Meet our resident Woody Woodpecker who stayed at our farm last Summer and made his presence known with lots of drumming and reverberating sounds! Our good friend and keen wildlife photographer managed to capture this amazing and rare shot of him and we appreciate this kind framed Christmas gift.
We look forward to see you all and Woody again at our farm this year….tours can be booked through www.visitballinteggart.com
We are delighted to have provided our Troughtons Premium Tonics at the British Embassy reception in Dublin ahead of the UK’s hosting of the #COP26 in Glasgow.
We are extremely proud of our ethos of sustainability throughout our business and are raising a glass of Climate Positive G & T in association with https://arbikie.com/
#Raisingspirits
Everyone at Co. Armagh family firm, Troughtons, is in high-spirits as their award-winning products have had the accolade of being included in the prestigious Craft Gin Club box.
Craft Gin Club is the UK’s number one subscription club for gin lovers, introducing artisan gins, mixers and foodie treats to their 100,000 subscribers each month. The Premium Indian Tonic from Troughtons “Raising Spirits” range of tonics and mixers was the perfect pairing for the gin in the frightfully good Craft Gin Club Halloween box.
Director Mark Troughton said, “This is a first for us – a wonderful opportunity to raise our profile UK wide and see our products enjoyed by thousands of Craft Gin Club’s members, which includes television’s Philip Schofield, who is a huge gin fan.”
Mark added, “The Craft Gin Club October boxes have only just been sent out and in less than one week we have seen a major growth in online sales already with people taking their drinks to a new level with our “Raising Spirits” range of tonics and mixers. It has been an amazing journey and Craft Gin Club has been great to work with.”
Using County Armagh spring water from their estate at Ballinteggart and only the finest naturally soured ingredients, Troughtons have quality craftsmanship and sustainability at the forefront of everything they do. Mark said, “We pride ourselves on honouring tradition whilst pushing boundaries. It is exciting and a privilege for us, as passionate artisans, to be part of this vibrant and exciting scene.”
This Halloween, treat yourself to Troughtons, perfectly crafted to complement your spirits and make your drink (and you) feel a little more special. #RaisingSpirits Follow @troughtonspremium on Instagram or visit localhost/troughtonspremium/ to learn more.
For more information on the Troughtons ‘Raising Spirits’ range, or for interview requests, please contact:
Esther Paul –Armagh Cider Company/Troughtons
Tel: 028 3833 4268/07741 880286
Email: esther@armaghcider.com
We are delighted that two of our brand new Troughtons Premium range products scooped both a silver and bronze award at this year’s Blas na hÉireann, the Irish Food Awards – the biggest competition for quality Irish produce on the island of Ireland.
Over 2500 products were entered into the competition to win awards in a broad range of food and drink categories. The standards were very high and we are delighted that our new Cucumber & Mint Tonic won silver and our new Cloudy Sicilian Lemonade secured bronze in the carbonated drinks category.
The Blas Awards are the biggest blind tasting of produce in the country. To receive these prestigious awards from such a distinguished and knowledgeable panel of expert judges – chefs, food writers and retailers – in a blind tasting is a great stamp of approval for us.
The Blas award logo is the guarantee of a top quality Irish product and a tremendous boost for an artisan company like us and our products and will no doubt help our continued growth in Ireland.
It is wonderful to win such a prestigious awards for our new products during such an unsettling time and it is a great acknowledgement of the incredible hard work of all of our wonderful staff who have helped make our award-winning drinks, ensuring the high quality we demand is captured in every drop.
So why don’t you try our delicately balanced, refreshing cucumber and mint tonic! We have blended sparkling County Armagh spring water with a refreshing combination of cucumber, fresh garden mint and African quinine to make this revitalising tonic for your drinking pleasure. It contains no artificial sweeteners, flavourings or preservatives. The judges loved it and we’re sure you will too.
We are so proud of our Cloudy Sicilian Lemonade. We have blended fresh, sparkling County Armagh spring water with the best Sicilian lemon to create a zesty and refreshing traditional lemonade that is naturally delicious and there is not a drop of anything artificial. It is perfect for parties, but you might not want to share!
We know our products taste great and we are delighted to have won gold star awards which prove it!
Three of our artisan products were awarded the coveted Gold Star accolade at the recent Great Taste Awards 2020: our Troughtons Premium Indian Tonic, our Aldi Ireland Armagh Craft Cider – Sweet and our Orchard Twist Sparkling Apple Juice.
Great Taste is the world’s largest food and drink awards and is organised by the Guild of Fine Food, promoting excellence in fine food and drink. Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers.
This year, almost 13,000 food and drink products were put to the test with a judging panel of 144 of the most discerning palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs, buyers, retailers and producers, as well as food writers and journalists.
Winning these awards highlights the skills and enterprise of companies like ours, which are the backbone of the local food and drink industry.
At Armagh Cider Company, we are proud to be multi-Great Taste winners over the years. Great Taste is recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike for outstanding products which have been discovered through hours and hours of blind tasting, with no regard for branding and packaging – It’s all about the taste! Great Taste!
Here at Armagh Cider Company, we were so excited and delighted to have global cider judge, expert, author and ambassador Gabe Cook, a.k.a. “The Ciderologist” with us to celebrate Armagh Food & Cider Weekend.
Gabe has worked for a range of cider makers from the smallest independent producers’ right up to the world’s largest. He has made appearances on C4’s Sunday Brunch, has just finished writing his first book, ‘Ciderology’, and has even presented a bottle of cider to the Queen! A captivating speaker, Gabe gave the guests on our tour us a tutored tasting of Armagh Cider Company’s range of ciders.
