Instil adds Tempranillo and hop-infused world ciders

Instil Drinks Co is adding a range of world ciders to its portfolio, including a Spanish cider that incorporates Tempranillo grapes and a New Zealand hop-infused cider.

The craft arm of supplier Bibendum PLB is unveiling the new range at Craft Beer Rising on Friday, which is hosting a cider ‘zone’ for the first time.

The additions to the portfolio comprises ciders from two Spanish and one French producer – El Gaitero from the Valle Ballina y Fernandez brewery in Asturias, which is one of the most recognized brands in the region, and a selection of dry, sparkling and fruity ciders from Maeloc, alongside Brittany’s Le Brun Cidres.

One of the new ciders,  El Gaitero’s ‘Red Grape’ Sidra, contains around 5% of Tempranillo grapes, used in wine production, which is blended into the cider, to give a “fresh and acidic cider with a dry, fruity finish”, Instil said.

It is also listing a New Zealand Hopped Infused Cider from the Zeffer Brewery in Matakana that uses Riwaka, Sauvin and Motueka hops in the blend, and ciders from The Hills Cider Company in Adelaide Australia.

Mark Johnson, managing director of the Instil Drinks Company said the thirteen ciders had been carefully selected to reflect quality, originality and regional diversity.  “From still scrumpy to sparkling organic styles, from France to Australia, our cider range ticks all the boxes,” he said.

Instil said the focus on French, Spanish, New Zealand and Australian cider was largely due to those country’s traditions of using 100% fruit. “It’s not a co-incidence that these countries are also more well-known for their wine making where 100% use of fruit is demanded by production laws. The USA is late to the cider market but they have embraced the same virtues,” a spokesman said.

Countries with a predominantly beer based production culture, where water is important source of raw material, also produce most of their ciders for mass consumption using cider wine and water or, in the case of Scandinavia and the Baltic states, cider wine, fortified fruit base alcohol and water.

Last year Johnson told the drinks business the refreshing and strengthening of its portfolio of craft and world beers, ciders and spirits was a “necessary evolution” for the company, and would boost sales in both the on and off-trade.  There was “big scope” in the UK, he added.

The company – part of the Bibendum PLB Group – enjoyed a particularly strong year on the back of its craft beer growth, according to MD Michael Saunders.

Earlier this month it announced nine new artisan gins, which will launch on 1 March. These include Bermondsey-made Jensen’s Gin, Dunnet Bay Distiller’s Rock Rose gin, NB Gin from a micro-distillery in North Berwick, Eden Mills’s hop infused gin, and Prairie Organic form Minnesota.

The idea was to provide a “one-stop shop” for its customers, Johnson said and to boost sales through the premium off-trade – currently the company’s spirits are sold “almost exclusively” into the on-trade.