Last week this orchard was underwater from flooding. The ground is still sodden and it continues to rain however these snowdrops seem happy. A great display this year. #snowdrops. #orchard

Early morning fog over the Wairarapa valley lifting. Another glorious sunny day. The cold nights are good for the apple and pear trees but with a super El Nino forming we are expecting a dry winter - not so good. Is it affecting us already? It’s been unusually dry to date. #wairarapa #weather|

Which one of you Dollies keep escaping? Who's the guilty one? And why? You have plenty of grass, water and shelter in the orchard. #sheep #orchard #cider #apples

If you are a follower of mine or cider making on social media; and a Reddit person, then please join r/perry_pearcider the only site on Reddit dedicated to perry 😊. There are also other subreddits on cider making, apples & pomme fruits.

This was the first perry pear tree we have. Back in 2014 we collected scion wood from a perry pear at Waitahuna. It is now a large prolific tree producing us a SV single tree perry. And we have now grafted on to other trees that are starting to to produce. #grafting #scion #perry #pear

Perry like cider can be made still, or method traditional. This doseage machine makes getting a consistent fill levels in the bottles easy with the gravity fed reservoir bottle, after disgorging the lees This machine is Spanish and based on a classic design from Épernay. #perry #doseage

If you are after an academic view of cider making it’s hard to go past this book. Published 2003. The chapter on cider is written appropriately by Andrew Lea as well as him being joint editor. Although 20 years old now there is little out of date. Mine is well thumbed! #cider #cidermaking #books

The old masters of perry making had the same problems with perry as now. They didn’t know the science but their remedies work well today. See Rev John Beale aphorism 14 in Pomona by John Evelyn 1664 (attached to Sylva the book). #perry #Sylva #pomona #book

Our pear trees look dormant but during autumn, these buds develop harden overlapping scales to protect the delicate meristem inside which continues to undergo microscopic growth and development whilst accumulating the required "chill hours" before Spring. 😊 #pear #perry #bud #dormancy #winter

For those in or visiting the UK, the Hartpury Orchard Centre is well worth a visit. They contain most known varieties of perry pear planted by Hartpury Heritage Trust. There are 30 acres of orchards and wetlands grazed by Ryeland sheep and Gloucester cattle. Dogs on leads are welcome #perry #pears

Autumn time in the orchard here & time for medlar harvest. Medlars ripen later than most fruit and after the frosts set in. Traders brought them to England in the 1700s. It is recorded that they were added to cider in the 1700’s so we do so to with fruit we grow ourselves. #medlar #cider #autumn

Autumn is here now in Wairarapa New Zealand. The autumnal colours are lovely. Especially on the pear trees. The orchard is still wet from the recent floods, pruning our next job delay , after burning last year’s pruning which have been providing habitats for skinks & geckos #orchard #yearlycycles

Felt badges have been used by hikers since the early 20thC to remember places. Originating from Scout movement collecting merit badges, these felt badges let hikers to personalise hats etc with emblems. I got this one from the Museum of Cider in Hereford, England. #cider #museum #badges #Hereford

Flashback time. End of the harvest 2013 I still have a few bottles left in the library. The tannins are mellowing a little but still drinks well We were using our original Vigo manual rack and cloth press then. Helped by our friend Champika Mahinda Wickramaarachchi #cider #harvest.

On this ANZAC day I commemorate it with this WW1 cartoon It was part of a series titled Fragments from France, produced by Captain Bruce Bairnsfather during the war and were first published weekly in The Bystander magazine starting in 1915 This one is called Tommy Tickler's Plum and Apple Jam #ANZAC

Well the floods are receding, it has resulted in some restoration work to come when we can work in the orchard without pugging the grass. Pruning will be later for sure. Yesterday we saw some glimpses of sunshine and the sunlight on this apple warmed my heart after days of rain. #apple #orchard #

This stained glass artwork by Alpamys Kenbayev is in the Almaly Metro station in Kazakhstan It depicts an apple tree Almaty is called the city of apples Almaty originates from the Kazakh word "alma" -apple The wild apple species Malus sieversii is native to the region. #apples #stainedglass #Almaty

