Colette Goulding Is Building Bridges
The young, London-based cider maker is part of cider's rebirth and revolution.
How does one go from earning an undergraduate degree in Zoology—as well as a Masters in Environment, Politics, and Society—to making cider in London? For Colette Goulding, it was an ideal way to marry their interest in environmentalism with their go-to beverage of enjoyment. Balancing a lifetime of city living alongside the seasonal agriculture of orchards and cider making was difficult, they admit. But it’s more than a passion, or even a profession. It’s an opportunity to create a world within cider for everyone, one sip at a time.
Partway through our video interview—it’s morning in San Diego for me, late afternoon in London for Colette—we both find ourselves twisting into ridiculous contortions, rolling up pants legs and shirt sleeves to compare our food-and-drink tattoo collections. Their latest, a stick-and-poke line drawing of a cider press, is a companion piece to an earlier tattoo of a cider pour done by the same London-based artist. It’s very cool and I am momentarily filled with envy. I don’t yet have a cider tattoo, I admit, but Colette is equally enthusiastic about a giant plate of spaghetti gracing my left leg.
“Lots of my friends call me Spag, because I’ve been ‘Coletti Spaghetti.’ Spag is my nickname,” they laugh. “Maybe I'll join you in that!”
Having multiple cider tattoos seems appropriate for someone so deeply invested in the cider industry as both a consumer and professional. Not only is Colette the cider maker at Hawkes, they’re also part of The Orchard Project (the U.K.’s only national charity “dedicated to the creation, restoration and celebration of community orchards”), a Pommelier through the Beer & Cider Academy, and most recently, they became the Cider Officer for East London CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale). Did I mention they’re only 26?
The future of cider, both in the U.K. and across the world, lies in the hands of people like Colette. But speaking up in a room full of mostly older men (who often come from more rural areas and espouse old-school ideas) isn’t always easy, especially as a relatively younger nonbinary person who has been in the industry for two years. Discussing diversity as an integral part of cider itself can be a challenge, they say, but one they’re up for.
“I am in quite a unique position to be able to talk about those two things separately, but also bring them together,” explains Colette. “I wanted to shine a light on the fact that there are more diverse groups of people that are interested, who want to enlighten ourselves into that industry and make a difference.”
In May 2021, Colette launched the Cider Queer Instagram account, where they hoped to be living proof of the range of people interested in cider. So far, reception has been largely positive. “When I initially set it up, it was really cool to get messages from people being like, ‘Me too! Over here!’’’ they say. “[It’s] amazing, to be able to act as a point of reference—to know where these people are and to be able to bring these concepts together.”
Of course, there’s a learning curve for those unfamiliar with the evolving tenets of inclusive language, one Colette takes in stride, pointing to situations like suggesting putting pronouns on name tags at a recent meeting. “Most of them didn’t even know what I meant,” they laugh. “They thought I meant surnames.” But, they go on to say, as they remain open to transparent conversations, opportunities to educate will continue to present themselves.
“People can’t really ignore what I’m about,” they say.
Over a year in, Colette says they think they’re at least headed towards what they’d consider success. “I’m moving in the right direction and I’m meeting the right people. I’m talking about the right things… I feel like things are going the right way.” And despite the need for these sorts of ongoing conversations, Colette believes cider’s well-established traditions can grow into a modern beverage. They point to the pagan pageantry of wassailing as perfect fodder for social media, especially for more urban cider drinkers who aren’t regularly visiting orchards for their cider fix.
To anyone intimidated about the idea of cider due to a lack of experience or vocabulary, Colette hopes imposter syndrome doesn’t quash curious minds. Even experts had to start from somewhere—a lesson they learned first-hand. “You don’t have to know everything before you can start,” they say wryly. “I could have done with knowing that a few years ago. That would have been helpful!”
In the future, they hope to make their own cider, keep the recently established London-based cider club going with fellow cider expert and educator Alison Taffs, as well as continue to bring new faces into new spaces. “I love talking about cider and not shutting up about it,” they laugh, encouraging others to do the same. “Whatever space you want to get into, just take up that space. Insert yourself into it, be there and don’t feel like you shouldn’t be there.”
Follow Colette on Instagram at @cider.queer.
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Additional sponsorship thanks to Reverend Nat's Hard Cider in Portland, Oregon. Rev Nat's is known for making the most unusual ciders that no one else will make, such as the limited release Cider For My Family, now available for direct shipping to 42 states. Learn more at revnats.com, and thanks for their generous support!
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