Their story
Artistraw is run by Tom Tibbits and Lydia Crimp from Herefordshire (HR3 5EZ), where they keep a 'museum orchard' of old standard trees. Fruit is entirely hand-picked by the two of them from unsprayed, biodiversity-rich traditional standard orchards, with nothing added and no pasteurisation, so the cider ferments using wild yeasts naturally present on the fruit. The range includes pet-nat, perlant and off-dry sparkling ciders, some from named single varieties such as Foxwhelp and Black Vaughn. The business publishes the carbon footprint of its bottles, which it says was a first for a UK cidery. Lydia Crimp is Deputy Chair and Tom Tibbits Treasurer of the Three Counties Cider and Perry Association. Their cider has featured on BBC Countryfile.
Keep a 'museum orchard' of old standard trees and pick fruit from further unsprayed, biodiversity-rich traditional standard orchards locally; exact acreage or tree ages are not published.
Apples and pears they nameFoxwhelp, Black Vaughn, Bisquet
What they make
- Urchin medium, pet-nat, 2025 vintage
- Hedge Springer off-dry, sparkling, 2023 vintage
- Bisquet medium, perlant, 2024 vintage
- Black Vaughn off-dry, pet-nat, single variety, 2023 vintage
- Foxwhelp single variety, 2022 vintage
- Gold Dust no further detail published
Visiting
Bottle shop on site, Herefordshire HR3 5EZ
Tastings: Yes. Bookable tours combine an orchard walk with a tasting and the history of individual trees.
Tours. Bookable orchard tour and tasting; price and length not published.
Where to buy
- Online, direct from the maker artistraw.co.uk
- At the farm or cidery When open
Flat-rate shipping of £9.95 (free over £150); local click-and-collect also offered. No named third-party stockists published on the site.
Their events
Hosts a wassail in the orchard each January, plus other seasonal gatherings.