Well, from the lack of news over the last year, you would be forgiven for thinking that we have all been sitting in the orchard, drinking cider and watching the bees fly by. Not quite the case. We have been working hard installing new equipment, developing new products and generally getting on with getting on. It would be impossible, and boring, to list everything so we’ll recap a little and then move on.
Last year we were hoping for a new labelling machine to arrive as we were resorting to inner tubes of bicycle tyres to keep our old machine going. She (yes, she's a she) arrived a couple of months later and although she came all the way from Italy she was not given the same 'sexy' name as Sophia, the capping machine. After numerous debates ‘Demelza’ came to be accepted as part of the team. Why Demelza? Easy – she sounds like a pump engine from a Cornish Mine so what else could she possibly be called? She looks as good as Sophia though and apart from being temperamental on occasions, she whistles through the bottles quite satisfactorily.
Jumping forward, the highlight of May this year was a visit by The Duke of Cornwall (HRH Prince Charles) who dropped by for a cup of tea and a quick visit. We had prepared a hamper for him packed with products but he spotted the one thing that wasn't included (our Mulled Apple Juice) – so we had to pack another bag in double quick time and bundle it into his car just before he was on his way. The Protection Officers seemed quite sanguine about us loading an unidentified ‘package’ into his car. Maybe it was because of their earlier visits when we had spent a long time talking to them and plying them with apple juice that they trusted us not to do anything untoward.
As highlights go, that wasn't bad but just a couple of days before that we found out that we had won a Silver Award at the CAMRA National Cider and Perry Championships. We only realised when people started ringing with messages of congratulations. We didn’t even know we had entered. One of our customers had collected some barrels of cider for 'a festival in Reading' and entered on our behalf! He's a good customer.
What else, what else? The Swallows are back sitting on the telephone wires and repairing their nests. The apple blossom has come and gone and the Elder flowers are about to break. That means we need to turn our attention from cider blending and bottling to cutting lemons and creating the elderflower ‘syrup’ that we will use for the rest of the year for our Elderflower Pressé. The syrup itself is lovely, especially drizzled over pancakes or ice cream – never mind mixing it with Cornish Spring water and bottling it!
We’ve been busy over the last few days getting ready for The Royal Cornwall Show. We will be promoting our new Draught 5 cider there, and Skinners Brewery will no doubt be serving the Press Gang cider that we make for them. Both come in a bag in a box (like a wine box). Installing the equipment and learning the techniques of bagging and boxing is a whole story in itself – but that’s for another day. Or not. We will let you know how the ciders go down at the Show.
Picture courtesy of Agripix. |
