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Cart OUR STORY - FROM BUD TO BOTTLE
FAMILY HISTORY
The Charrington family have been growing apples at Cryals Farm since 1964.
We’ve been selling them to the nation’s supermarkets ever since.
Innovation and sustainability have always been at the forefront of everything we do.
Our ethos, at Charrington’s drinks, is to make every apple count.
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FARMING SEASONS
Growing apples is a year-long labour of love.
Cryals Farm is 100 acres and each year we pick 8-10 million apples by hand from the trees in our orchards.
In autumn we feed leaves before they fall and in winter we prune and mulch, all to keep the trees healthy.
Spring is when the trees blossom and bees are hard at work spreading pollen, which is crucial to ensure apples grow over the summer.
When nature’s annual cycle is complete we can enjoy the delicious fruits of our labours.
SUSTAINABLE FARMING
We’ve been committed to preserving and enhancing the environment for two generations.
This takes a whole farm approach to management and great attention to detail.
We work to the highest globally recognised standards for sustainable and responsible farming and are Red Tractor and LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) accredited.
This hard work is reflected in the quality of Charrington’s drinks and enables us to trace every apple we grow back to the field we grew it in and the day we picked it on.
Our reservoirs collect rainwater for irrigation and rooftop solar panels run our cold stores.
We also keep footpaths that cross our farm well maintained and provide seasonal newsletters for walkers using QR codes.
FIND OUT MOREOUR APPLES
We grow some modern varieties, such as Gala and Zari, and traditional British favourites, like Cox and Bramley.
We have two generations of experience and know the exact moment each variety is perfectly ripe and ready to pick.
We only ever use our own apples and never buy any from elsewhere, which means everything we produce has a unique single-estate provenance: Cryals Farm.
WHICH APPLES DO WE SELECT FOR OUR DRINKS & CRISPS?
Cox – Britain’s favourite apple with its red colouring, distinctive tang and crisp flesh.
Egremont Russet – Golden skinned with a nutty sweetness and superb sliced with cheddar cheese.
Bramley – Everyone’s favourite cooking apple, from a sweet dessert pie to a sauce for roast pork.
Cheerfull GoldTM – this is a new local variety from Sissinghurst, Kent, and is included in our Apple Crisps medley.
OUR CIDER MAKING PROCESS
Here at Charrington’s drinks, our approach to cider-making is artisan and innovative at every stage and the resulting ciders are distinct from traditional or commercial ciders.
We press and ferment fresh apples from our cold stores from October through to March.
Our fermentation process is more like wine making (we even use champagne yeast) and takes 3-4 weeks.
The base cider produced is stored in small batches and allowed 6-24 months to mature and allow flavours to develop.
We skilfully blend the matured bases to create the finished cider ready for bottling.
OUR CIDERS
We lightly carbonate our sparkling ciders to create fine creamy bubbles. They are refined and delicate and best enjoyed chilled from a Champagne flute.
Our still cider is versatile. It can be enjoyed chilled or hot and can be mulled with our Red Peppercorn and Hibiscus herbal infusions.
SHOPOUR APPLE JUICES
Each of our juices is pressed from just one apple variety so they have the unique taste and texture of that specific apple.
We don’t dilute our juices and never use concentrate.
Our juices are rich in anti-oxidants and vitamins, while the sugars present are only those naturally occurring in the apples.
They’re a healthy and delicious way to start your day.
SHOPOUR APPLE CRISPS
Our Apple Crisps are a flavoursome, healthy and natural alternative to the usual heavily processed salty, oily or sugary snacks.
Our Cheerfull GoldTM, Cox and Russet apples are thinly sliced then air-dried. There’s no frying and nothing is added.
The first bite has a satisfying crispy crunch but as you chew it softens and a lovely sweet apple tang is released.
Naturally low in fat and suitable for vegetarians / vegans. A bag counts as one of your 5-a-day.
SHOPOUR AWARDS
Everything we produce has won a national award (sometimes two!).
At the Quality Food and Drink Awards we’ve won Best Cider twice with different sparkling ciders, Best Sweet Bagged Snack with our Apple Crisps and our mulled apple juice won Best Hot Beverage.
Great Taste have awarded 1* to four products and an elusive 2* to our Captivating Cox apple juice and our AmaZing Zari apple juice.
But proof is in the tasting, so why not try some for yourself!
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