Jolyon’s Tips & Tricks

Jolyon, Co-founder of Napton Cidery has started publishing a series of articles, sharing tips and tricks of real cider making and the business of craft cider beverage.

“We’ve scaled from a garage to supermarket shelves using 100% fresh juice and wild yeast—no concentrates, no shortcuts.” Jolyon Olivier

1. An absolute beginner’s guide to reading your orchard (and the big concentrate lie)

I’m standing out in the orchards at Napton Cidery right now. The sun is breaking through, the fruit is swelling on the branches, and honestly, we are fast approaching that beautiful, chaotic, exhausting time of year: harvest season.

But look, before the heavy commercial presses start rolling here in September, I wanted to open up a direct line to you—the backyard growers, the garage fermenters, and the people who just have a couple of neglected apple trees at the bottom of their garden. Making world-class cider isn’t a dark art reserved for commercial operations. It’s a craft of patience, observation, and respect for the raw ingredient. Continue reading by heading to “Jolyon’s Substack”...

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