A small but important piece of memorabilia. I have a first day cover letter and mugs but this is the first poster of the ‘73 Hereford Cider festival I have found. In great condition thankfully. #cider #history #Hereford

Real versus Commercial cider Copied from my fellow cider maker Tim Whale of Tutts Clump Cider It is an excellent summary of the differences Sadly the latter tends to copy the image of the former for advertising. There are a lot of small cider maker making a range of ciders for you to enjoy. #cider

Yarlington Mill cider apples being washed and processed. Lovely dark juice after scratting and pressing. pH 4.2 and SG 1.042. Not bad considering the summer. It was great this year to be working in our new poundhouse as it rained all day. #cider #apples #poundhouse

I believe in cool fermentation to preserve the volatile aromas of apple. Before having a cooled room I used these cooling snakes that circulated chilled water. They were effective esp when using a cultured yeast such as AWRI 350 which tended to heat up the vigorous ferment. #cider #fermentation

Bringing in the Yarlington Mill apples We grown the trees as standards so we can graze sheep and are harvest driven This season is late About one third have fallen now the rest dropped by hand The SG is 1.045 and the pH high at 4.2 so will add some Royal Wilding to lower it to 3.5 #cider #apples

Collecting in the last of the perry pears now, these are 'Alex' and the last of the apples in front. These are Yarlington Mill. They have built up good sugars and aromas with extra tree time in the autumn which has been good after the dismal summer #cider #perry #apples #pears #YarlingtonMill

Bracing for the storm ex tropical cyclone Viaunu is barrelling down on NZ There are power outages and flooding in the North The Wairarapa is ok at present but heavy rain and winds expected tonight The orchard should be fine. The last apples & perry pears to be picked up after 🤪 #wairarapa #Cyclone

I have posted a few articles on scientific methods in cider making Science is useful but cider making is an art & tasting through the various stages is required to build up a mental library of your apples and cider flavours when it’s good & also when it’s bad #cider #apples #pears #perry #tasting

There are no paintings of the Yarlington Mill cider apple in the classic pomonas like The Herefordshire Pomona by Hogg & Bull 1876 because the apple was not discovered till 1898 There is a painting of it however in the new Bulmer’s Pomona of 1987 Painting by Caroline Todhunter #cider #apple #Bulmer

Knowing your apples and where and how they grow is important for cider making. At TeePee Cider we grow all our own fruit so as to control as many factors we can. We grow our cider apples and perry pears as standards and maintain a grass sward on which we run Shropshire sheep #cider #orchard #sheep

Yesterday was rather special and spectacular. There was a hot air ascent by 8 balloons from Molewood orchard. We didn’t quite make it there in time so the first photo was curtesy of Molewood. But they flew up the valley over TeePee Cider and beyond. 😊 #cider #hotairballoons #orchard

Yesterday was the Molewood apple festival Such a family affair with horse and trap rides face painting for the children Food trucks BBQ and coffee carts TeePee Cider and Elemental cider stalls Catalyst fruit wine stall and new this year a Vodka producer (made from NZ milk #cider #festival #Wairarapa

No better indicator that autumn has arrived than trees. The oaks around Beau Vista orchard are turning yellow and red. Glorious autumnal colours in the weak sunlight. The harvest is nearing an end, the Yarlington Mill apples have started to fall and have reached an SG of 1.048 #cider #autumn

Hope to see you all at the Molewood Apple festival tomorrow in Greytown Wairarapa this Easter. The weather will be perfect. Teepee Cider has a stall. #cider #festival

Great device to measure in bottle pressure whilst making sparkling cider by method traditional Inside the champagne bottle, the cider undergoes secondary fermentation stored in our cellar at 13°C, and usually takes 8 weeks to reach full pressure of 5 bar After that the yeast autolyses #cider #yeast

Oaked cider is traditional. It was fermented in oak barrels, but each year the amount of oak tannins that diffuse out decreases. This can be increased again by charring the inside of the barrel. Recently oak chip have been made available much more controlled we use them to good effect #cider #oak

Another batch of TeePee Cider's perry hits the market! We are harvest driven. This is a 2022 vintage of perry pears from our nursery orchard. (now a few years older!). It's been sur lees for four years, recently riddled and disgorged. Now 'dressed' with labels and foils. #perry

