A Trip To Healey's Cyder Farm

Posted by Cornish Hampers on

We recently visited Healeys Cyder Farm near Newquay, tasting their cider and enjoying a Healeys Cyder Cream Tea while watching their various farm animals run around the courtyard.

What is there at Healey’s Cyder Farm?

  • Cyder Tasting
  • Farmyard animals (peacocks, hens, pigs, horses, goats, rabbits)
  • Café and restaurant
  • Farm shop selling Healey’s Cyders and preserves at a reasonable price
  • Tours of the production facility / Cyder museum / cellars
  • Tractor rides around the orchards

Healey Cyder Farm Map

What do you pay for?

Walking around the courtyard and seeing the animals, tasting the cider and entry to the visitor’s café or restaurant are all free. You pay for either guided or self-guided tours of the production facility / cider museum and tractor rides around the orchards. Prices start at around £4 per person for self-guided tours.

Why do they call it Cyder?

Cyder isn’t just the Cornish way of saying Cider, there is a difference in the production proces. Cider is made on a commercial scale through the re-pressing of the pulp whilst Cyder is made in a similar way to fine wines with the juice from the apple being left to mature in casks.

Cider tasting

One of the things we enjoyed most about the cider tasting experience was the knowledge that the bar staff were able to offer regarding the various different ciders.

Healey's Cyder Farm Shop

Scrumpy

Scrumpy is a name given to some cider in the West Country. Its name comes from the term Scrumping in which youngsters would raid local orchards of their apples. During these raids different varieties of apples would be taken and used to make cider. These days Scrumpy simply refers to cider / cyder made with different varieties of apples and is popular in the West Country.

Healey’s Scrumpy is quite strong (7.4% ABV cider) and is available in Medium Sweet or Medium Dry, both of which are still. It comes in a number of sizes including a traditional farmhouse flagon. I tried the Medium Sweet and thought it was easily one of the best ciders I have ever tasted.

Rattler

Rattler is another of Healey’s cyders and comes in five varieties; Original 6% or 4%, Pear, Berry and Mulled. With branding more fitting with nights out in Newquay, or surfer’s beach bars, Rattler is popular at events and parties. It has a sharp zing to it but my preference was with some of the less carbonated ciders that Healey’s have to offer.

Cornish Gold

Cornish Gold is a light sparkling apple cider that went down very well with my wife and I. It was Healey’s first sparkling cider and has only recently been brought back to life.

Healey's Classic

The classics are a premium range stored in oak casks for up to three months, more like a fine wine. The Classic Oak Matured is a medium cider with a hint of tropical fruit, as well as the oak. There are some very interesting ciders within this range such as the Cornish Whiskey Reserve. This cider is left to mature in former Cornish Whiskey casks which gives it a unique flavour of apple and honey.

Cyder Cream Tea

Cider Cream Tea

Healey’s speciality cream tea consists of apple & cyder scones, Healeys’ scrumpy apple & bramble jam with Trewithen Dairy clotted cream and a pot of tea. We had to try one; the apple scones although not as huge as the plain scones in the display cabinet at the front of the cafe were still sizeable and tasted good with only a very subtle hint of apple. The apple & bramble jam was delicious, sweeter and darker in appearance than classic strawberry jam. As expected the Cornish clotted cream was perfect.

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