A Black Isle-based businessman is vying to be among the leading – and most northerly – cider makers in the country.
Ryan Sealey started the Caledonian Cider Co, his own press, after moving from Cornwall to Conon Bridge in 2013 to work at nearby Glen Ord Distillery.
He previously worked for Thatchers in Somerset, one of cider’s most famous names, and in Brittany at Rosquijeau Cidre.
He found it no easy task to make cider in the Highlands, where the climate is harsher than Brittany or Somerset but persevered, seeing it as “a chance to create a new tradition”.
Mr Sealey said: “Each place I’ve made cider has its own unique methods that have grown up over the centuries to suit the local tastes and climate, but the Highlands had none of that.
“Cider making up here was a clean slate, an unknown. That’s very exciting for a cider maker.
“It took a few years to get it right – the apple season is later this far north.
“This later ripening period then means you’re fermenting through the coldest part of the year which has a big impact on the final cider.”
One problem was that commercial yeasts used almost universally in the UK are ineffective at Highland winter temperatures, but naturally-occurring yeasts solved this as they can ferment when it’s cooler.
Now his labours over the last couple of years are bearing fruit after Mr Sealey took home one of the major industry awards from the British Cider Championships, for his Local Rocket product.
The drink, which is a mix of apples from trees on the Brahan Estate and a garden in Dingwall, took silver in the contest’s bottled cider class at the Bath and West Show down in Somerset.
Pressed during blizzard conditions last December, the award-winning drink tasted like “the most refreshing apple juice you’ve ever had”, said Mr Sealey.
Currently Caledonian Cider Co makes around 330 gallons annually, but Mr Sealey hopes to boost this to 440 gallons by using a new locally sourced apple and aims to ultimately make more than 1,500 gallons.
The Caledonian Cider Co already supplies a number of bars in Inverness.