NORTH Yorkshire monks with a history of creating popular drinks have now brought out a new cider which recreates the drink’s artisan origins.

The brewing monks of Ampleforth Abbey, in Ryedale, have produced a number of drinks over the last couple of years which quickly became successful.

In 2012, they brought out their first beer, created to a secret recipe which the order of Benedictine monks brought with them when they fled revolutionary France at the end of the 18th century. It was the first time since the order returned to the country that they had produced la biere Anglaise. It proved so popular Deliciously Yorkshire named it Yorkshire’s Best Drink.

In a twist of fate they also received a large order for Ampleforth Abbey Beer from one of France’s leading beer distributors, International Breweries and Beers, causing it to be transported back across the Channel.

Now, the abbey’s cider mill is turning out bottles of still cider to complement its existing range of premium and sparkling ciders.

Its multi-award winning Ampleforth Abbey Cider has been produced for the past ten years. Cameron Smith, who lives in Husthwaite, near Thirsk, and works in the abbey’s cider mill, said the new, still cider takes the drink further back to its original English roots.

“It’s the traditional method of making it, but the traditional method of drinking it as well,”

he said. “We’ve just been seduced by the large label cider manufacturers for the last 50 years to expect cider to be sparkling.

“The trouble is mass-produced cider is made in about one week in a very industrial way.

A whole host of things can be masked with a lot of bubbles and sweeteners.

“The reality is still cider is the traditional cider that has been drunk and made in the South- West and across England.”

All Ampleforth’s ciders are made with apples from the abbey’s cider orchards, the most northerly in the UK.

Harvest time sees monks, estate staff and pupils from Ampleforth School helping to pick the apples from 2,000 trees. Last year’s crop produced about 70 tonnes of apples for cider and cider brandy.

The juice is matured for around six months before being filtered and bottled on site at Ampleforth, the medium sweet, uncarbonated cider has a distinct apple flavour.

Cameron said the creation of still cider was the most natural.

“We use traditional artisan methods of making cider. But the process in making the still cider is slightly different,” he explained. “Once you have the juice it goes one of three ways; it can be bottle conditioned, which means we give it a bit more sugar and it ferments in the bottle and it becomes slightly sweeter, or it can be carbonated, which gives it some refreshing bubbles without making it fizzy.

“Now we have the still cider which is none of the above, we just let it mature and filter in the bottle. The difference is it’s more fruity. I think it retains that fruitiness because the CO2 alters the flavour slightly.”

42 FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2014 WEEKEND dst.co.uk DARLINGTON & STOCKTON TIMES Ampleforth has already seen new demand for the cider for the UK and abroad, with 57 per cent more stockists than this time a year ago. In order to keep up with demand, Ampleforth opened a new cider mill last year which allowed it to double production capacity from 25,000-30,000 litres of cider to 60,000 litres.

It is also expanding its orchard by growing more apple trees. The abbey now has greenhouses where 800 young apple trees were grafted last year.

Cameron said: “They include some old Yorkshire varieties, some really old English ones, some of which date back to the 1700s. It’s also helping preserve these varieties, especially regional ones which prosper in this climate.”

The cider and other Ampleforth Abbey drinks can be purchased from a variety of stockists or at www.visitors.

ampleforth.org.uk/abbey-shop