A photographic print of Food & Drink, Cider

34 SIPS OF CIDER FAIL HIM Herald Reporter BRISTOL, Thursday HARRY PHILLIPS, 58 year-old bespectacled boiler-maker, of Ebbw Vale, and Monmouth County Councillor, is a man with a mission. Since he took a gulp of strong rough cider while haymaking on a Welsh hill farm as a boy, he has been searching for a smooth, sweet cider. "If only the right blend of sweetness could be found it might take the place of beer in all the pubs in Monmouth," he says. Shade too sharp So today the Ebbw Vale boiler-maker went to Bristol for the annual cider-tasting day at the Long Ashton Agricultural Research station. With growers and cider experts from all parts of the country, he sniffed and sipped 34 glasses of sharp bitter-sweet and sweet varieties. Clearing his palate with a piece of dry biscuit after each taste, Mr. Phillips tried hard to find his ideal, but his taste was too discerning. Even those with fine sounding names such as Foxwhelp, Chisel Jersey, Dymock Red, and Pixley Hangdown, brought the same comment, "No, it's just a shade too sharp. It's the tang I don't like." Lot to tell Shaking his head as he left, he said, "I've a lot to tell our education committee, but I don't think I found the cider I have been looking for." Prof. Bertie T. P. Barker, past director of the Institute, told the experts of experiments to cure "cider sickness," which ruins the taste and aroma of sweet cider. It is caused by a family of microbes which experts have been trying to isolate since 1907. His tip to cider makers was: "Blend as soon as possible with a sharp cider with a high acid content."