerset Redstreak & Tremletts Bitter. 13th November: Dabinett.

Total amount of cider/perry made: 33,000 litres all in all! For me this is the most Juice I’ve had thus far! We’ve been trying to scale up over the last few years and this year marks a bit of a threshold in that we’ve run out of space! but also this is the mark I’m hoping will be sustainable as a business. Time will of course tell. But added to that with the potential quality of this year’s harvest I was very keen to get as much as possible as there’s a good chance it won’t be this good for a while! From what I understand yields weren’t particularly high, likely down to the dry summer.

A highlight of harvest 2025: So far my Somerset Kingston Black is leading the way. In my experience with Kingston Black it tends to be the earliest to ferment out, and this year has been no exception and it’s tasting pretty good. Early days of course but I’m excited about it. So, the question now is what to do with it… I have some ideas, but I try to let the cider inform the decision. I only have 1000 litres of it, so I don’t want to jump to any conclusions. Safe to say this may be one for the long game!

As an early indicator I’m pretty excited about this year generally hopefully my Kingston is a sign of things to come.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? SG’s have been on average pretty solid. However, from what I have got it’s not been as crazy high across the board as perhaps was anticipated. My Yarlington Mill came in at 1.048 so not that much higher than last year.

I do have some extraordinarily high, with potentials coming out between 8/9% which is probably the highest I’ve ever had. So, I’m pretty confident there will be some lovely stuff coming through. I’m looking forward to getting some of the standout stuff into barrels and seeing how it progresses!

Naama Sorkin Cider. Merom Golan, Northern, Israel.

First date and last date of Harvest: 1st apples arrived on the 9th of October. Last pressing was on the 10th of December. I have to admit that I am first and foremost a winemaker, so apple harvest never starts before vintage ends… therefore the late start.

Total amount of cider/perry made: A total of 2200 L. Approximately 400L of Quince Cider and the rest are apples. I have been increasing my production very slowly in the last few years. I started with 450 L in 2021. Alcoholic Cider is virtually unknown here, so selling it is a challenge. I started working with an excellent sales company last January. Due to their good services, I am able to make more cider. Both bottled and in kegs.

A highlight of harvest 2025: I am working only with eating apples, as ciders varieties are not available here. The main difference this year is that I started using apples that are collected off the ground a few weeks after harvest, instead of using picked apples. The fruit is much more flavourful, although more sorting is required. 

Also, I made a tiny batch of Quince mistelle!! Pressed with some carbonically macerated Barbera grapes, fortified with pear brandy AND flavoured with local fennel that grows wild in my partner’s vineyard. It was a lot of fun making and it tastes amazing.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? I don’t really have a lot of perspective. I have been making cider only for 4 years, and don’t have much of an aging history. I will say that SG’s are always quite high due to the hot weather, and because of a severe drought in the winter of 2024/2025 there has been much less fruit than average yields.

Skyborry Cider & Perry. Knighton, Powys, UK

First date and last date of Harvest: We began on the 6th of September. A little earlier than usual. Nehou apples grown in Breinton, Herefordshire. Finally finished on 2^nd December!

Total amount of cider/perry made: By the time we had finished  it was about 6000 litres. The same as normal really. We could have done a little bit more but we don’t have the tank space. We have some juggling around to do as it is.

A highlight of harvest 2025: With my brother away working I found myself in the Tedstone Orchard last Friday morning in the frost. It was a super cold and sunny morning and I had all the right kit on so was comfortably collecting up Sheep’s Nose cider apples and I was just having such a lovely time. The fruit was delicious and I felt lucky to be there. I treated myself to a cooked breakfast at the Shobdon Airfield cafe afterwards to polish off a lovely morning and although I didn’t realise it at the time it was probably our last harvest day of the year. Me and Adam had a quick chat on the weekend and it seems like we are about full up. It’s been a pleasure.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? I think we can say has been the best season for apples and pears since we started in 2010. Consistent quality throughout the season. I’ve heard more experienced makers saying it’s their best in 30 years! The earlier season fruit was high in sugar with a certain pear variety over 1075 which is what our hydrometer goes up to. The later cider fruit is closer to what it normally is, I think our blend normally reach 1050-55 and this year they will be slightly higher but only a point or two. The Perry is all over 1060SG. It’s not all about sugar though. There has been great favour in most varieties of apple and we were happy with all of the pears we picked. Positive all round really. The hand collected fruit all stored really well so we found minimal rotters in the bags after sometimes several weeks of storing. We will start to understand more of the flavour of the ciders and perries as we taste them into next year as they develop.

Wild West Cider. Failand, North Somerset UK

First date and last date of Harvest: We started our harvest on 09/09/25 and finished on 02/12/25.

Total amount of cider/perry made: It’s been a record harvest for us this year, primarily down to the fact our own orchards have started producing. Cider production is at 12,000 litres, perry at 250 litres, and we even got 2000 litres from our vineyard.

A highlight of harvest 2025: A highlight of this year’s harvest was picking mostly from our own orchards as well as being allowed to pick from the Tyntesfield Estate, which has some amazing varieties.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? It’s too early to say what we can expect from this year’s vintage. However, the SG’s have been very high, so expect high ABV ciders/perries. The challenge will be getting the fruit flavours to shine through the alcohol.

Ragged Hill Cider Company. West Brookfield, Massachusetts, USA

First date and last date of Harvest:  We started harvesting our Hewe’s Virginia Crabs on September 4^th. We have a few of these trees which I keep mainly for pollination. They don’t keep very well, get mealy fast in the warm September weather and most of our other cider apples are so late that when we really start pressing, the Hewe’s have gone by.

We do buy apples from other locals when we need to but we’ve got so much going on this year I’m not going to make that much new cider. I still have several thousand litres of 2024 ciders to be blended and bottled. We finished harvesting Franklins and Porter’s (looks at notes) November 7^th.

