Little Pomona Cider

This inaugural award marks the enormous contribution of one of the cider world’s brightest lights Susanna Forbes, co-owner of Little Pomona Cider, who has sadly died.

Susanna was, on paper, a cider maker, journalist, author and mentor, but she was so much more than that to so many; having worked in the drinks industry for nearly a quarter of a century, she touched lives in a way that few could ever aspire to, and in a way few will ever achieve.

Susanna started her career in drinks by working with Oddbins, while also holding the role of assistant editor at Wine International; she also helped steer the ship on the sixth edition of the World Atlas of Wine and, by 2007, had joined Imbibe magazine. A few years later, she launched her own visionary website Drink Britain, which is still one of the most comprehensive guides to great British drinks producers available. 

Her achievements and boundless energy also led her to form Forbes Lumsden Editorial Services in 2011, overseeing the editing of Pomerol by Neal Martin, which won both a John Avery and an André Simon award. 

And whilst we journalists and many drinks makers already knew and loved her by then, the public became aware of her many charms when she and husband James founded Little Pomona in 2015, where Susanna’s mission to educate, convert and enchant people about the cider and perry sector found a wider, and very willing, audience. Initially using just apples from their own orchards, Little Pomona went on to support multiple like-minded growers’ fruits to forge incredible creations, allowing wild yeasts to do their own thing but in the most delicate and elegant ways, often using fruits that many overlook, like quince, to create delicate ciderkins at small ABVs, so fragrant you could dab them behind your ears.