Peckham’s Kingston Medium

Peckham’s Kingston Medium made in New Zealand from Kingston Black apples. I haven’t had a Peckham’s in a long time; I’ve only heard good things about this on and going from the label, this should be one that I like.

So, what do you do when you move from the UK to the other side of the world and can’t find a proper cider? Well simple, go hunt down abandoned orchards and start making some cider in your shed as a bit of a hobby. A few years later when the word gets out and people started wanting to buy your cider, take the operation professional.  That’s what Alex and Caroline did planting 6000 cider apple trees to crank things up for commercial cider making. 6000 trees makes it the largest cider orchard in shaky isles.

“Upper Moutere (just outside of Nelson) is a fabulous apple and grape growing area – hot summers with massive sunshine hours and cold winters with plenty of ground frost to really get the trees dormant and kill off diseases. The Moutere clay soil is renowned for producing excellent tasting fruit – the roots have to dig down deep for moisture and in doing so access lovely minerality from the soil. We minimise irrigation as much as possible with the aim of producing intense tasting fruit as opposed to large, water filled apples.” – Carline of Peckham’s Cider

These Kingston Blacks are fermented using the wild yeasts that have established themselves in the cidery over the years. The cider is aged on oak and back sweating with a little bit of Kingston Black juice.

The Nose

Oh, wow that smells great. Packham’s Kingston Medium is chock bung full of rich Kingston Black apple scents. Which for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of trying a Kingston Black basically this is a riot of ripe berries, a dash of vanilla and the mildest of spices. For my Scottish readers, the similarities with Irn-Bru are unmissable.

The Taste

The Packham’s Kingston Medium is low on fizz which lets the flavour coat all your taste buds like a satin sheet. Those Irn-Bru vibes are still present in the taste but as it lingers it becomes a bit more adult. Midway through the mouthful, there are earthy minerals sparking to life with whispers of bitterness hiding in the background. They fade into the Kingston Black’s epically smooth tannins, drying your mouth without any harshness. It’s not bone dry but the slight sweetness couples with the small amount of oak smooths it out and beckons for another sip.

Final Thoughts on Peckham’s Kingston Medium

I have a young Kingston Black tree trying its hardest in my garden, when it has a decent crop of apples, I can only hope to make a cider this good.

I’m looking directing at Aussie bottle shop managers here, – Get some of these in your fridges ASAP, alongside the local (top quality) ciders.

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