Somerset Cider Orchards

Somerset cider is made from cider apples rather than eating apples: bittersweet and bittersharp varieties with names like Kingston Black, Yarlington Mill, Dabinett and Slack ma Girdle, high in tannin and useless to eat. Traditional farmhouse cider, scrumpy, is unfiltered, uncarbonated, often cloudy and sold flat from the barrel, and it is considerably stronger than it tastes. Many farms still press in October and sell direct; several run museums and tours, and Somerset holds a protected designation for its cider brandy, distilled since a licence was granted in 1989, the first in three centuries. In January the wassail is performed in orchards: cider poured on the roots of the oldest tree, toast hung in its branches for the robins, and shotguns fired into the boughs to drive out bad spirits.

What you actually see

• The bittersweet varieties - cider apples useless for eating, grown for tannin.
• The barrel scrumpy - unfiltered flat cider sold direct from the farm.
• The October pressing - traditional presses working at harvest.
• The January wassail - orchard ceremonies with fire, noise and cider on the roots.

When to go

October for pressing, which is when the farms are working; January for wassail nights, held at several orchards around Twelfth Night and announced locally. Farm shops sell year-round.

Honest expectations

Farmhouse scrumpy is strong, often around six to eight per cent, and does not taste it, which regularly catches visitors out. Farms are working businesses and tours need arranging. A car is needed and a driver who does not drink.

Nearby

Glastonbury and the Levels lie north; Taunton and the Quantocks are west.