Total amount of cider/perry made: We pressed about 500 litres of juice from Franklins and Porter’s. We have also planted Gold Rush and Wickson at Slate Hill, but they’re not bearing much yet. I also love Wickson incidentally’ It was developed in California in the early 20th century. It has an extraordinary flavour, soft tannins and an acidity redolent of lemons which comes through after fermentation. Our north Slope orchard that I mentioned before is under development. The 30year old trees had been neglected by the previous owner and had to be severely pruned and weeded this past spring. There wasn’t much bearing wood left after pruning so between that and biennialism, no apples there this year. The varieties at North Slope are mostly things I don’t want like Macintosh, Red Delicious, and Mccoun so we will start on a crash grafting program this spring. This is all part of a project to move our entire operation to a new, larger, more accessible location attached to 200 acres of apple, peach, and pear orchards, blueberries, and newly planted 14 acres of Chestnut trees. Plans are also underway to develop a winery and distillery in the same location as the cidery. Right now it’s all a sprawling mess that I’m trying to get under some sort of control. at least the Ragged Hill Cidery is all moved into the new (old) digs although not completely sorted yet. It’s going to be a busy (5?) (10?) years. Wish us luck and keep in touch.

A highlight of harvest 2025: The highlight for me was to see our Porter’s Perfection start to bear fruit and to feel like this variety will live up to it’s potential as a mainstay of our future production.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? We had our first snow yesterday December 3 which is pretty much on schedule. It’s been cold for a few weeks now so I’m sure the trees are sleeping comfortably. We had a so-so harvest. The weather has been cooperative this year in general. The spring was wet which made early spring work in the orchard a slog. Our 14 acre North Slope orchard has to be managed with big machines that can churn the orchard floor into a mud pit when it’s wet. Our smaller Slate Hill orchard is entirely on well-drained ground so no problems there. Pollination was a bit off in my opinion. Our weather can be similar to Eden in Vermont. Our North Slope orchard is still recovering from a Fireblight disaster in 2020 when we lost 90% of our dwarf planting of Golden Russet, Roxbury Russet, and Dabinett. I love Dabinett but it doesn’t love us back. It’s a Fireblight magnet and it doesn’t seem to like our acidacious soil. It seems to want to stay in your chalky soil over there in Somerset. I still have a couple of dwarf Dabs but they’re coming out next spring. We have two tannic apples to replace the Dabs. They’re just starting to bear: Porter’s Perfection and Franklin. Both of which seem to like it here and look like good bearers. Both are bittersweets with lots of sugar and nice tannins. The Franklins are spur bearing which I find easier to manage as well as aesthetically pleasing. The Porters are tip bearing and enthusiastically reaching for the sky but I’m learning how to handle them.  

Palmers Upland Cyder. Rogerstone, Monmouthshire, UK

First date and last date of Harvest: I didn’t start until half term as the gearbox on my pickup seized (27th October). I doubt I’ll finish picking until end of January and hopefully pressing will be done by end of February.

Total amount of cider/perry made: I’ve made 320 litres of Perry. 650 litres of Kingston Black, 400 litres of sharps, 200 litres of bittersweets, 200 of bittersharps. I’ve still got to press 500kg of Ellis Bitter, 500kg Yarlington Mill, 500 kg Ashton Brown Jersey, 250 kg Dabinett, 250KG  Balls Bittersweet, 250kg Chisel Jersey to press.
Then I still need to pick Ashton Bitter, Long Stem, Dunkerton Late Sweet, Fillbarrel, Kingston Bitter and lastly Blacks Dabinett. Not sure on quantities as depends on the quality of the fruit.

A highlight of harvest 2025: A highlight of the harvest has been Ellis Bitter.   The fruit was so easy to handpick and has kept and pressed really well.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? As I started so late my SGs have been average. I think those who pressed early fruit saw a significant increase in sugar levels. By the time I got picking the rains had started so my sugar levels haven’t altered much.

Beardspoon Cider. Sellindge, Kent, UK

First date and last date of Harvest: First date was Discovery, picked around 11th August. Last date was Howgate Wonders picked and squashed 2nd November.

Total amount of cider/perry made: Total amount of Cider made for Harvest 2025 was 1500 litres.

A highlight of harvest 2025: A Hhghlight of the Harvest was the overall lighterage was up slightly on last year, Discovery & Bramley specifically giving 10-15% more juice per press. Plus, we made a one-off cider during pressing using fresh juice from this year’s Discovery Apples, blended with 2024 Howgate Wonder & Russet ciders, I named it ‘ST-40’ to celebrate my 40th Birthday. (Badge Attached below)

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? Sugar levels were slightly up overall, Bramley the exception being slightly lower, even though they were picked quite late and perfectly ripe. The last pressing of the season was a significant number of Red Crab Apples, the 35 litres of juice from these was extra thick coming out at around 1070.

Cwm Maddoc/Hollow Ash Orchard. Broad Oak, Herefordshire, UK

First date and last date of Harvest: First pressing 21 Aug (Katy). Final pressing 4 Dec Estimated (Herefordshire Russet) but could pick and process more fruit.

Total amount of cider/perry made: In total we’ve made the following amounts:

• Cider: 880 litres
• Perry: 295 litres
• Juice: 1590 litres

A highlight of harvest 2025: The sheer quantity of fruit on practically every tree! And the quality was good too with little damage by birds wasps and other insects.

How would you describe the vintage of cider and perry produced this year? High SG/low SG, good for ageing etc? More or less similar SG to other years surprisingly given the high temperatures and sunshine levels. So far flavours seem good and strong. Early cider and perry fermented quickly predictably given the warm autumn.