Sandford Orchards launches a new Vintage Straw Pressed Fine Cider created in collaboration with Ben Collins, formerly known as The Stig.
Barny Butterfield, founder of Sandford Orchards, comments:
“Not many people know that there is a very different side to the racing driver who was once The Stig on Top Gear and a stunt driver for James Bond. He is also now a farmer in Devon who wants to grow apples and make fantastic authentic cider. We have been working with him on that journey and Straw Pressed is the result of our first collaboration.”
Using a centuries-old, single screw, Devon straw press, Ben and Barny hand-pressed apples from an ancient orchard at Prowse Farm, which contains a unique collection of cider varieties.
The result of their labours is a spectacular cider with a burgundy hue and notes of grapefruit and melon running through a classic Devonian bittersweet farmhouse blend. It is a fine cider with truly extraordinary lineage, born in the nineteenth century. Slowly fermented and naturally bright and unfiltered, a whisper of yeast may remain as a final reminder: this is living history in a bottle.
Ben adds: ”My early years were spent on a farm in Devon and I have always had a dream to return to that life. It has been immensely rewarding to tap into Barny’s vast experience to help me to create my own cider orchard and to make my very first cider."
Sandford Orchards X Ben’s Cider (ABV 6.8%) 2024 Vintage Straw Pressed Fine Cider will be available in 750ml bottles from www.sandfordorchards.co.uk and other retail outlets RRP £14.50. It will also be available to the trade in 30 litre kegs.