Bradley’s Juice is a family run business producing English juices at Box Bush farm in rural Somerset. Specialising in producing single variety apple juice, spring signifies the start of a very exciting juicing journey…
Springtime is an interesting time for Bradley’s Juice as the Orchards come back to life after a harsh winter. As the trees start to bloom and new life is apparent, planning for the year ahead can really start; everything becomes a little more colourful and the exciting prospect of an abundant crop in 6 months time can really be visualised.
Bradley’s trees have been growing for 6 years and are mature enough to be producing an abundance of fruit. The apples in the budding orchard produce a beautiful naturally pink juice, which is just one aspect that makes Bradley’s stand out from a crowd.
Miles Bradley, Managing Director of Bradley’s Juice, loves this time of year. “When Spring finally arrives you begin to see our beautiful rosie apple varieties start to bud on the trees. As Spring arrives it is important to start nurturing our apples. Carefully maintaining our orchards to make sure the grass is cut and pruned ensures the trees are able to grow happily”.
The attention is not only on nurturing the budding orchards at this time of year, Bradley’s Juice also look at using other seasonal ingredients in their juices. “We only ever use spring rhubarb in our apple and rhubarb juice” says Miles. “We process the rhubarb by milling it up and pressing it. The juice is then blended with the apple juice, capturing the fresh, slightly sharp tang given by fresh rhubarb. We never make anything from concentrate, add preservatives, additives or anything made in a lab”.
By pressing in small batches too, Miles and the Bradley’s team can ensure guaranteed quality on every pressing. Priding themselves on vibrant flavours and a high-quality product, small batches allow for total control and ensure the desired depth of flavour is achieved. But it doesn’t stop at apples.
Diversifying from their traditional apple juice, Bradley’s Juice have gone on to create Quench juice, which is a range of soft drinks developed after the apple season when things are a little quieter for the producers. “We want to do things that people haven’t always necessarily thought of. For example, our strawberry and elderflower juice.” explains Miles. “The idea behind our strawberry and elderflower juice came about because one of our customers had taken our Exquisite Elderflower juice and mixed it with fresh fruit and strawberries, sort of like a mock pimms. We thought it was so clever (and it tasted so good) we developed it to be a drink on its own”.
Not just a producer himself, Miles is also chairman of the Somerset Farmers’ Markets. With knowledge of the local small business environment, Miles understands the importance of supporting ‘local’. Working closely with other small producers, Bradley’s Juice also bottles for local cider producers, giving them the opportunity and ability to enter their ciders into award ceremonies and receive recognition for their produce. This in turn brings awareness to the local economy.
With the ethos that Bradley’s does not mess with nature and only uses all-natural ingredients, it is not surprising that all of their products are suitable for vegetarians and vegans, as well as being gluten free. Their juices also contain no added sugar, instantly making their produce accessible to all. Miles explains, “We like to be transparent with our ingredients lists (all of which are very short), if it says apple juice on the bottle it should be 100% apple juice and nothing else”.
During a time when provenance and conscious eating and drinking is at the forefront of consumers’ minds, Bradley’s Juice is proud to say that the focus remains on quality, and everything they do orientates around maintaining the integrity of the products and their ingredients.