Stonewell Sting. Drink of the Week. Maybe drink of the summer!

Stonewell Sting. Maybe the drink of the summer!

Stonewell Sting Limited Edition Craft Cider, 5.50% ABV, Ballymaloe Food Festival

One of the most refreshing drinks of the summer.

I'm pretty sure I was the first person, aside from the Stonewall crew, to taste this exquisite cider, now our taste of the week. I got that first "sting" at their stall in the Ballymaloe Food Festival earlier this month.

Colour is pale gold, with a few

bubbles bouncing up and hanging around on the walls of the glass. Aromas of the meadows and the orchard. The Armagh apples feature strongly on the palate before the cider finishes unexpectedly dry with a crisp and refreshing sting!

They say: The fruits used are dessert apples from County Armagh, Falstaff, Discovery and Jonagold to name a few. A smidgeon of fresh juice from a native botanical is blended in. Can you taste which one is it?

The clue is in the ingredients (all natural) and they are cider from fresh apple juice, sugar, nettle juice.

This is a limited edition from the Nohoval cidery. They have some form with this series. Their Apple and Rhubarb Cider Stonewell Rós made three or four years back is still around, still gathering awards, including winning the International Flavoured Cider Trophy and awarded "an esteemed accolade” at the recent International Brewing & Cider Awards in London.

The small family company are proud sponsors of Irish Bee Conservation Project… details here .