Illustrating the joy of breaking new ground in the world of fermentation, Herefordshire’s Little Pomona launches its most pioneering collection yet.
Established by husband and wife team, James and Susanna Forbes in 2015, this season’s new releases continue the quest for capturing and sharing the complexity and freshness of apples and pears in both 75cl and 20-litre keykeg format. Little Pomona expanded to its current site on Brook House Farm in 2019. All fermentations occur using natural yeasts, with no dilution, backsweetening or pasturisation.
The new range opens with the return of two favourites, Table Perry and Hard Rain Hot Pink 2021. The latest Hot Pink ciderkin marries prized cider variety Kingston Black with Chinook from Brook House Farm and local blackcurrant cordial. Next comes two further additions to the Hard Rain range, Simcoe Pear 2021 and Perry-Quette 2021. With Simcoe Pear, whole cone Simcoe hops join a classic blend of perry pears, while the Perry-Quette marries grapes with perry pear varieties.
The cidery’s 140-strong barrel maturation programme plays a role in the next three ciders. Tiny Dancer 2020 drew from these, blended by flying cidermaker and Little Pomona harvest alumni, Martin Goodwyn Sharman, one-quarter of the Neutral Cider Hotel podcast team.
Taking inspiration from the sherry world, James Forbes has created the world’s first Foxwhelp solera, with Sum of the Parts, Act 1 and Act 2, the first two ciders to emerge.
Co-fermentation returns with Still Life With Quince 2020, an intensely aromatic, highly food friendly blend of barrel-aged cider and quince wine. Last but not least, a wine / perry hybrid, To Boldly Go 2020, where Bacchus grapes meet Green Horse and Hendre Huffcap, with carbonic maceration and spontaneous co-fermentation, resulting in a fragrant, complex pét nat.
Little Pomona restarted its keg programme this summer. Prior to the pandemic, James pioneered keg conditioning, allowing “live” cider to be dispensed via keykegs, avoiding the need for pasteurisation and backsweetening. This autumn the keg range has expanded with Bright Lights and Table Perry joining the original duo, Table Cider and Root & Branch.
With the help of a number of key distributors, over 150 bottle shops, pubs and restaurants around the UK stock Little Pomona, many of them listed on the cidery’s stockist page. Anyone wishing to stock Little Pomona’s ciders is invited to contact their regular cider supplier, or to contact the cidery direct, to be put in touch with the most relevant distributor.
The cidery will be holding its 2022 Harvest Open Day on Sunday 20 November, 12-4pm.
Along with a chance to taste the Autumn collection, there will be new Cider Club releases, free cidery tours, and mulled cider and tasty eats available throughout.
Little Pomona featured on James Martin’s Saturday Morning show on ITV on 22 October. James Martin and guest chef John Hooker, The Cornish Arms at Tavistock, very much enjoyed Little Pomona’s Brut Zero with James’ dish of pork chop with hispi cabbage.
Little Pomona was a finalist in the Best Drinks Producer category in the 2022 BBC Food & Farming Awards. Category judge, Food Programme presenter and Wild Card brewer, Jaega Wise visited the cidery and home orchard at the beginning of harvest in late August.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Founded in 2015, Little Pomona is based near Bromyard, north Herefordshire. Its expansion and move to Brook House Farm in 2019 was supported by an RDPE grant from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
Little Pomona’s Tasting Room and Cider Garden is open Saturdays and Thursday evenings, from April to September, and by appointment. Between October and March, the cidery Bottle Shop is open Saturdays, 12-3pm. Trade visitors are always welcome by arrangement.
With its Hard Rain range, Little Pomona pioneered the rebirth of ciderkins, the old technique where the freshly pressed pomace is rehydrated and pressed once more, yielding a naturally lower abv drink.
Little Pomona’s appearance on the James Martin show on ITV can be seen via ITV Hub, in the first segment of the programme.
https://www.itv.com/hub/james-martins-saturday-morning/2a5159a0208
Jaega Wise’s introduces the 2022 Food & Farming Awards’ Drinks Producer finalists in the latest BBC Food Programme, 7 minutes in. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001f4gz
Little Pomona exports to a number of countries, including Japan, USA, Norway, Belgium, Sweden and Portugal.
Details on ciders: https://littlepomona.com/collections/ciders-perries
Further information, comment & images: Susanna Forbes, susanna@littlepomona.com, 07811 913971
Find out more at https://littlepomona.com/;
instagram, facebook, twitter: @littlepomona
Press release from Little Pomona.
Further information, comment & images: Susanna Forbes, susanna@littlepomona.com, 07811 913971