Discover

It’s early March in Austin, Texas, just days into the city’s flagship visitor-driven event, the South By South West (SXSW) cultural festival. The sun is shining as it should be, and in a busy downtown beer garden, tables of Stetson-clad, Western-booted drinkers are passing on the festival to line up in front of racks of cask beer, filling their branded miniature English pint glasses with an array of pin, firkin and gravity cask pulls from across Texas and the US.

Photos by Justin Brummer

What springs to mind when you think of a Mexican lager? Sinking your toes into gorgeous smooth white sand as you recline on a beach in Cancun or Puerto Vallarta with a Dos Equis or Pacifico? Stuffing a lime down the neck of a Corona or Sol in a student bar? Or sipping a Modelo or Victoria over plates of sizzling fajitas? In the UK, Mexican lagers might lack the enormous popularity and ubiquity they enjoy Stateside but it’s likely that most beer drinkers will have encountered them sufficiently to have their own idea of what to expect when ordering one.

Illustrations by Christine Jopling

In the beginning there were no pubs.

It’s hard to believe, I know, but it has taken centuries of cultural evolution to build the societies we move through today—pubs and all.

Early examples of pubs can be split into three categories:

– Inns, Taverns and Alehouses.

Inns worked to provide a place of rest and nourishment for weary travellers, now almost entirely replaced by our modern day holiday inns and motorway service stations. Taverns were introduced to Great Britain by the Romans—once they’d provided us with roads and infrastructure the next obvious step was to introduce their tabernae. In Italy a taberna was a bar dedicated to serving local wine, but the Romans gladly adopted British beer instead, and taverns were born. Alehouses followed suit, places for the sale of beer and ale—as the name suggests—that sprung up throughout cities and towns providing third spaces for the workers and men of the community.

Illustrations by David Bailey, photos by Amelia Claudia and Matthew Curtis

A fabulous array of ciders are made all over the world. In the ‘Old World’ of Western Europe we have the cultural powerhouses of Asturias and the Basque Country in Northern Spain, as well Brittany and Normandy in France. Every region produces idiosyncratic ciders based upon different apple varieties, terroir and traditional methods of production. In the ‘New World’ – regions without longstanding heritage – dessert apples are utilised to create an array of ciders, often with significant influence from the world of beer and wine. In this instalment Gabe travels to Hardanger in Norway to attend the Hardanger International Cider festival, getting know local producers and their delicious wares which include; still, sparkling, flavoured and ice ciders.

Wine is often heralded as the perfect match for cheese, but there is another drink which can lay claim to the perfect pairing – cider! Gabe Cook visits cheesemonger, Dominic Pulsford from Two Belly in Bristol, to learn more about how to approach cheese and cider matching. We test the old adage “what grows together, goes together” by matching ciders and cheese from the same region, as well as being playful with flavours, textures and occasions. This fun, engaging video brings to life the myriad matching opportunities, as well as some stories and fun facts and the cheeses, ciders and regions.
Filmed by Bill Bradshaw. https://www.billbradshaw.co.uk/

In this series on distilling cider and perry, Bill Bradshaw guides us through a series of conversations with experts on the power of distillation, exploring the processes and decisions involved in moving beyond cider, through distillation, which creates ‘eau-de-vie’, Cider Brandy and Pommeau. In this first instalment Bill talks to Matilda Temperley of the Somerset Cider Brandy Co.

This three part series highlights how exciting British cider truly is. Using the personal views of respected professionals, Bill Bradshaw illustrates how seriously fine dining and the wider hospitality industry values cider, as an accompaniment to food, and also as an ingredient. In this session Bill talks to Harriet Mansell, Chef Owner of the Robin Wylde restaurant and Lilac Wine bar in Lyme Regis, about her journey towards knowing, loving and cooking with cider, and why she believes it accompanies the food she creates so well.

Pommelier and drinks educator Jane Peyton takes us on a journey through orchards and methods of production in this guide on knowing cider and perry styles. Jane explores the variety of styles including families of ciders (tannic, acidic, ciders with fruits, flower, spices), production methods – single variety, blends, keeving, back-sweetening, ice cider, and formats such as kegged, cider in a box, bottle conditioned, Pétillant Naturel, Traditional Method and a look at perry.

This three part series highlights how exciting British cider truly is. Using the personal views of respected professionals, Bill Bradshaw illustrates how seriously fine dining and the wider hospitality industry values cider, as an accompaniment to food, and also as an ingredient. In this session Bill talks to Felix Nash. Felix founded the The Fine Cider Company, a cider merchant working with leading producers to elevate cider and perry to the fine dining table.

This three part series highlights how exciting British cider truly is. Using the personal views of respected professionals, Bill Bradshaw illustrates how seriously fine dining and the wider hospitality industry values cider, as an accompaniment to food, and also as an ingredient. In this session Bill talks to Chef Merlin Labron-Johnson, about his journey towards knowing, loving and cooking with cider, and why he believes it accompanies the food he creates so well.

Perry is somewhat of a forgotten drink, but delve beneath the surface, and perry is, in fact, one of the most wonderful drinks made in the UK.
Perry has a rich history and mythos. Think Pagan Gods and the creation of Earth, Stinking Bishop, British Army khaki uniform in WWI, and 300 year old trees. In this video, Gabe Cook takes us on heady tour of the liquid history that is perry, guiding us through the flavours, stories, landscapes and characters that make perry a must drink for anyone.

A fabulous array of ciders are made all over the world. In the ‘Old World’ of Western Europe, we have the cultural powerhouses of Asturias and the Basque Country in Northern Spain – as well Brittany and Normandy in France. Every region produces idiosyncratic ciders based upon different apple varieties, terroir and traditional methods of production. In the ‘New World’, regions without longstanding heritage, dessert apples are utilised to create an array of ciders, often with significant influence from the world of beer and wine. The UK has a long and proud cider culture, and is – today – the largest producer and consumer of cider. In this first stop on a world tour of cider Gabe Cook introduces Scottish cider!

In this 2 part series on cider blending and maturation, Bill Bradshaw guides us through a series of conversations with some of the foremost blenders at the zenith of the cider-makers craft. The kind of ciders that find us at the bottom of an empty glass, savouring the moment and dreaming of what led us there. This series features Tom Oliver of Oliver’s Cider, founders of Little Pomona cider; James and Susanna Forbes, founders of Find and Foster fine ciders; Mat and Polly Hilton and retired biochemist, cider maker and veteran of Long Ashton Research Station (the National Fruit and Cider Institute), Andrew Lea. (This video features robust language in praise of cider).

In this 1 part series on cider blending and maturation, Bill Bradshaw guides us through a series of conversations with some of the foremost blenders at the zenith of the cider-makers craft. The kind of ciders that find us at the bottom of an empty glass, savouring the moment and dreaming of what led us there. This series features Tom Oliver of Oliver’s Cider, founders of Little Pomona cider; James and Susanna Forbes, founders of Find and Foster fine ciders; Mat and Polly Hilton and retired biochemist, cider maker and veteran of Long Ashton Research Station (the National Fruit and Cider Institute), Andrew Lea. (This video features robust language in praise of cider).