We’ve all heard of Kinnie and Cisk, our beloved Maltese refreshments, but there’s a new drink on the block and it’s Tuffer than the rest!

Named after the Maltese word for apple, tuffieħa, we’ve now got our own cider that goes by the name of Tuff! Tuff Cider is a 100 per cent handmade cider with a Maltese storyline.

What's the story?

Local musician Chris Mallia would often treat people to his home-brewed hard ciders, and fellow musician Ian Schranz insisted that they were too amazing to remain a secret, so the two friends decided to create a local brand together.

“The apples are sourced and fermented in Slovakia. The main reasons for this are that there is not enough supply of local apples, and Slovak mountain (Tatras) water is way better quality than the local stuff,” Ian tells us.

“Most foreign ciders like Somerby and Kopparberg can hardly be considered true ciders, with all the artificial additives to create the flavour, whereas Tuff is simply apples and water - nothing else! It's ideal for vegetarians, vegans and celiacs, contains no GMOs and is gluten free,” he continues.

The pair have launched three flavours of Tuff to begin with - Apple, Cherry & Pear - however, they do hint that some very interesting new flavours are on the horizon!

Tuff will be sponsoring some music events throughout the island this summer, with the overall ethos being “having fun, keeping it handmade and rock and roll.”

That’s something we can get behind, and we can’t wait to try Tuff!