Find & Foster Fine Ciders

The cider club tradition stretches back centuries, mixing scientific refinement with deep community spirit. Did you know the 17th-century Royal Society, the birthplace of modern science, was essentially an upmarket ‘Fine Cider Club’? Members were meticulously researching apple varieties, soil, and regions to elevate British cider to an art form. In 1662, John Beale presented his Aphorisms on Cider, revealing the scientific method for creating a “spriteful and winy” cider that “dances in the cup” and has a “head and foaming” (what we now call sparkling!). The key? Adding sugar to bottled cider. Specifically, Beale suggested adding “as much as a Walnut of Sugar” to the bottle—which equates to about 18–20g, nearly identical to the dosage used by today’s sparkling wine producers for secondary fermentation. That combined with Verre Anglais, a glass bottle strong enough to handle the pressure effectively established the “Traditional Method” for sparkling cider & perry well before the rise of Champagne. While 400 years ago, the finest ciders were served in crystal flutes,the most prestigious apple and pear varieties were carefully selected and celebrated, with even the king maintaining a personal favourite a different tradition was bubbling up in the West Country were cider clubs made up of old farm workers who had a cider press tucked away in a shed or a pound house. These men had a great thirst and even greater cider making knowledge and a keen interest in orchards. Today, clubs are often the heart of the community in villages, filling a social vacuum and bringing people together, activities are casual and convivial, focusing on making apple juice and cider, hosting apple days and Wassails in winter. There are numerous clubs popping up all over the country centered around a beloved local or community orchard, hosting makers, or making annual trips to visit producers sharing bottles and stories. We are excited to host the next gathering of @londonciderclub upcoming Thursday with a special guest Polly Hilton of @findcider . Find a ticket link in our bio. Join your local club today! Tag your favourite one in the comments!

Gnarly old trees like this give us the super-concentrated aromas and flavours you taste and smell in our Pet Nat ciders. Thanks so much to everyone who suggested a name for our new pet nat. It was tricky choosing our favourite from all the excellent suggestions, but we went with Pet Project, thank you @beckymoo , because the definition perfectly describes its creation from blossom to bottle (while working seamlessly with the image)👌 Looking forward to pouring this and other pet nats from the 2025 harvest at @londonciderclub next Thursday and @tate on Sunday (public) / Monday (trade) thanks to @fine_cider @beckymoo DM us your address so we can send you the first case. Beautiful photo of apple tree by @mattankers in the orchard @propermilk

Come and taste the glorious cider and perry made by Polly Hilton at Find and Foster Cider. On the 21st May Polly will be our guide through 5 delicious drinks made from orchards that she has found and fostered. She works with farmers to breathe life back into moribund traditional orchards on their farms; to prevent further decline and the extinction of important local apple varieties. Along with her husband Mat she uses their small flock of Shropshire sheep to help create balanced, biodiverse orchard ecosystems that thrive with wildlife and require minimal human intervention to maintain. They then turn the fruit that was otherwise going to waste in to world class, natural ciders and perries that reveal the quality potential of the orchards they foster. There’s a link to tickets in the bio above. @findcider @fine_cider @alison_taffs #cider #cidertasting #londonciderandperryclub #londoncider #devoncider

Join us for a fascinating, flavour-packed evening with Devon cidermaker Polly Hilton of Find & Foster. Thursday 21st May 7.30 at The Fine Cider Company in London Fields. Polly will guide us through a flight of five of her fine ciders—each one a different expression of orchard, apple variety and craft. Passionate and inspiring, Polly is a great guide to understanding more about these wonderful drinks and how they are made. Expect beautiful method-traditional cider made like Champagne, wild ferments, cider from regeneratively farmed apples, juicy soft dessert ciders and plenty of time for questions—how it’s made, why it tastes the way it does, and what to pair it with. Whether you’re a cider club regular, beginning to be cider-curious or a long-time fan, this is your chance to taste, learn and chat directly with the maker behind the bottle. Spaces are limited: book now! - link in the Bio to Eventbrite for your ticket. @findcider @fine_cider #realcider #cidertasting #cider #londoncider

