Our craft, our passion: The cider making process
At Paris Creek Cider, every drop tells a story of dedication, tradition, and the purest fruit. Discover how we transform specially selected apples into the distinctive ciders you love.
The heart of our cider: Exceptional apples
We believe great cider starts with great fruit, and not all apples are created equal. Over the last five years, we've sought out grafting scions from numerous cider apple collections across Australia. We've nurtured these unique varieties, grafting them onto rootstocks perfectly suited for our orchards at Ashbourne and Braeside near Strathalbyn.
Our orchards now boast almost all known cider apples in Australia, each with names steeped in history – some dating back to the 1600s in England. You'll find heritage varieties like Kingston Black, Foxwhelp, Tremletts Bitter, Yarlington Mill, Brown Snout, Reine des Hatives, and Rousse Latour. Each apple has been preserved by cidermakers for centuries due to its particular characteristics, whether it's acidity, bitterness, rich juice colour, mouthfeel, or that elusive 'vintage quality'. Many of these qualities are simply not found in apples grown for eating. We're excited to cultivate this incredible collection here, growing them spray-free to produce truly amazing cider.
Our unique approach to cider making
What truly sets Paris Creek Cider apart is our commitment to a distinctive process. We have a broad palette of 30 different cider apple varieties to craft the flavour and rich texture of our ciders. As a small batch producer, we embrace the subtle seasonal variations in our fruit, ensuring an authentic product that reflects nature's nuances, rather than a mass-produced cider with an unchanging flavour year after year.
We treat our cider with gentle care, patiently coaxing out the full potential of our fruit. We never rush fermentation, nor do we use fining agents or filtration to meet a manufacturing schedule. Instead, we allow our ciders to mature slowly over winter, following their own natural timetable. Blending, canning, and packaging are all done right here on our farm, giving us complete creative control over the final product while minimising our carbon footprint. For us, it’s all about quality, not quantity.
Experience the difference
We want to open your eyes to the rich, long history of cider and ignite your excitement for trying ciders crafted from fruit chosen by generations of cider makers in both West Country England and Normandy, France. We want you to know that we believe small is best, and that a small artisan operation can offer a new, richer cider experience.
Imagine enjoying spray-free fruit, grown without agricultural chemicals, feeling more connected to the season, to place and to tradition. When you hold a glass of Paris Creek Cider, we want you to feel that your choice hasn't cost the Earth to produce. It's a choice you can feel good about, supporting a product made with passion, integrity and a deep respect for both heritage and the environment.