Spring is riiiiiight around the corner! And wow, are we ready for it. While, at first, we were grateful for winter’s chill and the many excuses it gave us to stay inside and make comfort-food snacks (hello, pretzels with cider cheese sauce) and sip warm winter ciders, now we crave sunshine! Short sleeves! Berries by the barrel-full!

Happily, there are ciders for every season, and we’ve gathered seven ciders that feel just right for the blossoming of glorious spring:

Castle Hill Cider Celestial 2021

It might seem funny to kick off this list with a cider that’s not pretty in pink or packed with spring fruit, but some of the strongest signifiers of spring sipping for us are light, easy, breezy ciders that balance complexity and pure refreshment. Find all of that in Castle Hill Cider’s Celestial, a subtly tannic cider with notes of citrus, floral and spice. A combination of 100% estate-grown heirloom and bittersweet apples (Harrison, Albemarle Pippin and Gold Rush) yield a truly pretty cider that’s perfect with vegetable-forward seasonal fare. Shop online. 6065 Turkey Sag Rd., Keswick, VA; (434) 296-0047.

Golden State Gingergrass Cider

Just as our lawns start to grow back and bring some much-needed green to the color palette of the world, Cali-based Golden State Cider‘s Gingergrass Cider offers a dose of freshness and life. We love how lemongrass, ginger and apples play together, an earthy, herbal experience that’s kind of like putting your face to a patch of sunshine-warmed grass and taking a sniff. This refreshing cider offers big notes of lemon and grapefruit on the nose, with a tart, balanced finish. Shop online or head to Golden State’s taproom. 180 Morris St., Ste. 150, ​Sebastopol, CA; (707) 827-3765. 

Graft Cider Native Oranje

Graft Cider‘s recently launched a line of wine/cider hybrids, Native, which come in a variety of flavors. Perfect for spring? Native Oranje, a hyper-local co-fermented blend of spontaneously fermented Finger Lake Riesling grape skins and Hudson Valley apples. Native Oranje is like a spring love affair between cider and orange wine: light-bodied and fresh, with notes of rose petals, lychee and little bit of funk. Shop online, or find some near you with the Graft finder tool. Newburg, NY

Stargazer Cider Gemini

Give us ALL of the strawberries! Gemini is a perky seasonal from Stargazer Cider, blending Southern apples with strawberries and rhubarb for a light-hearted, berry-forward situation. Look for it, for a limited time only (just like strawberry season), on Stargazer’s online shop or at the James Creek Cider House tasting room in Cameron, North Carolina. 172 US-1 Highway, Cameron, NC; (910) 245-9901

Portland Cider Co. Pineapple Rosé

Rosé ciders are here to stay, and we expect we’ll be seeing updated varieties and spin-offs from cidermakers as we progress through spring and summer. Case in point: the seasonal cider, Pineapple Rosé, from Portland Cider Co., made with real pineapples and a blend of culinary apples, and a hit of blueberry for color. Tasting notes include pineapple and strawberries and cream nose, with flavors of jammy pineapple, blueberry, marionberry pie and cotton candy in the juice. Use Portland Cider’s finder tool or check out its cider pubs in Clackamus, Beaverton and Portland, Oregon. 3638 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR; (971) 888-5054; 8925 SE Jannsen Rd., Bldg. F, Clackamas, OR; (503) 744-4213; 4005 SW Orbit St., Beaverton, OR; (503) 626-6246.

Wildcraft Cider Works Elderflower Quince Cider

We love the subtle elegance of elderflower and wonder, quite frankly, why we don’t see more ciders made with it. WildCraft Cider Works Elderflower Quince Cider blends this botanical’s best qualities with Jonagold apples, and three hand-picked quince varieties that are planted, grown and harvested at the biodynamic WildCraft Orchard at Meadowview Farm. The quince are shredded and lightly fermented on skin for two weeks prior to pressing, then naturally aged for six months, which turns them into wine, which is then blended with cider and then cold-conditioned with elderflowers. Wildly floral and elegant, this is a knockout at your next picnic. Shop online for this and more WildCraft ciders, or go to its Cider Mill Market to shop for these and other locally made products. 232 Lincoln St., Eugene, OR; (541) 735-3506

Wayside Cider Skinny Dip

Not all spring ciders must be redolent of blooming gardens and berry brambles — sometimes you just want something zesty, juicy and clean. Our pick for that is Wayside Cider‘s Skinny Dip, made almost exclusively with slow-fermented dessert apples. A touch of quince lends subtle fruitiness and crisp acidity. Serve this natural sparkler nicely chilled, and enjoy refreshing tasting notes of pear and wet stone. This is also a good cider to impress your natural-wine-loving friends! Find Wayside Cider at better bottle shops and restaurants throughout New York City and state, or at its dreamy tap room in a restored barn in the Catskills. 55 Redden Ln., Andes, NY; (845) 676-6002

What ciders scream “SPRINGTIME!!” to you? Let us know!

• Feature photo: Dish Works

The post 7 Ciders to Put You in a Springtime State-of-Mind appeared first on Cider Culture.

Nope, we’re not gonna do it — we’re not going to give in to either side of the Valentine’s Day debate. We’re not going to say that “love sucks” because, in fact, we love love and think that the world could use a whole lot more of it. But we’re also not going to lean too far into the over-the-top romance, because there are infinite types of love beyond the soulmate kind of love. If you are in love, it’s probably something you should celebrate way more often than just on February 14.

That said, Valentine’s Day is a holiday that can be really fun, sometimes in conventional ways, like with a fancy dinner or with chocolates and roses (wait … does anyone actually do that?), and sometimes in more modern ways, like a Galentine’s brunch, or a cozy night mixing up cocktails and eating pizza and too much candy with a sibling. Whatever type of vibe feels right for you, there is a cider that’s just right for the occasion.

Here are 13 ciders you should be cracking open this Valentine’s Day, no matter how you celebrate:

Look at this little cutie from Austin Eastciders! This Texas-based brand always keeps it fun and casual, which is what staying in on Valentine’s Day is all about. Austin Eastciders’ Dry Rosé is firmly on the dry side, and at 5% ABV, you can sip it all the way through Kill Bill (or whatever your Valentine’s Day movie of choice is), no problem. The rosé has tasting notes of crisp apple, rose petals, black currant and hibiscus, and it would make a great pairing with takeout sushi.

If your idea of the perfect date night includes homemade cheese fondue (very MCC fabulous) and goblets of cider, pair your Gruyere dipping with SpaceTime Mead & Cider’s Les Terriens Soltaires. This natural-style cider is this producer’s third in a series of releases inspired by traditional ciders from Brittany and Normandy, France. Made from fresh-pressed apples from Ayer’s Orchards in Ransom Township, PA, this keeved cider is dry and a pleasantly funky.

Instead of a bouquet of flowers (which are totally out of season in most parts of the country right now anyway) try a floral, herbal cider! One of the best-selling offerings from City Orchard, also from Texas, is its Lavender Royale, made with a blend of culinary apples, steeped with lavender from the Texas Hill Country and balanced with local honey. Though it is fresh and botanical, you won’t have that unfortunate “Am I drinking body wash?” experience that sometimes happens with other floral beverages. Find City Orchard’s products at its tasting room in Houston or shop online.

Planning to destroy a box of chocolates with your BFF? Pair all of those super-rich bon-bons with a fresh, fruity cider, like Stem Cider‘s Raspberry Cider. This dry cider is a juicy, balanced sipper with enough tartness to stand up to dark chocolate, milk chocolate and caramel, alike.

