Ty Seidr, Aberystwyth

This place appears to have re-invented itself again. It is now called Ty Seidr and came to my attention as it had recently become the local CAMRA Cider Pub of the Year. On my Saturday evening visit, it was fairly busy with a mixed crowd. Most were students, but there were also some much older people. You enter to find the bar on the right-hand side. There is a screen showing the real ciders which can be found in boxes in a fridge behind the bar, whilst there is also a good selection of draft ciders and one draft lager. Fridges to the right of the bar contain a good range of bottled ales as well as more ciders in both bottles and cans. An orderly queue had formed, but I had to question the etiquette of some of today's students. When it was the turn of the two girls in front of me to pay for their ciders, the one paying had to finish her WhatsApp message before she could change apps and pay for the drinks with her phone. I was starting to get a little impatient with the wait. Could this be a new bug bear for the older pubgoer? When it finally came to my turn, I had a choice of 6 ciders - Thatcher's Stan's Big Apple, Welsh Mountain Yarlington Mill, Snail's Bank Rhubarb Cider, Kent Russet & Discovery & Broadoak Pear & Chilli Cider. I opted for the two strongest ones (Yarlington Mill and Russet). It was to become the turn of the people behind me in the queue to become impatient as the young barmaid tried to squeeze the last of the Russet from the bag. Draft cider choices appeared to be much more popular amongst both the students and what appeared to be tourists to the town. One asked for Bulmers, but was in no luck! The draft selection was Broadoak Pheasant Plucker, Weston's Vintage, Healey's Rattler & Lilley's Tropical Cider, Mango Cider & Gladiator & Bee Sting Perry. Other students who had clearly been here before headed straight to the fridges for cans and bottles of their beer/cider of choice. The interior is a modern affair spread over a few different levels with neon lights and fairy lights. Board games appear to be really popular here. You can borrow one of dozens if you buy a drink. Otherwise, they require a £3 deposit. There was a huge range, with some of them clearly well thumbed. The rarer ones were kept in a locked cabinet. Being a fan of cider, I was happy to try this place and was suitably impressed. The worry for me was that I didn't see anybody else opt for the real ciders. All the youngsters were plumping for the fizzy varieties, either on draft or from bottles and cans. Nevertheless, this is my new favourite spot in Aberystwyth.