A man who previously made aluminium cans on Deeside has become a top cider maker.

Steve Hughes, 54, has doubled production in six years and is now celebrating a new milestone.

Owner of Rosie’s Triple D Cider based in Llandegla, he is now the largest exclusively “Welsh-pressed” cider maker in Wales. 

He is also adding sparkle to a campaign to promote Denbighshire as a great place to do business.

He will be among the wealth of business talent helping to showcase the very best of Denbighshire’s growing food and drink industry next month.

Steve will be promoting his award-winning ciders at A Taste for Local, a networking event hosted by Denbighshire County Council. 

The event at Myddleton College in Denbigh on March 8 is part of a programme of free workshops and promotional activities organised to mark March for Business, Denbighshire’s Business Month.

Steve made his first batch of cider 12 years ago using apples that he’d picked on the family farm, Dafarn Dywyrch, Llandegla.

It won Gold at the Campaign for Real Ale’s national bottled Cider Championship. 

Little over a decade later, he has a shop and a series of national and international awards. 

Asked why his cider is a cut above the rest, Steve said it was “all about the apples”. He pressed 120 tonnes of apples at his farm in 2016 – 100 per cent up on the 60 tonnes he pressed in 2006.

The increase means he processes more apples within the borders of Wales than any other cider producer, ensuring his products are as Welsh as possible.