Real ale drinkers in Oxford are getting the chance to try cask ciders from a local supplier.

Hitchcox Cider, based at Orchard Farm near Chalgrove in South Oxfordshire, has taken on experienced local pub operator Mat Burden to develop new sales outlets, while a new bottling plant is also available to small breweries.

Among the first Oxford pubs to take Hitchcox ciders are the Wheatsheaf off High Street, the White Rabbit in Friars Entry, the Rose and Crown in North Parade Avenue, Teardrop bar in the Covered Market, and the Victoria in Jericho.

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The cider maker will have a major presence of four traditional plus four varied fruit ciders on cask at the Oxford Beer and Cider Festival in November, and it supplied the Headington Beer Festival at the Masons Arms.

The Hitchcox story started long before the company was established in 2010 when founder Toby Hitchcox, described as “a man of remarkable character and an impressive beard”, bought a one-way ticket to New Zealand with only a backpack and £60 in his pocket.

It’s here that he started picking apples and became enamoured with the world of cider.

So when he returned to the family farm outside Chalgrove he planted 400 apple trees, with many more to come in the following years.

Oxford Mail: Toby Hitchcox

The 10-acre farm has more than 60 varieties of apples, and has been in the family for generations.

Mat Burden, who is leading the sales expansion drive, told the Oxford Drinker, the magazine for CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale): “Some pubs are sceptical because they have these agreements in place, and because cider has never been a big thing in Oxfordshire.

"But at the Wheatsheaf we are now out-selling the big names, and having started with bottles they have gone on to ‘bag in the box’ and hand pump.

“We are not like big cider companies, using a completely different process with pure juice.

"We use no artificial sweetener and fermentation is from one to three years. Real cider is still in its early days, but in a few years’ time it could develop like small breweries have done.”

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Hitchcox operates a tap room, open from Wednesdays to Fridays, and this will soon be expanded. Available on draught during a recent visit were apple ciders Medium Dry (6.4 per cent), Dry (6.2 per cent) and Medium (5.6 per cent), plus fruit ciders Old Rusty and Black Panther (both 4 per cent).

Oxford Mail: Luciana GyuriczaLuciana Gyuricza of Teardrop Bar at the Covered Market

As ciders can be supplied in casks, kegs, “bag in the box” or 500ml bottles, pubs don’t have to make the same commitment to Hitchcox as to a brewery.

So-called “fruit ciders” are very much on trend, with many weird and wonderful flavours to be found on bars, such as mango.

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Hitchcox goes along with this trend but only so far, limiting its fruit ciders to ingredients grown in England such as plums, elderberries and blackberries.

An advantage of Hitchcox fruit ciders, such as Old Rusty and Black Panther, is that they are only four per cent alcohol whereas its apple ciders tend to be five per cent, six per cent and upwards.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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