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Ciders made from red-fleshed apples are practically meant for this narrow color-schemed holiday. Snowdrift Cider Co.‘s Red Cider, which comes in a cute 500-ml bottle, channels the loving feelings with a beautiful hue and complex profile of bright acidity and nuanced fruit flavors. Tasting notes include: cranberries, watermelon, rhubarb and strawberries (all the red things!), with soft toffee tones on the finish.

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If you can get your hands on anything from Fable Farm Fermentory, we highly suggest you do! The quiet elegance and complex flavors of its ciders and wines are perfect for a special occasion. If you have a few to choose from, try Fluxion, a sparkling apple wine made from the merging of multiple vintages of cider aged in an assortment of wood barrels.

This dry, refreshing cider was made in the traditional method, with maple syrup used to start a secondary fermentation in bottle. According to Fable Farm, “Fluxion is defined as ‘the act of flowing; the matter that flows.'” Isn’t that what we’re all hoping for when it comes to love? Shop online, head to its tasting room in Barnard, Vermont, or peruse one of Fable Farm’s stockists, which are mostly in Vermont, but a few other places, as well.

Reuby True is a fun, collaborative release from Philly’s Hale & True Cider Co. along with Chef Reuben R. Asaram, a local chef specializing in wildly creative tacos. This co-fermentation of red dragonfruit and Asian pears has Galentine’s written all over it. The charming ruby-red color, plus the tasting notes of tangy fruit, flowers and cream, is meant for living room dance parties, preferably with a very Robyn-heavy playlist.

Hoping to spice things up? Ginger ciders bring a real sassy kick to the party and make incredible pairings with some of our favorite takeout options, like Thai and Vietnamese food. Ginger and apples are also cozy companions, as apple’s sweet-tart nature and ginger’s cool heat create a good kind of tension — know what we mean? Hudson North Cider Ginger Citrus is an special extra-spicy ginger cider with notes of orange and grapefruit that’s a real winner for a casual date night.

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be all pinks and reds — but sometimes it’s fun to just lean all the way into it. The special Bouquet of Rosé gift set from Finnriver Farm & Cidery, is a love letter to the land, the magic of fermentation and the community surrounding Finnriver! Meant to uplift love and spark joy, this fun collection plays on the stereotypical V-Day gift of floral bouquets but in cider form: the trio includes bright and tart Autumn’s Blush, lush botanical Cranberry Rosehip and the delightfully sweet Raspberry Brandywine.

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If it is pink cider that you’re after, and you want a large-format bottle for your cozy dinner in or out, one of the best of the bunch is Scarlett from Ethic Ciders. This seasonal cider release is a blend of dry farmed heirloom apples (57% Gravenstein, 38% Jonathan and 5% Northern Spy) from its orchard in Sebastopol, CA, with local, organic blackberries and raspberries picked at peak ripeness. The name is a tribute to the cider makers’ young niece, Scarlett, who they say is, “beautiful, playful and wildly charismatic.” Effervescent and dry, with a lush berry finish, it’s a really pretty, really delicious cider. Shop online or use Ethic’s cider finder to locate a shop near you that carries its ciders.

In most parts of the US, February really isn’t berry season. Skip the sad, pale grocery store berries and sip a raspberry cider instead! Nine Pin Cider’s Raspberry is a co- ferment made from a blend of early apple varieties and late season raspberries. It’s tart, balanced and the most charming pink color (break out the coupe glasses for the full effect). For bonus romance points, pick up the Nine Pin Valentine’s Day Gift Box, which includes a collaboration candle between Nine Pin and Collar City Candles and a dozen red roses. This is available only for local pick-up on Wednesday, February 14, in Nine Pin’s tasting room located on Broadway in Albany, NY.

Are you anti-Valentine’s Day, all about it, or ambivalent? Either way, let us know what you’ll be cracking open this year on February 14! Tell us in the comments here, or on the Cider Culture Facebook page.

• Feature photo: Virtue Cider
• Hereford Gold photo: Anxo Cider

The post 13 Perfect Ciders for Valentine’s Day (No Matter How You Celebrate) appeared first on Cider Culture.

Ready to say goodbye to the past year and usher in a fresh start? We are, too! There is no better way, in our book, to ring in the New Year than with a glass of special cider — save the cans of everyday session cider for brunch the next day, and break out the good stuff at midnight. It’s all too easy to hoard the “special” ciders, assuming that a more fabulous occasion can always arise.

But we say: That occasion is now! Life is short, exhume a bottle or two from your cellar, or splurge a few extra bucks at your local bottle shop or cidery, and pick up a cider that truly calls to you. Here are seven extra-dope ciders to consider for this New Year’s Eve!

Big Hill Kriek: Kriek usually refers to a type of sour Belgian ale made with Morello cherries. Big Hill captures the profound flavor and depth of this style in this wild-fermented cider. The sour cherries it uses are wild-fermented, too, and the combination of those punchy flavors with eye-opening sour apple cider is a one-two punch of brightness and funk. Shop online. 338 Georgetown Rd., Gardners, PA; (717) 677-0250.

Botanist & Barrel Basque in the Glory: If 2024 is your year to finally take a deep-dive into Spanish sidra, or domestic ciders made in the Basque style, we fully support you. Botanist & Barrel’s Basque in the Glory is a great place to start: it’s dry, raw, hazy, funky and sour. It’s a slightly fizzy, spontaneously fermented pet-nat that’s an extreme delight with cheese, charcuterie or your favorite Spanish tapas. Shop online. 105 Persimmon Hill Ln., Cedar Grove, NC; (919) 644-7777.

Metal House Cider 2020 Chinchinette: This Hudson Valley cidery produces a number of 750-ml format bottles that feel as exciting and precious as the most coveted champagne. But Chinchinette feels especially relevant for a big celebration: It’s a bottle conditioned, undisgorged blend of Northern Spy, Catskill wild crab and Metal House’s Esopus blend that’s exceptionally food-friendly, with bright acidity, a long finish and vivacious effervescence. Shop online.

Stormalong Cider Happy Holidays: Not ready to let go of the comfy, warming flavors of Christmas yet? Hang on to them a little longer with Stormalong’s Happy Holidays, easy-drinking (just over 5% AVB) and spiced nicely with allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg, with a touch of organic brown sugar. It’s like if apple pie met mulled cider and had a wild love affair! Shop online.

WildCraft Cider Works Unfiltered Sparkling Apple Juice: If you’re taking it easy on drinking, or you have some sober guests coming for NYE, you’re in luck! There have never been more fun, unique non-alcoholic beverages to explore! Par exemple: the super-juicy, hazy fizzy apple juice from WildCraft in Eugene, Oregon. Just because it doesn’t have booze doesn’t mean it’s not special! This beautiful cider is made with wild foraged, dry cropped or biodynamically farmed heirloom apples. Shop online. 232 Lincoln St., Eugene, OR; (541) 735-3506.

Virtue Cider Golden Hour: If you prefer your special-occasion ciders a bit more on the juicy, fruity cider, Golden Hour from Virtue has you covered. Meant to channel the gorgeous sunsets at Virtue Farm in Fennville, MI, this beauty offers up notes of stone fruit, honeysuckle and golden honey. This is a great one to share with cider newbies, or to open alongside whatever luxurious dessert you’ve made for you and your friends. Shop online. 2170 62nd St., Fennville, MI; (269) 722-3232.