Gabe also gave an expert overview of the Bramley Apple and its unique PGI Status (Protected Geographical Indication), a legal status awarded by the European Commission to protect and promote the names of high quality regional foods and drinks and guard against their imitation.
Much like the grapes used to make Champagne, only Bramley apples grown in the designated area within the Archdiocese of Armagh can truly claim to be the genuine article. It is formal recognition that the cleaner, sharper and slightly tarter taste of the Armagh Bramley clearly distinguishes it from apples grown in other orchards in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
PGI status is a stamp of approval and credibility, and a testament to the quality of the Armagh Bramley apple. It also serves to reward the longstanding efforts, dedication and experience of local growers and all those who work with the Armagh Bramley apple and really puts Armagh Cider Company on the map as our Carson’s Crisp and Madden’s Mellow proudly hold the PGI status.
As well as enjoying Gabe’s wealth of knowledge and passion about cider, our guests had the opportunity to soak up the historic surroundings of Ballinteggart House and learn about the history of Armagh Cider Company. Based at Ballinteggart Estate, in the heart of the orchard county, we have been growing apples for four generations since the 1800’s. Our tours took guests through our beautiful orchards, which span 80 acres and have been nurtured by the family for over 100 years, where they learned about apple growing and production. They even got to pick and taste some of our 30 varieties of delicious apples themselves.
As well as meeting our Armagh Cider Company family and hearing about our passion and commitment to the industry, they got to tour the mill and the bottling hall where they were shown our complete artisan process of making multi-award winning cider ‘from blossom to bottle’, which produces a superior quality product with more texture and flavour than mass produced products. Of course, no tour would be complete without some delicious apple tart, tea and coffee and naturally, a bottle of cider to enjoy!
We have been welcoming more guests to Armagh Cider Company for cidery tours as part of the celebration of Armagh Food & Cider Weekend.
Based at Ballinteggart Estate, in the heart of the orchard county, we have been growing apples for four generations since the 1800’s. Our tours took guests through our beautiful orchards, which span 80 acres and have been nurtured by the family for over 100 years, where they learned about apple growing and production. They even got to pick and taste some of our 30 varieties of delicious apples themselves.
As well as meeting our Armagh Cider Company family and hearing about our passion and commitment to the industry, they got to tour the mill and the bottling hall where they were shown our complete artisan process of making multi-award winning cider ‘from blossom to bottle’, which produces a superior quality product with more texture and flavour than mass produced products. Of course, no tour would be complete without some delicious apple tart, tea and coffee and naturally, a bottle of cider to enjoy!
During the tours, our guests also had the opportunity to soak up the historic surroundings of Ballinteggart House and learn about the history of Armagh Cider as well as hear about the Bramley Apple and its unique PGI Status (Protected Geographical Indication), a legal status awarded by the European Commission to protect and promote the names of high quality regional foods and drinks and guard against their imitation.
Much like the grapes used to make Champagne, only Bramley apples grown in the designated area within the Archdiocese of Armagh can truly claim to be the genuine article. It is formal recognition that the cleaner, sharper and slightly tarter taste of the Armagh Bramley clearly distinguishes it from apples grown in other orchards in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
PGI status is a stamp of approval and credibility, and a testament to the quality of the Armagh Bramley apple. It also serves to reward the longstanding efforts, dedication and experience of local growers and all those who work with the Armagh Bramley apple and really puts Armagh Cider on the map!
Enjoying Armagh Food & Cider Weekend 2020
We were delighted with the success of our BBQ supper, Cider and Yarns evening which took place as part of Ballinteggart this weekend, sharing the region’s award-winning good and drink.
The evening of food and folklore took place on a clear starry evening, under a beautiful canopy tent here in our unique surroundings here at Ballinteggarty, our family run business that has been growing and processing apples since the 1800’s right in the heart of the orchard county.
Our guests got to savour an orchard cocktail on arrival at Ballinteggart Estate, before tucking into a scrumptious 2-course BBQ supper prepared by Fiona and Rory Chapman from The Airstream, accompanied of course by our award winning ciders.
During the evening, five times ‘Bard of Armagh’, Jimmy Rafferty regaled our guests around the fire with hilarious tales of historical events, especially about the nearby Giants’ Graves of Ballinteggart.
This was the perfect way to celebrate this year’s harvest and the quality, heritage and experience we have producing the best food and drink available anywhere in the world.
We were delighted that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, visited us here at Ballinteggart this week to discuss our response to COVID-19 and how we are contributing to the recognition of Northern Ireland’s wonderful food and drink sector and our aim to support continued growth in orchard county hospitality and tourism.
We had the opportunity to discuss with the Secretary of State the on-going challenges of the pandemic for our sector and he underlined the Government’s commitment to supporting local businesses through this unprecedented challenge to help mitigate its impact and start on the road to economic recovery.
The Secretary of State’s visit coincided with the Armagh Food & Cider Festival and we were delighted to give him a warm welcome and showcase our quality local produce with a tasting session.
We had to opportunity to demonstrate how, during the pandemic, we managed to develop and grow our business by going direct with online sales, shipping right across the UK and to the EU as the demand for high quality food and drink products that people could enjoy at home began to increase.
During the pandemic, we have also taken the time to develop new products and expand our range. The new mixers in our Troughtons Raising Spirits range have been the perfect tonic, so to speak, to help people enjoy quality products in the comfort of their own home. We also developed a new range of craft soft drinks, including premium lemonade, sparkling blush lemonade, ginger ale and Valencia orange.
All our products are available to order directly from localhost/troughtonspremium/
