I’ve known for a while that The Stable have an awesome vegan menu on offer.

So when I was asked to join their (vegan) cider tasting evening on World Vegan Day this Tuesday, I obviously had to say yes!

I’ve been several times before and loved their vegan and vegetarian pizza options, and it’s always a great option for Olivia and I to visit as they offer gluten free as well (which, according to Olivia, are the best gluten free pizza bases around!).

The Stable (known for their pizza and cider combos!) have recently started offering cider tasting experiences and evenings, where their cider experts will come and talk to you about all different local and national ciders that they offer here and how they’re made etc., while you eat, drink and chat with friends.

To kick off the night, we were presented with a platter of crackers and vegan cheeses; honestly they looked so convincing I was completely skeptical about whether they were actually vegan or not! The texture was spot on, and they tasted AMAZING! They’re by a company called Bute Island (the cheese The Stable use on their vegan pizzas too), made with soy protein, and I can’t rave about them enough. The smoked cheddar and Wensleydale style with cranberries were my favourite, and I genuinely think I could give up dairy cheese for these.

For this evening we were trying 10 (yes, 10!!) ciders and were talked through the brewing process of each and the flavours/reasons as to why they all taste so wildly different from each other. I was fascinated to find out that some ciders aren’t technically vegan (I, like many others, assumed that all ciders were vegan) – many larger cider companies use animal products, such as gelatin, in the refining process.

In our tasting session I quickly discovered that still ciders are not my favourite. I don’t think I’ve ever really had enough before to realise it, but I can confirm that I am not a fan! I did, however, rather like the raspberry cider and the elderflower and pear cider (typical… I chose the ones that taste least like alcohol and are super sweet!).

During the evening we also ordered our vegan pizzas; I personally went for the Bute Island Blazer which had chilli, red onion, red peppers, mushrooms and Bute Island mozzarella. It was spicy and super delicious as always! I’ve previously tried the Hazel Nutter too and I can confirm that is also delicious.

Sadly I couldn’t go too crazy with the ciders as I was driving (I took just a couple of sips from each, don’t worry!), but it was a great night and really fun to learn more about local ciders and about the process in general. I also enjoyed celebrating World Vegan Day with The Stable’s amazing vegan food, and I will of course be heading back soon.

 

* I joined this evening for free to review and talk about on my blog, but all opinions are my own!