Core Cider House - Perth Hills • Travelling Corkscrew

I needed a break from wine. I bet you never thought you would read those words from me. You may have read my post about my parents visit a few weeks ago when we went on a massive tasting journey throughout the Swan Valley and Perth Hills. After 16 wineries we decided to mix it up a bit which led us to Core Cider House in the Perth Hills.

I had heard a lot about this wee spot however I tend to find a lot of cider far too sweet for my liking so I always get distracted by visiting the wineries instead. Since my Mum is a fan of cider and well the boys are up for anything you can gulp down I decided brunch at Core was to be done!

This out of the way spot in the Perth Hills is only a 30-minute drive from Perth city, you will instantly feel like you are on holiday. Those rolling hills covered in sweeping orchards and cherry blossoms are just the perfect spot for a wee cider or two. It truly is idyllic and every time I go up into the Perth Hills I am ever so slowly building my dream home in my mind somewhere up there.

It was long weekend when we visited Core and thankfully we showed up just as they opened and an hour or so before the lunch rush which they were completely booked out for (I would suggest making a reservation!). We sat on the lovely veranda overlooking the orchards, 10:30am seems accepted for cider tasting doesn’t it? It was a touch chilly, as Perth was protesting against Spring with all the rain however thank-fully our lovely server set up a heater and offered us blankets to keep cosy.

There is plenty of outdoor downstairs seating, so I could image Core absolutely goes off during the summer months. Perfect spot for a Sunday session.

Naturally we all had to go for the tasting plate which included a very generous sample of 5 ciders; Sparkling Lemon – ’PITH’D’ (4.5% a/v) Sparkling Pear – Peace CORE (3.5% a/v) Sparkling Apple – CORE Meltdown (5% a/v) Traditional Apple & Pear – CORE Reactor (6.5% a/v) Traditional Apple – Hard CORE (7.4% a/v).

The consensus from our group was that overall they were all very good and not horribly sweet bottle shop ciders at all. The sparkling’s were definitely preferred over the tradition ciders and the unanimous winning brew was the Pith’d Sparkling Lemon – absolutely divine, I could definitely put back a few of those on a summers day.

The menu consists of meals as well as shared plates which is what we went for. I love this style of eating as you get to try a bit of everything! We decided to keep it light and easy and went for the below between 4 people:

Warm Brie: Thyme & garlic infused brie served warm with CORE Cab/Sauv sultanas, Candied walnuts & Turkish bread for $20
Ciderman’s Taster: Ciderman John’s favourite: Cave Aged cheddar, caper & and green peppercorn salsa, half semi dried tomato’s, WA air dried Brescola, shaved champagne ham, mild salami slices, pickled cucumber ,warmed parmesan flat bread, croutons for $32.50

We were 110% happy with the food. It tasted absolutely palate-blowing and the presentation was just beautiful. That creamy warm brie and the candied walnuts were a taste memory that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. And the tomato’s filled with the caper and green peppercorn salsa with the flat bread… YUM! For a light brunch for 4 people it was exactly the right amount.

You know a place is good when everyone cannot stop talking about it when you get back into the car. I am really looking forward to going back to Core sometime soon and tasting through more of the tasty morsels on offers as well as giving the Quince Sparkling Wine a go!