Wisdom has it you should disgorge sparkling wine when the barometer is high Why? This reduces the differential between the wine which is at 5 bars of pressure and atmospheric pressure when the cap the lees and ice plug have gone. 
This suppresses the out-gassing and foaming. #disgorging #cider

A batch of the new 375cL champagne bottles of Kingston Black cider being riddled and disgorged We use a single cage Italian Roto-Jolly shipped to us 20+ years ago It’s given excellent service Based on the French Gyropalette #rotojolly #cider #methodtraditional #riddling #disgorging #gyropalette

Couldn’t resist posting this meme by Dr Hislop as I’m a doctor too and cider maker He is a graduate in medicine from McGill Uni, with both an MD, and a PhD degree with published papers He is clinical instructor at the Uni of British Columbia. #science #medicine #phamacology #toxicology #conspiracy

The origin of the neck foil or coiffe on champagne bottles was initially to hide underfilled bottles Back when disgorgement and dosage were carried out by hand, each bottle would be filled slightly differently which lead to requests that the bottles be "dressed" to hide this. #coiffe #champagne

Cider making in the UK is concentrated in the West Country esp Herefordshire, Gloucestershire Somerset & Devon which are traditional areas. Sig cider making also occurs in Kent, East Anglia, S Wales and County Armagh in N Ireland with many small operations nationwide #cider #UK #orchards

Perry pear trees often have colourful names such as Startlecock, Stinking Bishop, Mumblehead, & Merrylegs. Mumblehead is named for the "mumbling" or incoherent speech that often follows after too much drinking 😵‍💫 What is your favourite? photo of Merrylegs -National Perry Pear Centre

Method traditional wines, prosecco and cider all have different viscosities which is a major driver in bubble size. This is because of their production method. Method wines have finer persistent bubbles while Prosecco has larger bubbles which degas quicker #champagne #cider #prosecco

Cider from the 1630s became a drink of nobility as well as on the farm. War with France raised national fervour for the English wine or cider. Glassmaking and blowing was advancing and many fine pieces were made. If you had great cider, why not display it in a fine cider glass? #cider #glass

What should be a minimum juice content in cider? What is the minimum juice content in wine? The latter is easy 100%. Even that truly horrible British wine is made from 100% imported grape juice concentrate. So why in Britain is the minimum 35% ( and NZ) and the EU is planning 50%? 🤷 #cider #wine

William Shakespeare in the 1593 play Richard III, wrote “Now is the winter of our discontent”. The play is about the War of Roses but Will was writing to his audience too. They were literally suffering the Little Ice Age. That ushered in cider as the vines died of cold but apples grew well #cider

Tannins in cider apples give cider its flavour and colour It reacts with an enzyme in the presence of oxygen when the apple is turning into pomace in the scratter The enzyme transforms the tannins into quinones. These are unstable and quickly react with amino acids to form melanin like compounds.

So all of a sudden it’s perry pear harvest time. Apples are more tolerant but pears which ripen from inside out can be rock hard one day and a sludge the next! We brought in just over 200kg of Dyers Pass pears yesterday and scrattered them. Today pressing the pomace. #pears #perry #scratter

Trees of Beau Vista orchard the sweet chestnut. Native to S Europe and widely cultivated throughout the temperate world including England and NZ A large long-lived deciduous tree, it produces an edible seed, the chestnut, which has been used in cooking since ancient times. Roast chestnuts yum #trees

Bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) a herbaceous perennial in the pea family (Fabaceae) has just come into flower with clusters of bright yellow flowers some tinged with red The plant grows in orchards meadows & roadsides. It is a nectar source for such as bees #plants #bees#pollinators

The Wairarapa, the home of TeePee Cider hosted the 2026 World Golden Shears at Masterton. This is an amazing competitive sport based on real farm life. Ten countries competing. Every room in the hotels and B+Bs were bookd out. Great to hear all the different languages. #sheep #shearing #competition

Unwanted introduced plants in NZ an our orchard - wild blackberry a widespread, highly invasive plant found across NZ especially roadsides & forest margins A fast growing prickly, perennial shrub that bears fruit in early autumn. They are a significant ecological threat, requiring ongoing control