Howies

The pair spent the following year touring microbreweries and orchards across Sussex, Kent, and Somerset before landing on their recipe. The company is registered in London, and their ciders are made in the UK. The whole project is built on a fairly simple premise: fruit cider can be better than what the mainstream has been serving.

Howies makes a small, focused range. Their core products are fruit ciders in Berry, Peach, and Grapefruit variants, all at 3.4% ABV, plus a more traditional Original at 4.5%. The fruit flavours are kept clean and natural-tasting rather than piling in sweetness. They also produce a 0.5% low-alcohol cider, which is the product that brings them into the AF space and sits alongside their standard range rather than being a dedicated line.

The brand sells direct through their own website and via Amazon, and has picked up distribution through independent wine and spirits merchants including House of Townend. Packaging is glass bottles, which fits the positioning as a step up from the major supermarket cider brands.

Howies is a young brand, still building out its reach. The AF credentials are limited to that single 0.5% variant rather than a dedicated low-alcohol programme, so anyone expecting a full no and low range will find the choice narrow. Where the brand stands out is in doing a few things well rather than spreading across a wide product list.