Back in June, we brought you news of a brand new ‘Txotx style’ cider house being readied for opening in the Shalesmoor shipping container development, Krynkl, and following a whistle-stop transformation we can now exclusively reveal that The Cider Hole will officially open on 17 September.
The new 22-seater micro-ciderhouse promises to give cider fans, and fans of interesting alcoholic beverages of all kinds, a place to call home in Sheffield, and though cider-centric by name, owner and American drinks journalist Mike Pomranz will feature a wide range of weird and wonderful drinks – including craft beer, natural wines, American hard seltzers, a sparkling rosé made from 100% Danish rhubarb, and whatever else takes Mike’s fancy.
Catering to its core audience, The Cider Hole has a dedicated cider list featuring cans and bottles from across the UK and around the world. Then, later this year, The Cider Hole will become Sheffield’s only urban micro-cidery, producing up to 600 litres of cider on-site – served to customers directly from the fermenters.
Everything is available for consumption on-premise – where drinkers can enjoy a mix of Buffalo boom-bap, aughts indie, and anything Thin Lizzy spun from Pomranz’s personal vinyl collection in the cozy, communal 22-person space – or beverages can be purchased to take away.
“Personally, I drink more beer than cider,” Pomranz – who is a Certified Cider Professional – explained, “but I love cider, and it upsets me that it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves as a diverse and complex beverage.
Mike Pomranz, The Cider Hole owner
“With the explosion in craft beer, most people understand that beer doesn’t have to be a fizzy lager, but cider is still waiting for a similar reckoning. My hope is that The Cider Hole can elevate people’s opinion of artisan cider. And if not, I have plenty of other shit. Don’t worry!”
To bolster his offerings, Pomranz also launched Quality Ferments Imports to bring in drinks from outside of the U.K. His first two products are Cold Hand Rheum – a sparkling rhubarb wine from Denmark – and Zapiain Gure Sagardoa Gorenak – a Basque cider from Astigarraga, Spain. For now, both bottles are exclusive to The Cider Hole in the U.K.
A freelance food and beverage writer who is still on staff at the American magazine Food & Wine, Pomranz has covered the beer industry for over 15 years. But in 2015, an enlightening
cider assignment ignited a new love of fermented apple juice.
Pomranz and his family moved to Sheffield from Brooklyn five years ago, and he has continued experimenting with fermenting his own cider from fruit gathered from residential trees.
Working with locally found apples will be a major focus of the cider produced on site at The Cider Hole this autumn.
The Cider Hole will officially open on Friday 17 September from 5pm to 11pm and Saturday 18 September from 3pm to 11pm. Since Pomranz currently runs the bar entirely by himself, regular hours will not be kept: Instead, hours for the week will be released each Monday exclusively on The Cider Hole’s website: istheciderholeopen.com.
The Cider Hole, Unit 1.3, Krynkl, 294 Shalesmoor, Sheffield, S3 8UL
