Irish Craft Cider

Apple growing concentrates in the south-east - Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny - and in Armagh in the north, where the climate and soils suit orchards. Cider making in Ireland was largely defined for decades by one industrial producer in Clonmel whose brand became the generic word for cider here, made in volume from concentrate as much as fresh juice. The craft revival from the 2000s has gone the other way: small producers pressing whole fruit from named orchards, some using traditional bittersweet cider varieties, some fermenting wild without added yeast, some working in the keeved French style that leaves natural residual sweetness. Several are farm operations selling from the gate with tours by arrangement. Ice cider and perry are also made. The scale is small and distribution patchy, so finding it usually means a specialist off-licence, a good pub, or going to the orchard.

What you actually see

• The orchard country - Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny.
• The whole-fruit pressing - as against concentrate-based industrial cider.
• The methods - wild ferments, keeving, bittersweet varieties and perry.
• The farm cideries - small producers selling at the gate, with tours by arrangement.

When to go

Autumn for the harvest and pressing, which is when orchard visits are most interesting. Tours are by arrangement rather than drop-in at most producers.

Honest expectations

Distribution is patchy - craft cider is not in every pub, and the mass-market brand dominates. Farm cideries mostly need contacting ahead rather than turning up. Prices are well above the industrial product.

Nearby

Clonmel and the Suir valley are the historic centre; orchards spread across Waterford and Wexford.