Somerset Cider Brandy Co

Thank you to the team at the Somerset Cider Brand Company for arranging a tour for my friend and I at short notice via email. Our guides were very informative and the history, ethos and the wide range of products they make. Also included was a great tasting of a wider range of their products. A fabulous show case of art of cider and liqueur making in a beautiful part of the country. The only disappointment was that I couldn’t buy more as I travelling further in Europe.

Highly recommend a visit. I wanted to take the family, well myself to a cider farm while in Somerset. After searching the web we settled on a visit to here. First thing to say is this place is totally free to visit. On arrival we were told we could have a wander around the whole site and orchard. It was great to see the farm in full action. We got to watch as they were processing the apple ready to make the great brandy. The kids met up one of the farm dogs scruffy, that followed us around the farm and through the orchard. The kids enjoyed the walk amongst the apple tree while I enjoyed looking around the barrels and checking out the 3 copper stills. After a nice walk around, we popped into the shop where we got the chance to tastes there fully range of spirit and the chap giving us the free tasters explained the difference between each brandy we tasted and how they are all made. The whole tasting experience was unexpected but amazing. We ended out visit as expected buying a variety of different drinks they make on side. I would strongly recommend a visit if you want to learn about something more than just cider. And as mentioned above this place is free to visit and sample the products. It feels like a true working Somerset apple farm.

A must-visit! We happened to visit Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival, which explains why a lot of places we visited were very sparsely attended - a good thing, since we had a lot of stuff to ourselves. That was the context for our visit to the Somerset Cider Brandy Co., now our 2nd visit there over the years. I'm not sure whether the company deliberately cultivates a run-down appearance, but it works for me! I interpret that most of their effort goes into making their products, rather than gussying up their buildings. We visited the shop first - I thoroughly recommend tasting any of their cider brandies, and check out their collaboration with Glenfiddich. We found their brandies at a few stores and pubs, but it was worth tasting and buying at the source. We also wandered around the barn that contains their stills - see attached photo with the life-size Joanna Lumley cut-out. A nod to Ab Fab? ("Yeah, cheers, thanks a lot.") Finally, we thank the owner for pointing us to the nearby Burrow Hill tree. Five exhausting minutes of climbing later, we were rewarded with a stunning 360 degree view of Somerset. The brandy place is hard to find, but rewarding once you get there.

Been going here for almost 20 years, wonderful traditional cider, perry and distilled products from apple, pear, quince and more. Your pint of cider to drink on site is poured directly from large wooden casks, they have a dry and a medium, you can also ask for half and half. *This is not filtered mass produced cider, there may be small bits of apple in your cup* you can drink onsite from shop or cider bus on busier days and there's a large canopy for shade as well as a few benches in the orchard.

We couldnt recommend this more. A wonderful journey around (what I regard as) a national treasure. An informal and fascinating insight into the mind of the owner, Julian. Full of facts, opinions, heritage and history, with a healthy dose of humour (oh, and all varieties of Somerset Cider Brandy). I am slightly bias as this is almost exclusively my drink of choice but don't be fooled, i don't write reviews willy nilly. Thank you to all for the tour. All the best

Lovely independent family company, proper heritage and bevvies.

A friendly, family run company. We were given a brilliant impromptu tour of the distillery, and bought some lovely cider. Couldn’t recommend more!

Lovely setting in a village near Yeovil. We visited on a Saturday when there is only one tour during the day so unfortunately we missed it. We sat outside in the orchard listening to music playing. Very relaxing on a very hot day. There's a small shop to purchase cider and other products. Very pleasant afternoon.

A week in Somerset with a view to see as much of the country side (read cider country, orchards and cider mills) as possible lead us to this place, a renowned Cider producer Julian Temperley (father to Alice Temperley the fashion designer) who opens up the farm to visitors. The first thing to mention is that this place is pretty difficult to find. Even though we were looking for it, we still managed to drive right past the entrance. Secondly, as you drive into the 'car park' it becomes very clear that this is a working farm, with all the mess and higgledy-piggledy 'organisation' that comes with it. The flotsam and jetsam of farming, cider making, bottling and shipping is everywhere and on full view...which is both disturbing and endearing. There is a shop where you can buy the full range of products made at this farm, a dark, dingy and beautiful room that includes oak barrels and the inner workings of what I think was a disused wooden cider press - very eery and atmospheric, I loved it. After tasting and buying your liquid refreshment, you are encouraged to 'have a walk around' and ushered through the back door of the shop into an old barn, the inner workings of the cider producing. Huge vats sit there, floor to ceiling, obese looking things that must be decades (if not centuries) old and they are really black. Then rows of barrels and men pouring a golden liquid in them, pumping from container to container. You can them have a wander into the bottling station and then into the distillery that makes the brandy - is smaller than you may think. We had a lovely time, spent a lot of money on booze and gazed at the sheep that grave happily within the shade of the 150 acre orchard. A magical place that in many ways I would love to see cleaned up a bit and made more presentable. But another part of me wants it to stay just as it is - an unashamed working cider farm that lets people in, but under its own terms and conditions.