Tillington Hills Premium Cider

What kind of wine can you buy for £2.65? Well, you probably can find one but would you serve it to your friends? This upmarket cider, on the other hand, would look good on any table.

It's made from fruit grown on the Co-op farms in Herefordshire which surprised me as I didn't know the Co-op had any farms, let alone orchards and is a blend of Tillington Ladies’ Finger, Bulmers Norman, Mitchelin, Dabonnet and Yarlington Mill. (What great names cider apples have).

It's on the dry side of medium dry, with a classic sharp cider apple flavour and at 6% would make a great partner for pretty well anything porky - slow roast belly pork, sausages, pork or fidget pies, cold ham - a ploughman's or a chicken or pheasant casserole with cider or a creamy sauce.

It doesn't contain any concentrates, flavourings, artificial sweeteners or colourings and comes in a screwcap bottle so you can keep it in the fridge for a couple of days without it spoiling. If it lasts that long.

Great drink.

Rating: ***

Waitrose Vintage English Perry

Waitrose has got 20-25% reductions on a number of their ciders at the moment bringing this refreshing, elegant perry down to an incredible £1.34 a 500ml bottle - and even cheaper on Ocado at £1.27.

Perry is often thought of as poor man's champagne but it could equally well be described as pauper's prosecco - light (well, lightish at 8%) gently sparkling and perfect for party drinking.

It's made in Herefordshire (by Westons according to ratebeer.com)

If you chilled it well and served it in champagne glasses I wonder if your friends would be able to tell the difference?

There's a recipe for a mulled version here.

3 for £4 deal on Tesco Finest beers

I have to say I was rather more excited by the Tesco Finest beers and cider at their wine tasting yesterday than I was about the majority of their wines most of which strike me as being priced for Christmas reductions.

The deal doesn't include the Finest Wheat and Abbey Belgian Beers which are sold in a full size 75cl bottle and which I haven't tasted but still sound good value at £2.96 and £3.35 respectively or the Finest Cidre Prestige which at £3.99 for 365ml is actually quite pricey - but brilliant.

But it does include a stunning Single Orchard Cider (£1.49 for 500ml) made for the range by Thatchers, a scarily alcoholic (9.2% but delicious) American Double IPA from Brewdog (normally £1.99 for 330ml) and, at the other end of the spectrum, a really gingery alcoholic ginger beer from Williams Brothers at 3.8% (£1.49 for 500ml) which I think would be great with a Chinese.

There's also a Traditional Porter from the Harviestoun Brewery (6%, £1.49 for 330ml) which is strongly reminiscent of Old Engine Oil. (And that's not as dismissive as it sounds. There really is a beer of that name in their range - though one that's not particularly to my taste, I confess.)

The offer lasts until December 14th, 2010

A lovely, pure perry

We had supper with a food writer friend, Andrea Leeman, on Saturday night who’s researching a book on food and drink in Gloucestershire. To kick off the meal she produced a bottle of Day’s Cottage Perry which is made from such romantic sounding pears as Brown Bess and Blakeney Red.

I like perry in theory but am often disappointed by it. Either it’s too sweet, too weak and wimpy or too funky and farmyardy, but this was just essence of pears - pure and unadulterated. You could easily drink it instead of a white wine. In fact I’d infinitely prefer it to most wines of that price (£4 a full size (75cl) bottle).

The great thing about drinks like cider, perry and beer - along with foods such as bread, pasta and rice - is that most of us can afford, even if only occasionally, to buy the best there is - something that doesn’t apply to wine, whisky or meat, for example. Life’s little luxuries, I call them.

You can buy Day’s Cottage products in Bristol and Stroud’s weekly farmers’ markets or direct from the website at applejuice.care4free.net