What is Amber Valley Cider Club?
Good cider. Good company. Last Friday. Every month.
We love cider. Proper cider, made from apples, with all the extraordinary variety that comes from different fruit, orchards, makers and methods. And we thought it was about time there was somewhere locally for people who share that enthusiasm to get together.
So, we’ve started Amber Valley Cider Club.
This isn’t a formal tasting society and you certainly don’t need to know your Dabinett from your Kingston Black to come along. Cider Club is for anyone with an interest in cider — from the simply cider-curious to the committed enthusiast.
It’s also very much for amateur and small-scale cider makers. If you’ve got a demijohn bubbling away at home, make a few gallons from your own apples every autumn, or are thinking about having a go for the first time, come and join us. Bring your questions, share your successes and disasters, swap ideas and learn from other makers. There’s an awful lot of accumulated knowledge amongst people who make cider, and sometimes the best way of finding something out is simply to sit down with someone over a glass and ask.
We’ll have Amber Valley ciders alongside guest ciders from other makers, giving us an excuse to explore different styles, apple varieties and cider-making traditions. From time to time we’ll invite guest producers and speakers along too, but we’re deliberately keeping things informal. Some evenings there might be a talk or tasting; others will simply be an opportunity to drink some interesting cider and enjoy the company.
And there will be pork pie. We felt that was important.
Perhaps the thing that makes our Cider Club a little different is where you'll be drinking it. This isn't a meeting room above a pub. During the warmer months we'll gather at our Orchard Pavilion, amongst the apple trees and vines. When the nights draw in we'll retreat to the Cellardoor, get the woodburner going and gather around the bar. These are real working orchard, vineyard and cider-making surroundings — slightly rustic, occasionally muddy and emphatically not polished.
We're in the countryside, so winter evenings can be dark and the field can be wet. Bring sensible shoes and, on darker nights, a torch isn't a bad idea. That's all part of it.
Cider Club meets on the last Friday of every month, 7–10pm. Entry is £5, including pork pie.
Come on your own, bring a friend, bring your cider-making questions — or just come because you rather like cider.
The first rule of Cider Club is that you absolutely should talk about Cider Club.