Stoic Cider Javelina Rosé: If rosé cider is your preferred “cheers-ing” bevvie, look no further than this rad cider/wine hybrid from Stoic Cider. Newtown Pippin apples are blended with Merlot wine, for a delicate and balanced sipper, that’s a pretty raspberry hue with a lightly sweet, fruity character. Tasting notes include tart cranberry, grape skin, green apple and cherries. Shop online. 11500 W. Fair Oaks Rd., Prescott, AZ; (701) 361-7480.

What’s in your glass this New Year’s Eve? Whatever you’re drinking, and however you’re celebrating, we wish you a safe, healthy and cider-full new year!

• All photos: Courtesy of their respective cideries

The post 7 New Year’s Celebration Ciders for Extra-Special Midnight Toasts appeared first on Cider Culture.

Floral, honey-sweet and sporting a beguiling juicy texture, plums are such a wondrous stone fruit. In summertime, we like to snack on them by them by the pound and search farmers markets for heirloom varieties, like Jubilee and Black Ruby. In the winter, we’ll happily take our plums baked into a dense cake or sliced on a cheese board. And all year long, we love seeing plums featured in fruited ciders; their delicate flavor and lifting acidity an ideal complement to apples and other adjuncts.

If you want to try plum cider, or add something new to your cider rotation, take one of these fine specimens for a spin:

19 Acres Cider Co. Yuzu Plum Cider: In addition to its three flagship cider flavors (Honeycrisp, Marionberry and Imperial), this Oregon-based cidery has a long lineup of seasonal draft pours. One of these is Yuzu Plum, a bright, zesty combo of the Asian citrus prized for its sweet-tart intensity and the subtle sweetness of red plums. Stop by 19 Acres’ tasting room in Sherwood, OR, and maybe you’ll get lucky and find it on tap!

 

 

 

 

 

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City Orchard Cider Fresca Plum: This fall release from City Orchard celebrates the harvest with a blend of plum and apples from its own Texas Orchards. It drinks semi-dry, and, like all of the releases in its Cider Frescas line, keeps apples in the spotlight while also highlighting the best attributes of adjunct fruit and botanicals. Order online or find it at City Orchard’s taproom in Houston, TX.

Finnriver Cider Plum Cyser: This sour cider offering from Finnriver starts with a select blend of organic Washington apples, fermented with wild harvested and organic plums from Tonnemaker Hill Farms in Yakima, WA, local plums from Quilcene and a touch of honey from nearby Sequim Bee Farm. The result is a springy, tart, nuanced sipper with a gently bitter finish. To find it, visit one of Finnriver’s locations or shop online.

Hale & True Cider The Professor: This Philadelphia-based cidery has been pouring The Professor, one of its core cider options, since opening its doors in 2018. This cheeky Clue-referencing cider is an apple-plum co-ferment conditioned on more fresh plums for a uniquely dry, tart and slightly funky cider. Find it at Hale & True’s taproom.

 

 

 

 

 

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Revel Cider Waves: This beautifully hued cider doubles down on the stone fruit punch vibes with the addition of red and blue plums, as well as Montmorency cherries, to apple-based cider. On the nose of this rose cider, find chamomile, nutmeg and sweet plum, with a balanced palate, including light acidity and salinity, with floral notes and just a touch of tannin. Order online for shipping across Canada, the US and the EU.

Snow Capped Cider Plum Lemongrass: Located in a fertile fruit-growing region at the base of the Grand Mesa on Colorado’s Western Slope, Snow Capped has access to a lot of incredible fruit. In this semi-sweet cider, it combines mellow Jonathan apples with tart plum, herbal lemongrass and a hint of ginger, for a smooth and easy-drinking cider. Shop online.

Wildcraft Cider Your Fruit Your Cider: Every year since 2014, Wildcraft has produced a community cider made from bartered apples, pears and plums from its community apple drive program. Each fruit is fermented separately and blended to create a dry and fruity cider reflecting both the land and the community surrounding the cidery! Order online or find it at Wildcraft’s tasting room in Eugene, OR.

• Feature photo: Snow Capped Cider
• All other photos: Courtesy of their respective cideries

The post 7 Plum Ciders to Try appeared first on Cider Culture.

Chilly days bring on cravings for complex, rich flavors, comforting pops of sweetness and higher gravity ciders to warm our bones. We’re talking about ciders layered with huge amounts of juicy apple notes, perhaps enhanced with a bit of spice or vanilla from time spent in barrels.

Imperial ciders, which borrow terminology from the beer world, refer to ciders with higher-than-average alcohol content and bold flavors. It varies widely, of course, but most ciders hover between 4 and 7% ABV, while imperial ciders break on through to the other side of 8%. In beer brewing, the higher ABV is achieved by adding extra grains and hop, but in cidermaking, it’s all about more sugars present at the time of fermentation. More sugar = more food for the yeasts = more alcohol. To do this, some cideries use riper apples, which have developed a higher sugar content, or add fresh sweet juice or other sweetening agents during fermentation. The result is a “big” cider, both in terms of flavor and booziness — when drinking these, just remember that many are pretty much twice as strong as other ciders that you may enjoy!

Here are seven imperial ciders to cozy up with:

Portland Cider Co. Imperial Dry: Weighing in at 8.5% ABV, this crisp, bubbly cider from Portland Cider Co. is made up of a blend of 100% Northwest apples. Mellow tannins, a dry flavor and full-bodied mouthfeel, and notes of baked apple, toffee and pecan make this a balanced, festive sipper. Shop online or use Portland Cider’s Cider Finder to locate Imperial Dry at a retailer near you.

Seattle Cider Co. Imperial Odyssey: Available year-round, this fun cider from Seattle Cider is so juicy and drinkable, you’ll barely notice the 8.4% ABV (you’ve been warned!). A custom blend of Washington apples lends a great flavor profile, with aromas of stone fruit, melon and ripe apples, with fresh-from-the-oven apple crisp flavors at the finish. Medium-bodied and semi-sweet, this is a great cider for anyone who wants deep, cozy flavors but isn’t feeling the pumpkin spice vibes.

Schilling Cider Excelsior Mango Supernova: One of Schilling’s core lineup of ciders is an imperial cider (Excelsior), so you know it means business! One of this cidery’s boozier releases is a twist on the concept: Mango Supernova, for a sun-kissed approach to the style. Real mangoes are blended with Pacific Northwest-grown apples and European heirloom cider fruit with a hit of lime zest. At 9.1% ABV, this tropical treat brings a welcome taste of summer whatever the weather outside!

Incline Cider Imperial Hazy Honeycrisp: Made from Washington State honeycrisp apples, this hazy and refreshing cider is one of Imperial’s flagship offerings. Notes of citrus, honey and light spice underpin a bold, super-juicy apple character. At 8.5% ABV, tread lightly and enjoy. Shop online.

2 Towns Cosmic Crisp: Another imperial cider with an outer-space theme, 2 Towns’ Cosmic Crisp leans hard on the famous zippy, sweet flavors of Cosmic Crisp apples. This Washington State-grown apple is a cross between Enterprise and Honeycrisp that is sweet, tart and super-juicy. This cider is a blend of fresh-pressed Cosmic Crisp and Northwest apples, with bright, fruit-forward aromatics and a high-acid profile.

