Sustainable Vegan Cider (some free from donated apples!)

Cider is simply made from fermented apple or pear juice, but some brands filter through isinglass (fish bladder), gelatine (bones) or casein (milk). There are better brands.

For cans, always pop the ring-pulls back over the can (and pinch tops shut), to stop wildlife getting trapped, before recycling. Never buy brands wrapped in plastic (these trap wildlife). If you see littered ones, rip up the holes and securely bin (not in open bins, where they could fly away in the wind).

Dunkertons Organic Vegan Cider

Dunkertons Organic Cider has been making cider for nearly 40 years using traditional skills. The fruit is pressed and fermented for up to a year, using apples from Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The range includes sweet and fresh ciders, Perry (made with pears) and canned and draught ciders.

Dunkertons Organic Breakwells Seedling Cider is made with the historic apple, which first was discovered over 100 years ago in Monmouth. These small colourful apples give a lovely bitter-sharp flavour ideal for making cider. Ideal for summer evenings.

Bignose & Beardy (Sussex cider from waste apples)

Big Nose & Beardy turns waste apples in Sussex into a refreshing cider, that’s also vegan-friendly. The solar-powered brewery produces crisp ciders with strong floral notes, with everything fermented slowly for great taste.

Two Farmers Vegan Cider (from Herefordshire)

Two Farmers Cider is a fruity cider made from locally-harvested strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrant, plus there is a no-alcohol version. Lovely to enjoy with tins of salt and vinegar crisps.

Cider is to Hereford, what wine is to Bordeaux. Pickers go out early morning to harvest baskets of fruits, before being pressed and fermented into cider.

There are even towns that celebrate apples, with orchard walks, barn dances and sampling of cloudy juice. Cider is sold alongside chutney, jam and fresh bread in markets. And there are even cider competitions, with entertainment from local Morris dancers.

Shandy Shack (low-alcohol cider and shandy)

If you fancy something fruity and different, Shandy Shack has released a lager and cider, both in refreshing fruity raspberry flavours.

Shandy Shack is a brand of low-alcohol cider from Hampshire, founded by young men who were still young, but not young enough to no longer be able to recover from heavy nights out!

Their shandies are all vegan-friendly and in various flavours, to enjoy a low-alcohol treat, of quality.

The range includes:

IPA
Lager Top
Raspberry
Elderflower
Ginger Beer

Donate Windfall Apples (get free cider!)

There are quite a few projects nationwide, where you can donate windfallen apples (leave some for wildlife!) or apples that you are not going to be eating up, and get free cider in return!

How does this work? It’s simple, really. Just locate your local lovely turn-apples-into-cider maker, then contact to arrange donation. It’s away of preventing food waste. As a thank you, you then usually get a few bottles of quality cider, and the rest is turned into other products like jelly, jam or even more cider to sell!

Locate your local peeps in the Orchard Project’s fruit donation directory. Or visit Wasted Apple to find more communities accepted apples to make into cider.

Here’s a guide from The Orchard Project on how to press your own cider.

Avoid unpasteurised juice for pregnancy/nursing, children and weak immunity.

Urban Harvest (Leeds) also takes wasted apples, but this time turns them into fruit juice, plus a little cider. Why drink Tropicana (one version contains fish?) when you can drink locally-sourced fruit juice for breakfast?

Each year, thousands of city trees go unused, profits are reinvested back into this wonderful project.