Somerset cider and cheese are the two things every guest should taste before they go home, and around here you can do both within half an hour of the cottage. Cheddar itself is twenty-five minutes away, Thatchers is twenty minutes inland, and the pubs and farm shops in between pour and slice the best of the county. This is our guide to five tastings that never disappoint.
In this guide
A little background on Somerset cider and cheese
Cheddar cheese takes its name from the village and the caves where it was matured for centuries, and it is still made there by hand. Cider has been pressed in Somerset for as long as there have been orchards, and the county remains the heart of English cider making, from big family names to farm-gate producers selling from a shed. Together they are the taste of the place, and they go rather well with a walk in the Mendips first.
1. Thatchers Cider, Sandford
Twenty minutes from the farm, the Thatcher family have been making cider at Myrtle Farm in Sandford since 1904. The shop sells the full range, including limited editions and single-variety ciders you will not find in a supermarket, and the family’s own pub next door, The Railway Inn, serves them on tap with good food. Tours run at certain times of year; check the Thatchers website before you go. Our experiences page has directions.
2. Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company, Cheddar
The only cheddar maker left in the village of Cheddar, making traditional cloth-bound cheese by hand in the gorge. You can watch the process through the viewing windows, taste the different ages and buy a wedge to take home. The cave-matured cheddar is the one to ask for. Combine it with the gorge itself using our Cheddar day trip plan.
3. Farm shops in the Mendip villages
The villages between the coast and the hills are dotted with farm shops selling local cheese, cider, apple juice and bread. Look out for Somerset brie and blue cheeses alongside the cheddar, and for small-batch farmhouse ciders that taste nothing like the fizzy stuff. Axbridge, Winscombe and Congresbury are good places to start, and the market in Wells on Wednesdays and Saturdays is worth the drive.
4. A proper Somerset pub
The best tasting is often a ploughman’s in a pub garden with a pint of local cider. Our own village pub in Kewstoke, The Old Manor Inn, is a short walk from the cottages, and most of the pubs in the Mendip villages keep at least one Somerset cider on tap. Ask what is local rather than reaching for the familiar name.
5. Your own cottage table
The simplest tasting of all. Pick up cheddar in Cheddar, a couple of bottles at Thatchers and some bread and chutney from a farm shop, then sit in the garden at the cottage as the sun goes down over Sand Bay. Every one of our kitchens has a proper fridge, good knives and boards, and Inglenook has a dining table for ten if the whole family is coming.
Understanding Somerset cider
Somerset cider ranges from the crisp, sparkling ciders in every pub to still, cloudy farmhouse cider sold from barrels in sheds. The difference is the apples and the method. Traditional cider apples are bittersweet and bittersharp varieties that are inedible raw but make a cider with tannin and depth. Big producers blend them for consistency; farm producers press whatever the orchard gives that year. Try both, and try a single-variety cider such as a Dabinett or a Kingston Black if you see one, because they show what the fruit can do.
Cider is strong. A pint of farmhouse Somerset cider can be seven or eight per cent, which is why the county’s pubs sell it in halves as often as pints. Plan a driver or stay somewhere you can walk home from.
Understanding Somerset cheddar
Real cheddar is made by cheddaring: cutting and stacking the curd so it drains and knits, then milling, salting and pressing it before wrapping the cheese in cloth to mature. Cave-matured cheddar spends months in the cool, damp caves at Cheddar. The result is drier, sharper and more complex than block cheddar from a factory. West Country Farmhouse Cheddar has protected status, and Somerset produces some of the best in the world. Alongside cheddar, look for Somerset brie and camembert and the blue cheeses from the Levels.
A Somerset cider and cheese day from the coast
Leave the cottage after breakfast and drive twenty-five minutes to Cheddar. Watch the cheese being made at the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company, taste the ages and buy a wedge. Walk it off with the climb to the lookout tower or a stroll on the Strawberry Line. Have a ploughman’s in one of the village pubs. On the way back, stop at Sandford for Thatchers, tour the shop and pick up a couple of bottles. Finish at the cottage with cheese, cider, bread from the farm shop and the sun going down over Sand Bay.
Somerset cider and cheese events
Autumn is harvest and pressing season, when many cider farms open their doors and the villages hold apple days. Thatchers and other producers run tours through the year, and the Mendip villages have farmers’ markets with cheese and cider stalls. Wells market on Wednesdays and Saturdays is the biggest regular one near us. Check dates with the producers and with Visit Somerset, because harvest events move with the apples.
Bringing it home
- Cloth-bound cheddar keeps for weeks in the fridge wrapped in waxed paper, not cling film.
- Bottled Somerset cider keeps for months; farmhouse cider from a barrel should be drunk within days.
- Farm shops will vacuum-pack cheese for travel if you ask.
- Apple juice from the same orchards is the non-drinker’s souvenir.
- Chutney, honey and cider vinegar from the same stalls complete the hamper.
Where to find Somerset cider near the farm
Beyond Thatchers, the villages around Kewstoke and the Mendips have small producers selling at the farm gate, and the pubs in Weston, Kewstoke and Clevedon keep local cider on tap. Ask for what is Somerset rather than the national brands and you will usually be pointed at something better. Our experiences page has directions to Sandford, and our Cheddar guide covers the cheese end of the day.
Tasting tips
- Cheddar is graded by age. Mild is a few months old, mature around a year, and vintage or extra mature longer still. Try them side by side.
- Farmhouse cider is stronger than it tastes. Plan a driver, or stay somewhere you can walk home from.
- Cheese and cider pair well with apples, walnuts and a sharp chutney, all available in the same farm shops.
- Buy cheese in wedges rather than pre-packed and keep it wrapped in paper in the fridge.
- Many producers close on Sundays or in winter, so check opening hours before setting off.
Somerset cider and cheese: quick answers
Can you visit Thatchers?
The shop and the Railway Inn are open to everyone. Cider tours run at certain times and need booking through the Thatchers website.
Can you watch cheese being made?
Yes, at the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company, through viewing windows onto the dairy, usually in the mornings. Tasting is part of the visit.
Can children come?
Yes to both. The cheese company is a favourite with children for the tasting, and the Railway Inn at Sandford has a garden and a family menu.
What should I buy first?
A wedge of cave-matured cheddar and a bottle of single-variety Somerset cider. Add a farm-shop chutney and you have supper sorted.
Where to sleep it off
Our cottages in Kewstoke are twenty minutes from Thatchers and twenty-five from Cheddar, with the coast at the end of the lane. All have well-equipped kitchens and enclosed gardens for an evening tasting. See the cottages, or explore more days out from Weston-super-Mare to build a full Somerset cider and cheese weekend. Visit Somerset lists producers across the whole county.