Eden Ciders Imperial 11° Rosé: Inspired by French Provencal rosé, this elegant cider is a blend of Vermont apples (including Esopus Spitzenberg, Calville Blanc, Hudson’s Golden Gem, Roxbury Russet and more), infused with red currant juice and smoothed out with a touch of ice cider. It’s juicy, off-dry and gently fizzy, bolstered with nice acidity and just enough tannic structure; tasting notes include watermelon, strawberry, citrus and slate. At 11% ABV, this is just about the same booziness as rosé wine! Sip it chilled with picnic fare, creamy pasta or tuna steaks. Shop online.

ACE HIGH Imperial Berry: A trio of strawberries, blackberries and raspberries add a pop of color and nice juiciness to this 8% rose-hued sipper. In addition to being a bit dangerously easy to quaff, this cider is vegan and, of course, gluten-free. Shop online by the 12-pack.

What imperial ciders have you tried? Do you have any favorites to share? Let us know in the comments!

• Photos: Courtesy of their respective cideries

The post 7 Big & Boozy Imperial Ciders to Try appeared first on Cider Culture.

There is no shortage of weird and wonderful ciders out there, and our love for them is well documented. As we’re scrolling through the Instagram cidersphere, perusing VinoShipper and delving into cidery’s websites, we often come across many eccentric ciders that make us smile: hazy pét-nats, plum jerkum, wild-fermented sidra, wine-cider hybrids, and so much more.

However, there are still some cider surprises waiting out there — unexpected delights that even reading their description makes us feel like, “Ok, we have to try that immediately.” That’s the feeling we got when learning about Greenpoint Cidery, an experimental project founded in 2015 by Nika Carlson. Drawing inspiration from natural wine, farmhouse practices, and the history of apples in America, Carlson’s production stands on a triangle of principles: local ingredients (she uses New York apples and fruit), traditional methods, and minimal intervention. Her ciders are joyful, inspired fermentations, and often incorporate foraged ingredients, like dandelions, wild grapes and mugwort.

Nika Carlson of Greenpoint Cidery

A Washington State native, she currently splits her time between Brooklyn and Hudson, New York. After hearing her on an episode of the podcast Disgorgeous, we were curious to learn more. And now you can learn more too, through this Cidermaker Q&A:

Cider Culture: Where did your fermentation journey begin?

Nika Carlson: I co-owned a bar in Brooklyn called The Drink, and an importer brought me some Spanish cider to try. I was blown away, and fell down the rabbit hole of what cider was and could be. A former partner and I subsequently planned to open a cider-focused bar, and a mead-making friend was like, “You should just make cider! It’s easy; I’ll teach you.” Ha. It proved to be a little more complicated, but here I am.

What were some of the people or influences who guided you along the way?

Big shoutout to Raphael Lyon at Enlightenment Wines, said mead maker who introduced me to fermenting. I learned a ton from him. When I started, I also looked to places like Farnum Hill, which really paved the way for the resurgence of heirloom apples and craft American cider; Aaron Burr Cidery and Andy Brennan’s emphasis on place and foraged fruit; and organic growers like Michael Phillips. I’m also curious about natural wine, but even more so in folk traditions in wine and cider making, and even beer. What were farm wives making? What are native beverages? What does history, written or otherwise, tell us about what people used to drink, and how where they lived influenced them? What does the land I inhabit look like through the seasons, and how can that be incorporated into what I make? Also just my palate, like, what excites me and tastes good to me?

What was one of the moments along your journey that made you feel like, “Yes, this is working, I can do this”?

A few years ago, I moved my trees onto a new property that some friends bought. It was … a big task, and I’m still getting those trees to produce at commercial volume. But once I was there, I think I came into my own as a cidermaker. I finally had some space to breath, literally and metaphorically. It’s a beautiful space that I feel incredibly lucky to explore, and I try to share that through my work. And I think people have really responded to that. I remember one day walking through the fields with a friend, picking mugwort, crushing it in my hands, and inhaling this incredible scent while talking about how this feathery, weed-y herb used to be a bittering agent for beer before hops where common. And thinking, “Oh man, I should try this with cider!” That’s a pretty common refrain for me. A smell or a sight or a story catches me and makes me wonder what could be.

What are some of the challenges you faced (are facing?) as a business owner? As a cidermaker?

Oh man. Money. Space. Time. Working alone. And those are all connected. I’m the sole employee of my business, so it’s a lot of work. I get help here and there, but I’m working the orchard and making the cider. And packaging it. And selling it. I’m a jack-of-all-trades, and I really enjoy the physical work and the creative freedom, but there are some things I enjoy more than others. Real talk? I am terrible at sales, and wish it came more naturally. I’ve also done everything on a really small budget, and I love a DIY, but being suddenly magically rich certainly wouldn’t hurt, ha.

Can you tell us a bit about your production facility? It’s in upstate NY, right? What is it like?

It’s in Hudson, NY, just outside of town. It’s a small space with limited equipment, and it involves a lot of tetris-ing of things. I’m working on getting more space, which will really allow me to increase my production volume. That’s a big goal for this year.

So many of your ciders include interesting ingredients and technique-driven experimentation. How did you develop this style? What do you think it allows the ciders to do or say, as opposed to more conventional ciders?

I think a lot of it has to do with my exploration of my own space, internally and externally. I’m a curious person, and I like to experiment. I like beautiful things, and I like to share. And I want to make people happy! So how do I convey to people the joy I feel at catching sight of secret wild apple blossoms in the spring? Or of walking down to the creek through a field of goldenrod and asters at the end of a warm fall day? How does that connect to our shared past? What does that make me want for our collective future? And how can we all look at our own spaces differently, and re-imagine how we want to inhabit them? I mean, none of that matters if it’s not delicious. Most of the time it is! And sometimes it’s not, so you figure out how to use it differently than you planned. Nature doesn’t really care about our plans or timeline. Anyway, I think it comes across in my ciders. Every bottle is a piece of that story.

Which of your ciders do you open on a special occasion?

I open one of the experimental bottles sometimes, but I’m also just as happy to drink my flagship cider, First Edition, which is the first style I ever made. I try to make sure each bottle feels like a unique experience, from the cider itself, to the bottle containing it, to the very experience of opening it. It should all be fun!

What kind of reaction do you hope for when someone tries your ciders for the first time?

I hope they’re surprised, I hope they’re satisfied, I hope they want to reach for more, and I hope they’re inspired to share it with people they care about.

What do you wish to do with Greenpoint Cidery that you haven’t been able to do yet? Do you have any future plans to share?

I’m just really excited to see what the future holds. This is a big planning year, and I’m laying the groundwork for expanding in a big way while also trying very hard to staying open to possibilities.

For more on Greenpoint Cidery, check out its Instagram and shop online (including its Mail CSA) via its website! While you’re there, check out the list of stockists where Carlson’s ciders are sold (mostly in NY State), and learn about Sail Freight, a delivery system via schooner (!) that’s available during the warmer weather months to communities situated along the Hudson River.

• Photos: Greenpoint Cidery

The post Cidermaker Q&A: Greenpoint Cidery appeared first on Cider Culture.

Pumpkin ciders aren’t the only seasonal flavors you should be reaching for as the temperatures start to drop! Cranberry cider is an ideal autumnal cider combo: Bright, sweet-tart and beautiful in the glass, these ruby red ciders are perfect for a fall day. They also pair exceedingly well with food, especially roasted meats (here’s looking at you, holiday turkey!). The interplay of the apples and cranberry makes for a refreshing quaff that cleanses the palate between each bite.