The London Cider Salon is back! We’re bringing you an incredible lineup of over 30 makers dedicated to preserving heritage and crafting world-class, natural cider and perry. Join us for a deep dive into Devon’s thriving craft scene! Meet the makers: Find & Foster: Polly & Mat are dedicated to regenerating England’s essential cider heritage through the active restoration of Devon’s historic orchards and some fine cider making. Their work is a story of regeneration and a pure expression of their unique terroir. @findcider use time-honoured techniques like pét-nat and barrel aging to produce complex, elegant ciders featured on the wine lists of top UK restaurants. Rull Orchard: Claire and Mike craft wild-ferment, natural cider and perry from their unsprayed orchards in the heart of Devon. They handpick their fruit, focusing on traditional orchard preservation and regenerative land management. @rullorchard ciders are a true representation of the land’s richness, showcasing the diversity of the varieties they harvest while supporting the return of nature and biodiversity. Glean Cider (NEW to the Salon!): Karim, Joe & Jade cultivated their passion for cider-making as a hobby for 10 years before launching @gleancider in 2020. The name ‘Glean’ is inspired by the practice of collecting apples that might otherwise be left on the ground, an ethos they apply throughout their operation. This includes using repurposed coffee sacks for collecting and reusing empty bottles from restaurants. Sandridge Barton: Situated on the south Devon coast, Sandridge Barton is known for its wines, but after taking over the Estate, they found themselves with established orchards. Applying the same wonderful care and attention to detail as they do their wines, @sandridgebarton craft exceptional cider from this bounty. 🗓️ Bank Holiday Sunday, May 24th 📍 THE LONDON CIDER SALON 2026 at Tate Modern Book today via the link in our bio!

It’s currently fermenting in the bottle, becoming fizzier and slightly drier. It’s a spontaneous fermentation with no added sulphites, nothing but apples. It’s amazing how often we get these zesty flavours and intense stone fruit aromatics from our unique combination of indigenous yeast and the aromatic varieties growing in the orchards we foster. The image is by @lana.elanor Send us a name suggestion, either DM or comment and we’ll send you a case if you suggest the name we go with - as soon as the label goes on

How is it nearly May already? In January & February we were busy winter pruning hundreds of veteran apple trees and rotating our little flock between the orchards. We’re really lucky to work with the orchards at @propermilk , a dairy farm with cows that are out grazing freely year round. At this time of year their calves graze the orchards but in January and February our sheep graze them first to remove rank grass and suppress weeds, which makes them easier for us to to winter prune and makes the grass more palatable and nutritious by the time the calves graze them. Massive thanks to @joe.grayling for helping us get it all done while the trees were dormant

Can you imagine a future where UK cider is as sought-after as French wine, known globally for its unique taste and regionality, with fruit orchards protected and funded for their biodiversity and environmental benefits? 🍎🌏 Polly and Mat Hilton of Find & Foster (@findcider ) are already creating that future. They’ve revived five traditional apple orchard sites in Devon, using low-intervention cultivation methods that increase biodiversity. The result? Home-grown fine ciders of exceptional quality that support nature, enhance communities and create local jobs. Our latest report, 'The Future of UK Orchard Fruit,' tells the story of UK fruit and what’s needed for the sector to thrive, through the voices of Polly and Mat and many others driving innovation and momentum across the sector. You can find it via the link in our bio. #UKCider #FutureOfFruit #Biodiversity #Orchards #UKApples

Wishing you all a happy Christmas 🎄

Apples from Huxham, the orchard that surrounds the cidery. Heritage varieties including Cornish Longstem and Devonshire Buckland shape our keeved cider — naturally sparkling, with honey on the nose and stewed apple pudding on the palate. A good match for smoked fish or blue cheeses, especially @ticklemore_cheese_dairy

Root is a study in ageing tannins. After nearly seven years in the bottle under cork it feels more like whisky than cider, with silky tannins and notes of leather, tobacco, spice and oak. It’s best served at room temperature, ideally alongside something fatty, and keeps well for about three weeks once the bottle’s opened. We’re down to the last ten cases now and tonight at midnight is the final date for Christmas orders 🎄

The three big bottles we drink through the festive season. Pair Huxham with your Christmas cheeseboard, settle in by the fire with Root, and toast the New Year with Appellation. Thursday 18th December at midnight is the final date for Christmas orders.