Our story

Where it all began - Terry Coppin

Terry invented the original (now known as) Norfolk Raider Cider recipe nearly 40 years ago. With the help from a couple of close friends, the cider was born. The original cider was strictly for friends and family only, mainly due to its very high alcohol volume and its great taste, of course. Luckily the cider today won’t make you weak at the knees so quickly but still contains the same great taste.

Terry would store the cider in used wooden barrels, this meaning that if a barrel had previously been used to store whisky, once the cider was poured into the barrel it would adopt some of the flavours of the whisky. In an afternoon and evening, Terry and his friends could press enough juice to fill a 3ft tall, 45gallon barrel. They would then take some of the cider out of the barrel and mix it with sugar, a lot of it, 40 pounds per barrel in fact. This mixture would then be left over the winter to ‘work’ and be ready for drinking in early spring. According to Terry, two half pints of his cider would be more than enough to make anyone very tipsy. Luckily, the ciders the family makes today are in the sweet spots between 4% and 12.5%

Back to basics

The family began making various apple based desserts many years ago, Terry then mentioned he had an old cider recipe. The family then began to cut the apples by hand and crush them with a rolling pin. The first batch made 8 gallons, they then offered this to their neighbours and friends, they enjoyed it very much. One of the neighbours offered some apples in exchange for some of the cider, and the family then made 20 gallons.

Word quickly spread around the village that cider was being made, they then noticed apples suddenly turning up at the door (as they still do). The family then began to make cider in batches of 1000 litres. To get to this stage they needed more apples, a lot more. They found an apple orchard and asked the owner if he could have all of their windfalls (an apple or other fruit that has blown down from a tree or bush by the wind). The owner told the family that he was going to pull up all of the apple trees and plant something else. A deal was cut with the landowner which lead from a few trees from around the local village to 1,000 trees.

With this number of trees, it allowed the family to begin developing new delicious flavours of cider. Today there are many different flavours:

• Wingman (6.2%)
• Horsham Blush (4%)
• Perry Winkle (4%)
• Honey Belle (4%)
• Gator 24 (4%)
• Elder 24 (4%)
• Dolly Pink (4%)
• Cinnamon Lil (4%)
• Special Reserve (12.5%)

The family claims there are more secret flavours in the works.

‘Norfolk Raider’

When Terry’s son-in-law was younger he knew an older gentleman who told him a story about some airmen who would come down to the local pub to have their final drinks before going on bombing raids the next day. The locals referred to these men as ‘The Norfolk Raiders’. They flew out from Norwich airport which at the time was the B24 bombing base. The family wanted to tie the cider to a piece of history and this noble story was exactly what they were looking for. Thus born The Norfolk ‘Raider’ Cider.

All of The Norfolk Raider Cider meets the environmental health standards.

The Current Cider Process

1. 15 different varieties of apples are picked to make the ciders, these are mainly dessert apples but also include Bramley and Russet apples. 1.5 tonnes will make 220 gallons.
2. These apples will then be put through the scruncher and then through the press.
3. The juice is then put straight into the plastic drums and the sugar is added in the same way it was 40 years ago.
4. Cider is made in batches of 1000 litres.
5. This mixture is then left for 6 months, however, if the weather is warmer the process can be shortened by up to as much as a month.
6. The base cider is then poured into 10-gallon mixing tubs, this is where the alcohol volume is tested and the individual ciders are created.
7. The cider is then put into either a bottle, bag in box or plastic container.