Royal Bath and West show launches its own Jubilee cider
Article from
Caterer and Hotelkeeper.
The Royal Bath & West Show has commissioned its own
limited-edition cider to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee weekend on
3, 4 and 5 June.
Cider maker David Sheppy has made fewer than 1,000 of the
bottles, each of them numbered. Only 200 bottles will be available
to buy on each of the four days of the show.
Dr Jane Guise, chief executive of the Royal Bath and West
Society, said: "Her Majesty is our patron and as we are an
agricultural society representing the best of the West Country we
thought the perfect presentation would be to produce a top-quality
cider to mark such a special occasion just after our own summer
celebration."
Lord Lieutenant of Somerset Lady Gass will deliver a few bottles
to Buckingham Palace and other Royal residences will receive
deliveries.
One or two more are intended for presentation to Downing Street
and at Westminster.
The cider will be sold in the Orchard and Cider section of the
Show, priced at £2.99.
Sheppy said: "My family has been making cider in Somerset for
over 200 years - for nearly as long as the society has existed.
"In selecting a blend for this cider I have updated something
that was first produced in the 1930s. It is a cider that combines
the character of cider apple varieties such as Stoke Red,
Tremlett's Bitter, Chisel Jersey and others.
"We are very proud to have been asked to support the Royal Bath
and West Society in this way and I have squirreled away a couple of
bottles to enjoy when we have our own Jubilee celebration after the
show."
The official launch of the cider will be at lunchtime on
Wednesday 30 May in the Orchard and Cider Pavilion.
By Neil Gerrard