Here are seven standout cranberry ciders to try this fall:

Bent Ladder

Bent Ladder Cider and Wine, located at Rittman Orchards in Doylestown, Ohio, is gearing up for the holidays with its winter seasonal release, Mulled Cranberry. This cider is made from a blend of estate-grown apples, cranberries and mulling spices. Along with Bent Ladder’s other unique draft ciders, including Barrel Blues (blueberry cider with lavender aged in whiskey barrels) and Home Slice (apple pie-esque cider infused with cinnamon and vanilla), Mulled Cranberry makes a snappy alternative to all the heavy holiday-focused libations on the market.

“Northeast Ohio has so many great Christmas beers, I wanted to craft something for the gluten conscious folks in our area,” said Matt Vodraska, Bent Ladder’s owner and cidermaker. “Mulled Cranberry is the perfect holiday drink with warm flavors of mulling spices, like cinnamon and allspice, along with orange and lemon peel. It is sweet and tart, pairing wonderfully with so many holiday foods and desserts.”

Mulled Cranberry is available at Bent Ladder’s tasting room and will soon be available at select area bars and restaurants.

Nine Pin Cider

Albany, New York’s Nine Pine Cider launches its seasonal Cranberry Cider every year in November. Available on tap and in 750ml bottles, this scarlet-hued autumnal treat is made with a co-fermented blend of New York apples with cranberries sourced from a bog in the Adirondack hills. At 6.5% ABV, it’s chill enough to share with a few family members around the Thanksgiving table — or keep it all for yourself and enjoy with some New York State goat cheese.

Portland Cider Co.

Portland Cider Co.‘s seasonal release Crangerine, is part of the cidery’s Small Batch Series, and is ready to go for the holiday season. This medium-sweet crimson cider hits tart and juicy, with the fresh combo of Oregon-grown cranberries and tangerines.

“We love the tartness of this cider and how the citrus zest of the tangerines interacts with the fruitiness of the rich red cranberries,” says Lynda Parrish, Portland Cider Co. co-owner. “This cider is perfect for the holiday season—it works well with food pairings, especially the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner, and makes a delicious cranberry cider cocktail as well.”

Crangerine is available on draft and in 19.2-ounce cans. Use Portland Cider Co’s Cider Finder to locate Crangerine at a retailer near you!

Ricker Hill

Ricker Hill Hard Cider‘s Mainiac Gold with Cranberries starts with its classic Mainiac Gold cider, made primarily from Golden Delicious apples mixed other varieties of golden apples, and then adds tart cranberries, for a cider with a nice little kick. The cranberries are grown at Ricker Hill’s family farm in Turner, Maine, which has been in operation since 1803. Though this 5% ABV sipper is perfect for fall, it is available year-round in 750ml bottles. Use the brand’s store locator tool to find Ricker Hill Ciders at retailers in New England.

Thornbury Craft

From its cider house in the heart of Ontario apple country in Canada, Thornbury Craft makes light, champagne-style cider. Its Cranberry Apple Cider is made from 100% Canadian apples and cranberries for a balance of natural sweetness and fruity tartness. Thornbury suggests serving this specialty cider over ice, or with a splash of orange juice (could be fun for brunch!). You can find this in some LCBO stores in Canada or at Thornbury’s Cider & Brew House, just minutes from the historic downtown of Thornbury, Ontario.

Wyndridge Cider

Located on a beautiful farm in Central Pennsylvania, Wyndridge Farm makes a range of craft cider and beer. One of its popular winter offerings is its Cranberry, utilizing PA apples, yeast and real cranberry juice. There are no excessive sweeteners, so this champagne-style cider can show off the wonderful sweet/tart play of the two fruits it’s made from. This fresh, clean-tasting cider weighs in at 5.5% ABV, and it is distributed across 10 states on the East Coast, and it’s also available at Wyndridge’s restaurant in Dallastown, PA.

Urban Orchard Cider Co.

Part of its Berry Series, Urban Orchard‘s Kalikimaka is a semi-sweet holiday seasonal; kalikimaka means “Merry Christmas” in Hawaiian. This 6% ABV cider is infused with cranberries for a tart, bold flavor and a lovely red color. This one only rolls around during the winter season, so look for it in December at Urban Orchard’s tasting rooms (check what’s currently on tap here) in Asheville, North Carolina.

Which cranberry cider cans are you cracking this fall and winter? Does a local cidery in your town make a great version? Let us know!

• Feature photo: Portland Cider Co.
• All other photos: Courtesy of their respective cideries

The post 7 Cranberry Ciders to Sip This Fall and Winter appeared first on Cider Culture.

The winter provides many opportunities to gather: Between the holidays, epic dinner parties and cozy indoor hygge vibes, there are creative ways to make the most of the dark, cold nights of the season. A special cider is the perfect festive libation to pair with hearty food and keep the conversation lively! If you like to add unique ciders to your cellar to pull from in celebratory moments, the Northwest Cider Club is right up your alley. This quarterly subscription curates beautiful small-batch ciders from makers across the Pacific Northwest, and delivers them right to your doorstep. It makes an amazing gift, and is a surefire way to ensure that you always have some really cool ciders ready to pop open and share with guests! 

The current Northwest Cider Club theme is “Winner’s Circle,” meaning that all of the ciders/cideries in both the Discover Box and Elevated Box were winners at the NW Cider Cup, an esteemed decade-old cider competition. There are some serious gems inside these boxes: stunning ciders made by extremely passionate people — truly the best of the best to pair with your holiday meals and BFF hangs. 

We were thrilled to chat with three of the cidermakers included in this installment of Northwest Cider Club; we hope that by learning their stories, you’ll be even more excited to try their ciders! 

Empyrical Orchard & Cidery

• Location: Snohomish, Washington
• Owners/cidermakers: Adam Wargacki and Elizabeth Lockhart
• NW Cider Cup 2023 Best New Cidery of the Year
• Cider in the NW Cider Club Elevated Box: Abstract, a single-varietal Harrison cider, cryo-concentrated and barrel-aged; 12.1% ABV

Excerpts from a conversation with Adam Wargacki and Elizabeth Lockhart:

We started making cider because: We had some early success in amateur cidermaking, and so we started an orchard project to support it. We planted our orchard of 1,000 trees, mostly European and American cider apples and some perry pears, about 8 years ago. Now about 30% of production comes from our own orchard. We’re new and not on a lot of shelves yet! – Elizabeth 

Our ciders are: Really rich and intense, aiming toward higher alcohol levels. Very sippable, and hopefully highly valued. Most of our ciders are wild-fermented, blended, barrel-aged and made in the champagne method. We want to push the quality of cider as high as it can possibly go. We want to make cider almost physically impossibly good. – Adam 

In the orchard, our philosophy is informed by: My career working as a biochemist, specifically in biofuels. In biofuels, concentration is key, and we’re bringing the same philosophy to cidermaking. We’ve borrowed from traditional, modern and even newer sustainable approaches to try to grow amazing fruit and make the most intensely flavored ciders we can. Our overall stance is the beauty of the orchard, and the cider is a byproduct of that. – Adam

Elizabeth and Adam Wargacki of Empyrical Cider

What it means to be NW Cider Cup Winners: It’s data for us. Our name is Empyrical; we have to have our ciders peer-reviewed. We couldn’t claim they were as good as they are unless the very best in the industry were tasting them and agreeing with us. We’re putting these ciders in front of the most knowledgeable cider enthusiasts in the country, and the feedback we’ve received has been incredible. That raises the bar for us, and guides us. – Elizabeth

Our cider in this quarter’s Northwest Cider Club box is: A single-varietal Harrison cider that we’re just releasing for this box! It’s traditional: very phenolic, leathery and spicy with some cinnamon holiday spice, not overly fruity like a lot of modern ciders. It reminds us of an Old Fashioned, with dark caramelized fruit and barrel notes. Like all of our ciders, the artwork and imagery on the bottle come from our pomological library, a collection of literature that we’ve been amassing and hope to make available to others soon. – Elizabeth

Pair Empyrical Abstract with: Light desserts or nuts and cheeses, or sip as you would an after-dinner cocktail.

