Summer in a Glass: Kentish Pip Launches a Fresh New Range of Apple Sodas
Sophisticated soft drinks are having a moment – and Kentish Pip is bringing a distinctly Kentish twist to the trend with three sparkling apple sodas made at Woolton Farm.
There’s something very appealing about a long, cold drink on a summer afternoon – particularly when it feels a little more grown-up than the usual fizzy options.
As more of us choose to drink less alcohol, whether for an evening, a month or altogether, the world of soft drinks has become considerably more interesting. Forget overly sweet pop or another uninspiring glass of sparkling water: today’s alcohol-free drinkers are looking for flavour, provenance and something that feels every bit as considered as the alcoholic drinks on the table.
And that sounds like a challenge made for Kent.
At Woolton Farm near Canterbury, independent drinks producer Kentish Pip has launched a new collection of all-natural Sparkling Apple Sodas, putting Kent-grown fruit at the heart of three refreshing summer serves.
The range begins with sparkling Kentish apple juice and pairs it with flavours that feel right at home in an English summer garden.
There’s Kentish Apple, crisp, fresh and pleasingly straightforward; Hibiscus & Rose, bringing floral, more exotic notes to the glass; and Gooseberry & Elderflower, a combination practically made for warm afternoons, picnics and long lunches outside.
All three are made without artificial sweeteners, with Kentish Pip taking the same flavour-led approach to its soft drinks that has helped build its reputation for cider over the past decade.
It’s a smart move. The distinction between the drinks we choose when we’re drinking alcohol and those we choose when we are not is becoming increasingly blurred. Consumers still want an interesting flavour experience, a good-looking bottle or can on the table and, perhaps most importantly, a drink that doesn’t feel like a compromise.
Kentish Pip’s new sodas neatly occupy that space while keeping their sense of place firmly intact: apples, grown in the Garden of England, turned into something sparkling and refreshing just a few miles away.
Ten years of putting flavour first
The sodas arrive as part of a much bigger moment for Kentish Pip.
2026 marks ten years for the business, and to celebrate, the team has unveiled a complete new look alongside a refreshed range of its core ciders.
For Managing Director Sam Mount, it represents the next stage for a drinks business that has never been particularly interested in following cider convention.
“2026 marks my tenth year working in this business, and what an incredible, rewarding ride it has been,” said Sam Mount, Managing Director of Kentish Pip. “We have spent the last 11 months consolidating everything we’ve learned from our customers, mapping current market trends, and setting out our own ambitions for where we want to take Kentish Pip over the next ten years. We’ve cast aside the traditional views of what cider is supposed to taste like, or how it’s supposed to be made. We’ve put flavour first, no pretention, no boundaries, just creatively pairing quality natural ingredients.”
And for the cider drinkers…
Kentish Pip hasn’t forgotten what brought it to the party.
Its revamped core collection is made at Woolton Farm using 100% English apples and includes three very different bottles for summer drinking.
Grafter Crisp Apple Cider (4.2% ABV) is the easy-drinking option: fresh green apple and floral blossom aromas meet bright acidity, gentle sweetness and delicate tannins.
For something fruitier, Roselle Hibiscus & Raspberry Cider (3.4% ABV) combines hibiscus and fresh raspberry with cranberry and pomegranate notes and a beautiful Provençale rosé colour. Chilled down on a sunny afternoon, it sounds particularly inviting.
Then there’s Skylark Premium Reserve Cider (5.5% ABV), a medium-dry, fuller-bodied cider with ripe red and green apple alongside deeper notes of toffee, raisin, citrus and stone fruit.
It’s a trio that demonstrates just how far modern English cider can travel beyond the traditional pint – while keeping apples at its heart.
Grown, pressed and produced in Kent
That connection to the land matters here.
Kentish Pip is based at Woolton Farm in Bekesbourne, a diversified working farm that has become something of a destination, with a bar and restaurant in a 14th-century thatched barn, camping and glamping, plus a calendar of summer events and festivals.
The drinks business is also working to keep its environmental footprint down. Waste apple pulp is converted into green energy, local supply chains are prioritised to reduce food miles, and Woolton Farm participates in the higher tier Countryside Stewardship scheme.
So, while sophisticated alcohol-free drinks might be one of the biggest shifts happening in the drinks world, Kentish Pip’s answer feels refreshingly local.
Three sparkling sodas, Kentish apples and flavours of rose, hibiscus, gooseberry and elderflower.
Summer drinking, the Garden of England way.
