Long Meadow Cider is produced by father and son duo Pat and Peter McKeever in the heart of Ireland’s Orchard County, where their family-run farm has been growing apples for fifty years.
Talking to the Portadown Times, Pat said making cider was a natural progression when they decided to diversify back in 2010. ‘We were growing apples for the processing and packaging markets and also supplying apples to a number of cider-producing companies in the South and thought it would be nice if we could start producing our own brand of cider and so we started looking into that.’
They started out with two ciders – a medium and a sweet – made exclusively from their own apples and using traditional methods for a ‘plant to pour’ product, as they call it.
The range has since expanded to include a mulled cider, a Blossom Burst cider and a limited edition oak-aged cider as well as an apple cider vinegar and both sparkling and still apple juice.
They’ve racked up an impressive number of awards along the way, including Great Taste Awards in 2014 and 2015 and a silver at Blas na hÉireann in 2015. They are going from strength to strength – ones to watch.