Union Hill Cider

• Location: East Wenatchee, Washington
• Owners/cidermakers: Drew and Katja Handley
• NW Cider Cup Gold Medal in the Botanical Hopped category
• Ciders in the NW Cider Club Discover Box: Liquid Limber, a gose-inspired hopped cider, 7.8% ABV; and Wildwood, a wintry barrel-aged blend; 7.4% ABV.

Excerpts from a conversation with Katja Handley:

Our history with apples goes back: For 50 years! My husband is a third-generation orchardist, and his family has had an orchard here in the valley for half a decade. They grow fruit for culinary purposes, the fresh market, and in 2016, we started getting excited about cider. My husband and his roommate tried to make cider in a carboy in their closet, and it was undrinkable! 

An important part of our cidermaking journey was: Stumbling across Snowdrift Cider, which is also here in East Wenatchee. We became friends with them and learned more about cidermaking and cider-specific apples. From there, we planted new orchards and grafted some of our established orchards over to cider-specific fruit, like Dabinnet and Kingston Black. We have nine different varieties now. In 2018 we first started our company; it’s Drew, two of his childhood friends and my father-in-law running it. From there we’ve become bigger and started a tasting room. But we’re still very much just a family and friends making cider and sharing our craft and our love for these cider apple varieties.

We first started making our cider in: A little garage on Drew’s grandfather’s property where we lived. Once we outgrew that and built a shop to have more room for pressing and tanks, we transformed that little garage into our tasting room. Two years ago we put in a little stage and a tiered lawn, and started hosting live music, and then we built a bigger tasting room, with a lot more indoor seating. We’ve built a little community gem! People bring their kids and dogs, socialize and drink cider and eat food; that was our dream all along, to have this little spot where people can gather and be together. 

We enter cider competitions because: There’s so much work that goes into making cider, and recognition is always special and helps keep you motivated. It was our first year entering the NW Cider Cup and our hope was to gain some clarity on if what we’re doing is as good as we think it is. Judging your own product can get a little one sided. We were incredibly honored to take home a gold medal for our Liquid Limber, a personal and tasting room favorite. 

Our ciders in this quarter’s Northwest Cider Club Box are: Wildwood and Liquid Limber. 

Wildwood is our newest cider. It’s pretty different from what we’ve done before. Most of what we grow are bittersharp apples, which are more acid-driven, but this is made from bittersweets. The cider is barrel aged in red wine barrels for over a year, for an amber-colored hue and a well-rounded and layered flavor. It’s tannic, smooth and just a little sweet, with notes of dried apricot spiced wood and baked apple.

Pair Union Hill Wildwood with: Cheesy, rich foods, like risotto, chicken alfredo or other fall pasta dishes.   

 Liquid Limber is a cider Drew came up with when he was skiing with a friend. He thought, instead of limbering up, maybe you could just have a cider and then go skiing! It’s a cider aged on grapefruit, lemon and coriander and a touch of sea salt, hopped with Galena hops. It’s our winter seasonal that’s really fun, fresh, complex but also very easy-drinking. Inspired by gose-style beers, it’s the perfect balance of hoppy, zesty and a little salty.

Pairings Union Hill Liquid Limber with: Simple bold fare, like a burger and fries, prosciutto and goat cheese pizza or a pulled pork BBQ sandwich.

Swift Cider

• Location: Portland, Oregon 
• Owner/cidermaker: Aidan Currie 
• NW Cider Cup Bronze Medal in the Fruited Cider category 
• Cider in the NW Cider Club Discover Box: Swift Cider Blueberry, a refreshing, floral fruited cider; 5.1% ABV.

Excerpts from a conversation with Aidan Currie:

I had the idea to start a cidery: Back in 2011 when I couldn’t find any local cider in Portland. There were beautiful wines and craft beers, but no real craft cider on any of the bar taps around town. I thought, the Pacific Northwest produces 85% of North America’s apple crop but nobody out here is turning it into alcohol. I’d already started a root beer company in college, and worked at Deschutes Brewery, so I had a bug for fermentation and small business. 

In the beginning phases of my cidery: There was a lot of learning and scrapping it with small and limited resources. We grew into a bigger facility about five years ago, with larger tank capacity, and became a more distributed cider brand. 

We’re known for: Dry and semi-dry ciders made from apples and fresh-pressed or whole fruit. We’ve always tried to differentiate ourselves from the big cideries that use concentrates and very little fresh fruit. We like to experiment, too. For years we’ve been selling 3 to 5 main ciders, and up to 40 small-batch releases a year. 

My thoughts on cider competitions and awards are: These days, I get so many emails from cider competitions I’ve never heard of, it can feel like a scheme sometimes. But the NW Cider Cup, that’s the exact other side of the spectrum. They’re trying to do everything right, and they’ve gotten better with experience. They define styles that are common in the market, and do training to educate the judges. And the judging is really good; people take their time with it. For us small cider brands, even sending a few bottles to a competition is precious to us, so the judges honoring that effort and giving feedback is important! 

Our cider in this quarter’s Northwest Cider Club box is: Swift Blueberry Cider, which was an award-winning cider at GLINTCAP and the NW Cider Cup! People make a lot of fruited ciders with concentrates and sugar, but ours is made with Northwest blueberries for a real, fresh blueberry character, with a medium sweetness. It’s a clean fruit-forward cider, with blueberry on the nose, and a little bit of spicy, fresh jammy blueberry on the palate. We don’t add sulfites to our ciders which helps the cider develop in the can, so this actually ages well! Over time, you’ll see more jammy flavors and apple notes pop through the cider. 

Pair Swift Blueberry Cider with: A fatty fish or a straightforward steak; or sweet treats, like fresh baked blueberry muffins, or high-quality dark chocolate or chocolate truffles.

There is so much more to explore in the winter Northwest Cider Club boxes! Head to the Northwest Cider Club website to get the full deets, and don’t forget to join the club by November 9 to ensure delivery in plenty of time for the holidays.

• Bottle/can shots: Northwest Cider Club
• All other photos: Courtesy of their respective cideries

The post The ‘Winner’s Circle’ Boxes from the Northwest Cider Club Are for Pairing & Sharing appeared first on Cider Culture.

Just about this time every year, like clockwork, we wake up one day in September and realize: Oh snap, pumpkin cider season is here again! How can that be possible when we’re still wearing tank tops and low-key debating whether to turn the AC back on or not?! Whether you love them or hate them, pumpkin ciders — along with pumpkin-everything else — start popping up left and right, as if to say, “Yes, it IS autumn and yes, you WILL celebrate with something orange and vaguely spicy in hand.”

