Our Approach

We're the Nightingale family. Third-generation fruit farmers and qualified pommeliers ("stewards of cider") down on Gibbet Oak Farm.

We love our orchards. And making cider. Wellies on, looking after the farm, dreaming up new blends.  There's nothing like it.

As real cider makers, it's all about our trees, the land, the craft and the quality of the ingredients. We only use the freshest apples and indigenous wild yeasts from the orchard. Full flavour. Zero compromise.  Amazing cider that tastes of the orchard it was grown in. 

And this is how we do it...

Harvest

We pick our apples by hand from early September and start pressing the fruit straight away, while it's at its best. None of those nasty concentrates, or added sugar here. This is the real deal.

Fermentation

Fermentations take anywhere between three weeks and six months. No one's rushing on our farm. Then we blend the young fermented ciders to conjure up the perkiest, crispiest, fruitiest drinkables.

Maturation

Our ciders can take months, even years to mature, so it's all about making them cosy; giving them the love and care they need to let nature take its course. Art, science and a sprinkle of magic.

Packaging

First there's tasting; plenty of tasting. And when we're delighted with the final blends, we bottle, can, keg and bag-in-box them. Next stop: your taste buds.

Now you know how it's made, come and have a rummage around our web shop and find out how it tastes, or visit us in Tenterden for a tour and tipple.