Food & drink: A group of apple farmers in the east of the country have revived the art of cider making in Luxembourg.

Luxembourg’s British and Irish expat communities will be licking their lips at the news that the Grand Duchy now produces its own cider. Ramborn cider is the brainchild of a trio of friends from the village of Born in the lower Sûre valley.

Carlo Hein and Gérard Bisenius were both from families that owned orchards and had a long but dying tradition of producing cider.

They were joined by cider fan Gilles Dimmer for tastings of the beverage from around the world. “The idea to make cider came to us on a trip to Scotland. We were sitting on a terrace in Edinburgh’s Haymarket and we wondered why not make a Luxembourg cider with a truly modern and innovative quality based on traditional Luxembourg apples.”

Hein went to England to meet cider expert Peter Mitchell, and later the trio’s first effort at making cider saw them ferment and fill the bottles by hand in England.

Now they are in the midst of renovating an ancient cider farm, and have launched the Ramborn brand--named after the Rambo apple variety and their home village of Born, which sits in the future Mëllerdall national park.

Ramborn produces three types of cider--the flagship CM cider, which is crisp and clean, and very modern in that it is quaffable over ice; a Somerset style cider, which has a deeper golden colour and is sweeter and more aromatic thanks to its blend of Luxembourg and English ciders; and a farmhouse cider, which harks back to the more traditional Luxembourg style.

Only available online at the moment, the makers hope to expand to selling in selected stores soon.