We know there’s a lot of negativity around pumpkin spice, ranging from bewilderment to its seemingly iron-clad position in food-trends-that-won’t-die, to downright scorn. On the one hand, we get it. Does the world really need pumpkin-spiced cereal, protein bars, almonds, yogurt and peanut butter (all things we have for real seen at the grocery store)? But, on the other hand … pumpkin cider can be really and truly delicious.

Regardless of where you fall on the issue, you’re sure to encounter some pumpkin ciders in your local cidery/bar/bottle shop soon, if you haven’t already. If you want to wait ’til the first frost to start channeling fall vibes, we totally get it, but if you’re ready to give into pumpkin spice everything, here are a bunch of awesome pumpkin ciders to try:

ACE Pumpkin Cider

Sebastopol, CA’s ACE Cider was ahead of the curve on the whole pumpkin spice thing, first releasing this seasonal special in 2010! The ACE Pumpkin Cider is full of rich flavor that will leave you craving more. As suggested on its website, this pumpkin cider mixed with a full-bodied lager would make a fantastic snakebite (your new signature Halloween drink, perhaps?). Use ACE’s Cider Finder to locate its products near you!

Ash & Elm Cider Co. Autumntide

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnWon00BCWo/?taken-by=ashandelmcider

A good pumpkin cider must start with good cider, yes? That’s why we’ve got big hopes for Ash & Elm Cider Co.’s Autumntide, its fall seasonal pumpkin cider, made with real pumpkin and a smooth blend of hand-ground baking spices, coming in at 6.5% ABV. Like all of Ash & Elm’s wares, the base cider is made from 100% pure apple juice, sourced from family farms in Indiana and Michigan. Try it in cans, or by the glass in its Indianapolis tasting room or look for it in bars and liquor stores across the state.

Awestruck Ciders Hometown Homicider

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE1o_8GDN3N/

Though this very-limited release came out in mid-August, it appears as if Awestruck Ciders Hometown Homicider is still available for purchase through its online shop in 750ml bottles. This creepily-named, barrel-aged cider blends pumpkin flesh and toasted spices and weighs in at 6.8% ABV. Fun fact: All Awestruck Ciders are made with 100% New York apples, are gluten-free (obvi) and, as of 2015, are also completely vegan!

Blake’s Apple Lantern

Blake’s Hard Cider’s popular limited season release, Apple Lantern celebrates the season of campfires, sweaters and pumpkin carving with the cozy combo of oven-roasted pumpkin and a blend of five handpicked Michigan apples. Crisp and spicy, this 6.5% ABV cider is off-dry and great for cold weather sipping. While not technically a pumpkin cider, Blake’s Caramel Apple also deserves a mention for its autumnal spirit. Dessert-like semi-sweet hard cider meets smooth caramel sweetness with tart green apples, with no artificial flavorings or sweeteners. Shop online or use Blake’s cider locator to get your fall cider fix!

Portland Cider Company Pumpkin Spice

Take the savory flavors of fall, blend them together, add a pinch of delicious and you get Portland Cider Company‘s Pumpkin Spice Cider. Boasting all the spices found in your favorite pumpkin pie (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and ginger), plus a blend of 100% Northwest apples fermented to medium-sweet, this cider is a nod to all of the cozy flavors that make autumn feel like autumn. This year, Portland Cider’s seasonal fall favorite is back in style, available in 19.2-ounce “proper pint” cans, as well as on draft.

Find Portland Cider Co.’s Pumpkin Spice through October in cans and draft kegs at Portland Cider Co.’s two taprooms and at select retailers in Oregon, Washington, Northern Idaho, and Northern California.

Swilled Dog Hard Cider Pumpkin Patch

West Virginia’s Swilled Dog Hard Cider is getting in on the gourd action with its newly-released Pumpkin Patch cider. This fall seasonal is a blend of tart and sweet apples kicked up with fresh pumpkin and chai tea spices. Suggested pairings include: football, bonfires and hayrides. Shop on Swilled Dog’s webshop, or find six-packs at your favorite cider retailer in West Virginia and Virginia.

Woodchuck Cider Pumpkin

Yes, Woodchuck’s Pumpkin Cider is back, just in time for fall, and this time, it’s in cans! With fresh red apple flavor mingling with rich pumpkin and a kick of pumpkin spice, this cider ups the cozy factor with oak aging. The result is a light copper cider with aroma notes of oaky squash and butterscotch, and subtle earthy flavors of vanilla and caramel.

“When we look at our limited release plans each year, we listen to what our customer partners and fans are asking for,” said Bridget Blacklock, Vice President of Marketing. “Pumpkin has been a style that everyone requests so we wanted bring back the original pure pumpkin taste with new complexity to give our fans something special.”

Woodchuck Pumpkin is being released first on the East Coast and Central regions, with distribution growing throughout the Fall.

Wyndridge Cider Co. Pumpkin Spice Hard Cider

This producer in Central PA, which also makes beer, wine and craft sodas, dabbles in plenty of fruited ciders, like cranberry, black cherry and blackberry mojito. They go big with wintry flavors, too, including pumpkin spice hard cider, a blend of late harvest apples matured in stainless steel, then conditioned on pumpkin purée and fall spices, and sweetened up with dates and maple syrup. Order online or look for it in markets and shops via regional distribution.

Honorable Mention

(Not exactly pumpkin ciders, but autumnal enough to consider part of the club)

Blue Toad Hard Cider Harvest Fest

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnkPdfonn-I/?taken-by=bluetoadhardcider

At 6% ABV and semi-dry, this seasonal release from Blue Toad Hard Cider (based in both Rochester, New York and Nelson County, Virginia) offers notes of clove, cinnamon and spices. High praise from fans include that it’s like “autumn in my mouth”and “the holidays in a glass.”

Nine Pine Cider Apple-Pie Secco

Nine Pin Cider celebrates the bounty of autumn with its seasonal release, Apple-Pie Secco, usually out in the early fall. This cozy cider is made with 100% New York apples that are fermented then aged with vanilla and cinnamon for a comforting and refreshing result.

Okay, let’s hear it: Are you a pumpkin cider lover or hater? If you’re on the pro-team, which cidery makes your favorite pumpkin cider?

• Feature photo: Woodchuck Cider
• Apple Lantern and Caramel Apple photo: Blake's Hard Cider

The post 8 Pumpkin Ciders to Try If You’re All About Those Autumn Feels appeared first on Cider Culture.

This post is sponsored by the Northwest Cider Association, who we thank for being a supporter of Cider Culture!

When you open a can or bottle of cider, no matter where you are or what you’re doing, you’re completing the final step in a long chain of events. Imagine a sped-up rewind, leading the cider in your hand all the way back into the orchard, to an apple hanging on a tree branch. Imagine the hands that tended to that tree and nourished its soil, which fed its roots, and, even further back in time, grafted that tree into existence.

One of the most poetic things about cider is that, whether or not you know the story behind it, there is a story in the liquid. And, even if you don’t have the foggiest idea about the land it came from, each sip contains an echo, an imprint, that connects you to the place the cider comes from, and the people who made it. 

As a way to further explore this topic, we’ll be looking at two cideries featured in the Taste of Place boxes from the autumn edition of the Northwest Cider Club. The cideries themselves are quite different from one another, but what unites them is their passion for translating a sense of place — a sense of home, truly — into their ciders.     

Puget Sound Cider Co.

