Coulton Mill Cyder

Yorkshire Post

Nick Burrows, makes Coulton Mill Cyder in the Howardian Hills AONB, near Hovingham, he is interviewed for The Yorkshire Post Magazine by Tony Johnson. His recipe follows the one written by William Lawson in Coxwold in the 1580's.

Transcript

00:00 Hi, I'm Nick Burrows, I'm the owner of Colton Mill and Colton Mill Cider.

00:07 First recorded in 1218, operating then as the Mill of Slingsby, which is in the same

00:12 ownership at the time.

00:14 But it's recorded in detail in a document from 1278 from Byland Abbey.

00:21 Cider's a thing.

00:22 I found a recipe from 16, well, published in 1618, but actually from 1580 from down

00:28 the road.

00:29 I thought it'd be a great idea to make it.

00:31 I made cider originally, but I made some mulled cider and a lady said, "You need to bottle

00:36 that because it's good stuff."

00:38 So that's what I do for Christmas.

00:40 I do a mulled cider in a litre bottle, a whiskey cask, a medium and a dry, and I do the apple

00:47 juice as well.

00:48 I've got an orchard of 64 standard apple trees, covering every known apple variety from Yorkshire,

00:54 and quite a few others as well.

00:55 There's a 17th century orchard.

00:56 It used to be an old tradition when a wife came to a farm that she would bring her apples

01:00 with her and they'd become part of the new life.

01:02 So I planted a corner of mine with American apples because my then wife was American.

01:07 It's called Little America.

01:10 Love it.

01:11 I mean, right now, this has got to be better value than a gym.

01:14 It is hard work, but there's a lot of reward here and you're preserving something that

01:19 isn't just part of the future, but really part of the past and making it valid for today,

01:24 which is great.

01:25 I love it.

01:26 I've got some photographs and paintings that go back at least 200 years.

01:30 One of them is almost exactly held in the York Art Gallery.

01:32 It's almost exactly 200 years ago, and it shows people going about their daily work.

01:37 And just to be part of that, the same people are buried in Hothingham Churchyard.

01:41 You can see it on the church, on the gravestones.

01:44 Just to be a little bit a part of that makes you realize, quite humbling, makes you realize

01:47 that we're all just passing through and these are the permanent things.

01:50 Well, certainly nothing's permanent forever, but it just gives you a part of that history

01:53 and hopefully not just a part of the past, but part of the future as well.

01:58 I've got a book from 1580, this chap William Lawson from Cockswell down the road, and everything

02:03 he says is exactly what you're taught today.

02:06 Make sure you pick the best fruit you can, sterilize your equipment properly, and keep

02:10 it airtight so air won't get in.

02:12 He calls it evil air, and I think most cider makers would agree.

02:15 It definitely is evil air, because that will spoil it.

02:17 That will oxidize the cider and spoil it.

02:19 So on those principles, you get the basics right, and then it's a matter of personal

02:23 choice, how you're going to add a little bit of extra value to it.

02:27 I enjoy the markets, I enjoy the banter, I enjoy meeting my neighbors, I enjoy meeting

02:31 other people, talking about the history of this, and that's what makes it worthwhile

02:36 for me as well.

02:37 And actually, as a really small scale producer, you have to cut out the middle man as much

02:40 as you can.

02:41 There are easy ways of making money, believe me, but this way you can have a little bit

02:48 of enjoyment.

02:49 So go to those markets anyway, there are some great producers, some fascinating people,

02:53 and yeah, it's a good place to sell cider and just share that little piece of history

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