Easterton Cider 2023 Line Up.

“Straight-Talkin’ Cider Made Reasonably Well”

This is the tagline of Aberdeen’s own Easterton Cider. Founded by Dave Pert in 2020, Easterton Cider is one of those cideries who cuts straight to the chase, with full transparency; it’s clear they think the cider should speak for itself, bells and whistles kept to a minimum!

So, how did Easterton get started? I asked Dave to describe their first steps into the cider world:

“About 8 years ago, a small orchard was planted here, at Easterton, with the hope that in the dim and distant future some day there would be cider. As the trees grew, I got into making small batches of cider, a couple of gallons at a time. These were made with surplus fruit that friends and relatives donated, and helped me find out how it all worked. The results were surprisingly pleasant.”

Dave started this orchard on what’s called an M25 rootstock, a sort of base that you graft the varieties you want to grow onto. M25 is known for being tough, and the hope is that it would stand up to the not-so-tropical Aberdeenshire weather. The only downside to M25 is that it can take a long time to start showing any meaningful harvest of fruit. It was in the late spring of 2020 that Dave found his patience at a breaking point after years of waiting. Thankfully, during a conversation with the world’s resident cider expert Gabe Cook (The Ciderologist), it was suggested that he [Dave] could start buying apples from the deep south of England. With an order of 600kg of Somerset Dabinett (Learn more in this excellent Cider-Review article) coming from North Down Farm, he aimed to balance this iconic apple with something a bit more Scottish.

“I put some adverts on social media and some cards in local shops begging for apples, with the hope of sourcing another two or three hundred kg of fruit to add a bit of diversity to the blend. The response was utterly overwhelming, and the folks of North-East Scotland collectively volunteered over 1200 kg of mixed apples to the endeavour. These were duly pressed, fermented over the winter, blended down into balanced batches and released in the Autumn of 2021.”

This mentality of balancing the local fruit of Aberdeen with classic cider apples is a trend that you’ll see in a lot of Easteron’s line-up this year, as they start to move towards more and more local apples in their mixes.

Transparency is something the Easterton team are big on, as they make most information about their ciders publicly available, not just to the benefit of cider makers in Scotland, but to the benefit of drinkers too, who can learn more about the different techniques and considerations that go into the making of cider.

In 2023 Easterton is coming out with 5 new releases, the first two of which are already available.

1. Redstreak

Made only from Somerset Redstreak apples, this single varietal is big, bold and tannic. With apples sourced from Lower Court Farm in Herefordshire, and the intention to use them as a blending tool, as well as a single varietal because they can be a very versatile apple. With simple processes, the resulting cider is honest and a very easy-drinking introduction to full-on dry, tannic cider.

Variety	Somerset Redstreak
Yeast	Lalvin K1-V1116 Dave Says: “a good workhorse strain which isn’t fussed too much about temperature, but which yields a much richer nose and more three-dimensional mouthfeel than, say, EC-1118”
Starting Gravity	1.05
Final Gravity	0.999
ABV %	6.7%
Aging	Aged in stainless steel for 10 months, for rounding and malolactic activity. 7 Months bottle conditioning.

2. Crab’n’Dab

After some experiments in 2020, where 2 parts of acidic and astringent crab apple juice was mixed with 3 parts of bittersweet heritage Dabinett, Easterton found a cider that they would describe as “hilariously good fun, turning all tasting sessions into gurning competitions as an experience which could only be described as a Tangfastic overdose erupted in our mouth”

Knowing there was potential in the blend of local Aberdeen crab apples, they dialed down the ratios to just 15% to 85% Dabinett, sourced from Ross Mangles, 3rd generation orchards at North Down Orchard, Somerset.

“The fermentation was spontaneous, thanks to a courier who randomly dropped the barrels off at a neighbouring farm, and a family tragedy, which meant it was a good week to ten days before I had a chance to go down and collect them. By this point the barrels were nearly spherical with the build up of fermentation gasses inside, and cracking the bungs open with water-pump pliers became an operation akin to bomb-disposal; the first barrel causing a jet of pressurised, yet wonderfully aromatic foam, to hit the roof of the shed some four meters above. Adding more yeast seemed pointless, the cider had chosen its own path.”

I can say this is a great cider, while finishing a bottle of it as I write this article, and I think you’d be tricked into assuming it was a Dabinett single varietal, until the sucker punch of crab apples finishes off the journey. Bitter, bright and balanced.

3. Garioch Gold

Pronounced “Geery”, Gaelic for “Granary”, which is the arable area of Aberdeenshire where Easterton are based. This cider is yet to be released, but so far we know that it will be a small bottle batch (150 or so), representing the best of what could be blended from the local fruit of 2021. A true expression of the sharp aberdeenshire terroir. Release expected in the summer of 2023.

4. Re-run ’21

Following on from the Dry Run of 2020, a blend of 50% Somerset Dabinett and 50% local apples from the 2021 harvest. Similar in many regards, but more pronounced tannins and a slightly broader palate. One to compare and contrast with the 2020 batch, and also to highlight the effects of maturation and crop variation year on year. Release expected in the summer of 2023.

5. (as yet untitled)

We don’t know much about this cider yet, not even the name (though Dave’s current suggestion of “as yet untitled” has a ring to it!) Dave has told us it will be: “A full-bore blend of Dabinett, Vilberie and Somerset Redstreak, tempered with some local sharps. Bright, very tannic, yet verging on quaffable”

Release expected in the summer of 2023

Awa an taak a lowp!

Easterton are a fairly new contender in the Scottish cidersphere, and are bringing a load of great ideas to the table with open minds and transparency. I’m excited to get my hands on each one of these bottles as they are released, and feel transported back to my birthplace of Aberdeen. I don’t know about you, dear reader, but this line up has me curious about the 2024 season, and I’m sure we will continue to see more exciting developments from the Easterton team.