Nick and Holly Coleman

Nick Hill and Holly Coleman didn’t set out to be cidermakers. They are antique dealers by trade, and own an antique shop in downtown Renton, in Washington State. It was the acquisition of an antique cider press, scooped up at some point along the way, that sparked their interest. Nick started making fresh-pressed apple juice for their shop’s customers, and in 2017, decided to try making hard cider.

“The history and tradition of cidermaking in our country was the hook that got me into it,” he says. “I wanted to make cider like they made it 200 years ago.”

After some initial experimenting and researching, Nick enrolled in the Cider Institute of North American program at the University of Washington for more specialized training.

When it came to starting their own cidery, a sense of geographical place was at the center of their brand identity. For one thing, the name, Puget Sound Cider, references their geographical location, reminding anyone who comes across their cider what corner of the world they’re located in.

The second component was the fruit. In a search for cider apples, Nick came across a farmer selling just that in Ellensburg, Washington, via Craigslist. They developed a relationship, and Puget Sound has been using those apples ever since. The farmer started the orchard 8 years ago, but in 2022, let Nick and Holly know that he was going to cease operations in order to spend more time with his family.

The duo jumped at the chance to take over the mature, 10-acre orchard.

“It was a golden opportunity to become an estate cidery,” Nick says. “We’re very familiar with the orchard and the processes, though I’ve learned a lot in the year since then.”

With no agricultural experience outside of helping out during harvest in years past, Nick has had to come up to speed quickly. For instance, as this fall will be their first time running harvest, they’re still trying to figure out logistics like where to procure apple bins, and where to store them. 

One thing that Nick can confidently explain is why this place is special as a growing site:

“The orchard is on the slopes of the Manastash Ridge, which is a small mountain range. The volcanic soil there is so fertile and has excellent drainage,” he says. “At our high elevation, around 1,800-feet above sea level, we get tons of sun, but it’s also very windy. There is also up to a 40-degree difference between day and night, which contributes to the flavor and intensifies the sugar content of the apples.” 

They’re currently growing 24 different varieties of traditional cider apples. One of those apples, which happens to be Nick’s favorite, is the Kingston Black, which is showcased in the Kingston Blend Cider in the Northwest Cider Club’s Elevate Box.

“I think it’s the best apple in the world to make cider with, and it does very well in our orchard,” Nick notes. “The combination of the higher altitude and temperature fluctuations, plus the nutrients in the soil, really do produce apples in our orchard that have a more intense flavor with heavier tannins than fruit from Western Washington.” 

Puget Sound Cider is currently building out a new cidery at the orchard in Eastern Washington, and maintaining the tasting room nestled in Nick and Holly’s antique shop. They also have plans to start a second orchard in Western Washington to grow some of the varieties, like Yarlington Mill, that don’t grow well in the Eastern part of the state. 

For a sip of Washington State terroir, check out Puget Sound Cider Co.’s Kingston Blend and its co-fermented Blackberry Cider in the newest Northwest Cider Club Elevated Box.

La Familia Cider

For José Gonzales, his wife Shani and their children, JJ and Jazz, the sense of place they are conveying through La Familia Cider Co. is of a different sort. Their ciders capture the flavors that they grew up with: the refreshing, bright, fruity aguas frescas that are ubiquitous in South and Central America.

José is Mexican-American, and as a kid, his mom would often make aguas frescas, in flavors like hibiscus and tamarind, for his family to cool off with after long, hot days working in the berry fields. When José and Shani started getting into craft beer and cider, they looked high and low for any ciders that featured these sorts of flavors, but they couldn’t find a thing. Following an instinct that the flavors would shine in cider, José asked his mom to make him a batch of juices.

“We picked up those juices and mixed some with some Portland Cider,” he remembers. “As soon as we had a sip, we knew we had something.”

After a brief time working in the alcohol exportation industry, José decided to bring their aguas frescas-meets-cider vision to life. Jeff and Lynda Parish, the owners of Portland Cider Co., offered their facility for cidermaking and helped José procure Northwest-grown apples. Thus, La Familia Cider Co. was born, and launched on Cinco de Mayo in 2017. 

Though José and his family craved the fruity flavors of their youth, in the beginning, they didn’t find as much resonance in the larger beverage market.

“A lot of people didn’t know these flavors,” José explains. “Store buyers would see us as too niche, or put us in the Hispanic food section right next to the Corona, instead of the craft sections.” 

La Familia’s core cider flavors are apple, Jamaica (hibiscus), Guayaba (guava) and Tamarindo (tamarind). Though hibiscus is more mainstream these days, and Guayaba is now their best-seller, José notes that many people he encounters have no idea what tamarind is. On the other hand, he does sometimes talk to other Latin American folks or people of Southeast Asian or Middle Eastern descent who are surprised and delighted to find tamarind in a cider. 

However, over the past few years, distributor and store buyers attitudes have begun to shift and expand. 

“What’s opening the doors even more for us are all the discussions in our community about race — people want to be more open, they don’t want to be that gatekeeper that blocks a product because they don’t have a connection to it,” he says. “People are starting to see that this isn’t just a ‘Hispanic cider.’ It’s a great cider.” 

José was born in the US to immigrant parents, who came to the Pacific Northwest from Mexico to work in the agricultural industry. They are a part of a multi-generational movement of people from Central America to Oregon and Washington; the lack of workers due to World War II led to the creation of the Bracero Program in 1942, an agreement between Mexico and the United States that permitted millions of Mexican men to work legally in the United States on short-term labor contracts. It created a pipeline of agricultural workers who built the farming industry in that region, and José’s family is part of that story.

José, who started working in the fields at age 10, notes that the identity of La Familia, and to some extent, of himself, don’t fit into a tidy box. 

“Growing up in Oregon, I was always called Mexican, but when I went to visit my family in Mexico City, my cousins were like, ‘You’re not Mexican!’ That left us thinking, what are we?”

It’s this duality, in some ways the essence of the immigrant story — leaving a homeland and putting down roots in a new country and a different culture — that is embodied in La Familia’s ciders.

It’s also why José says that the clientele in La Famila’s Salem, OR taproom might look different than at other cideries.

“Now, there are so many American-raised people who have Latin American heritage, and they all grew up on the drinks our ciders are inspired by, so our taproom regulars are overall young and Latino,” he says. “Those are our die-hard supporters.”

For José, when he thinks of the “place” of Oregon terroir, it’s less about soil composition or elevation, and more about the people working the land.  

“We always think of the farm workers, and the connection between the agricultural and immigrant communities,” he notes. “Even today, we’re still just building awareness of the field worker who picks the hops and apples and fruits in the drinks that we enjoy … we hope that eventually that awareness will turn into acceptance and appreciation.”

To that end, La Familia has always donated a portion of its profits to organizations that help immigrants face legal challenges or cover DACA fees.   

“We started the company during the Trump administration when kids were being put in cages at the border. We thought what a blessing to use this name, La Familia, but it’s also a responsibility,” José says. “We knew that we had to do something to help.”

Find La Familia Cider’s Jamaica cider in the Northwest Cider Club’s Discover Box.

To learn more about all the Taste of Place ciders in the Northwest Cider Club’s fall boxes, or to purchase or become a subscriber, visit its website. The Northwest Cider Club is a generous sponsor of Cider Culture!

• Feature photo: La Familia Cider
• Bottle shots: Northwest Cider Club
• All other photos: Courtesy of the respective cideries

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