Tom Oliver - Casual Cider Conversations

Joe: So Tom, how long have you been in the cider game?

Tom: I think I’ve been drinking cider since I was a young lad. I’ve been making cider for sale since 1998.

J: What is your first memory of drinking a cider or perry?

T: It's really quite clear and I’m not sure why it’s so clear. I was about 10 years old and we were in a field called the Kimin, where we had just finished haymaking for the season.

On top of one of the wagons, I’d been helping… well ‘supposedly’ helping, as much as you can at the age of 10, stack bales!

The very final bale came up and with it came a container. Frank Powell, who’d made it, said “Tom, I think you’ve earned this.” I think he just wanted to see me have a drink, get a little bit squiffy.

Anyway, he shared the most ghastly, dry cider with me which he had made and that was my first cider.

A bit of a big question here, Tom. What do you think will bring the craft and fine cider industry onto a competitive level with the craft beer industry?

T: I think the great plus that cider has over beer, is the fact that it is going to include food. Beer keeps pretending that it is very beer friendly and it is in some ways. But cider itself has so many more opportunities to pair well with food. It’s half the alcohol of wine and I think there is a growing need to consider how much alcohol you are consuming. There’s a trend to consider that and Cider fits well for it. 

I think the main thing is, we need to establish in people’s minds that cider is and can be the finest of drinks. Whilst we’ve been used to seeing it on the taps, competing with lager, it really does have great opportunities sat on the table paired with food. 

Are there any upcoming projects you’re looking forward to?

T: Over recent years there’s been an increased desire for lots of new things. You have to get out of the habit of trying to reproduce things every year and be quite creative. We’ve got involved with a lot of distillation. So we’ve had an Eau de Vie out, which has done quite well. We’ve got some pommeau style drinks coming out and an apple brandy which is well under way.

I think the opportunity for these types of drinks is enormous. A Pomo style drink, which is fresh juice with Calvados or Eau de Vie, has a sweetness and appleyness to it that makes it very easy to drink. For the most part, I think people don’t equate it with cider. So it opens up the whole market to it, with no preconceptions. This is maybe one of those opportunities that acts as a gateway into cider for more people.

What is your favourite thing about cider making?

T: I think my favourite thing is, in April-May time, when we start really tasting through all the ferments. We come across things that are just out of this world. You’ve selected the apples, milled and pressed them, the wild yeasts have done their jobs, spontaneous ferments have happened and then you’ve got this just gorgeous liquid in the barrel or in the tank. It is just shouting at you, drink me! This is the simplest of drinks but it is the most wonderful of drinks at the same time.

What is the perfect setting to be drinking a cider, Tom?

T: I’m going to go against something where we try to tell people ‘this isn’t the case.’ I love the idea of a sunny day, sitting cross legged on a bench with a bottle of cider and a chunk of cheddar cheese. And just talking. Whether it’s one to one or a group. All the best meetings I’ve had and all the best ideas, they have happened on a bench in the sunshine with a cider and with some cheddar. I’m very happy.

J: I mean my introduction to drinking cider was sitting in a field, in summer, with my mates when I was about 14. Y’know?

T: It’s hard to beat those moments. That’s where it all comes from. It keeps us in touch with the nature of it all.

J: Okay. Tom Oliver. What is your favourite apple?

T: My favourite apple… If you’re really asking me to choose, Yarlington Mill. A bittersweet apple from Somerset.

My second favourite apple is Foxwhelp. A bittersharp, more sharp than bitter for sure, apple. It combines beautifully with the Yarlington. For me, those two are my favourites. It’s hard to split them down because one without the other is not quite the same. 

J: And the final question, do you have any cider based jokes?

T: Oh. Well that’s very mean! Good grief, let me see…

J: If not, I have one.

T:  Go on.

J: Why did the apple break up with the beer?

T:  …Because that was the yeast of their worries?

J: That’s better than my actual punchline! The apple broke up with the beer because they needed something more ‘a-peel-ing.’ 

T: Oh right. Okay, okay, okay. Well, yeah. Things don’t always seem as they ap-PEAR.

J: Well! On that note, I think we will end it there. Thank you so much, Tom.

T: Pleasure. Thank you, Joe.