Cider

Whilst celebrating Captain’s 16th birthday at the Penny Black, it suddenly struck me that there is a consistent trait for all of us working here at Alphabet Media: you’ve got to love cider.

Just so that you know - cider is the apple-derived beverage that yeoman farmers in England drink on late summers’ afternoons after a day spent bringing in the harvest. Being pretty strong stuff, it is also the tipple of choice for down-and-out winos sitting outside Tescos in the sprawling south Essex badlands, which is more my kind of milieu.

Anyway, whilst Captain was busy humiliating all-comers in arm wrestling, including simultaneously the entire female half of the office, I realised that we’re all pretty dedicated cider drinkers.

How dedicated is dedicated, you’re wondering? Well I asked Kelly whether she really liked cider – and she replied brightly, “Which kind of cider? Taunton, Scrumpy, or Strongbow?”

There can’t be too many Singaporean lasses who can name you three different types of cider. I was tempted to ask Minky the same question, but she was too busy drinking to answer me – and I might add for every pint the boys drank, she was at least a third of a pint ahead of us.

And then of course there’s the newest recruit, James 2 – as a Cornishmen born and bred, cider is mother’s milk to him, as the bill for the night’s celebrations was subsequently to prove.

So although I’d never say that you have to like cider to work at Alphabet Media – job applicants shouldn’t be surprised if I ask what their favourite type of cider is in the second interview…