Five years ago, Tieton Cider Works’co-owner Sharon Campbell spent most of her time at festivals and fairs, explaining that her cider does, in fact, contain alcohol and is not meant for kids. To the north, Alpenfire Orchards cofounder Nancy Bishop fielded a frequent query: What flavors do you have? Her response is dry as a bottle of Alpenfire Cider’s own Pirate’s Plank. “It’s cider. We have apple flavor.”

In Europe, cider (or cidre, or sidre) is shorthand for an alcoholic beverage of fermented apples. In Britain it’s dry as the humor. France likes a dash of sweet, while Spanish versions run stringent and musty. In America, George Washington’s troops received rations of it. John Adams reportedly drank a tankard of it for breakfast each morning. Cider apples and their fermented juice were prevalent on American homesteads. Then Americans departed farms for cities, German immigrants introduced beer culture, and ultimately Prohibition took a collective axe to cider orchards across the country.

The term hard cider usually means alcohol—and, for many of us, youthful memories of beverages that tasted like a liquefied Jolly Rancher. But in the past few years, orchards and tiny handcrafted cider operations across Washington are quietly making us an epicenter of a drinking revolution. 

In 2008 there were maybe four cideries in our bounds; now about 15 dot the state from San Juan Island to Pullman, and even wineries are getting in on the action. Scores of bars and restaurants give cider its own tap, grocery stores and bottle shops have specialized shelf space, and Seattle even has a new bar dedicated to labor-intensive, small-batch ciders. As Snowdrift’s Tim Larsen explains it, “The founding fathers drank it, but Washington’s cider industry is newer than the iPhone,” despite the apple’s status as our first fruit. Meet the cideries that make us a bulwark of America’s first signature beverage—and are banishing those Jolly Rancher stigmas in the process.

The (Not Very) Old Guard

Cideries that were operating five years ago are now the industry’s elder statesmen. Some stick only to apples, others use them as a base palette for other flavors. All of them are part of a working orchard.

Alpenfire Cider

220 Pocket Ln, Port Townsend, 360-379-8915; alpenfirecider.com
First release 2008

Nancy and Steve (aka Bear) Bishop would cross the border to Canada and drink something “sweet, sparkly, and nice” during their courtship days as 19-year-olds in the 1970s. Additional years of cider appreciation confirmed that making the type of cider they like—bone dry and slightly bitter—required apples uncommon in Washington state. So they started planting cider apples like Britain’s bittersweet Brown Snouts and Dabinetts alongside the heirloom apples in their Port Townsend orchard. The uber dry, brashly tannic Pirate’s Plank is one of the most delightfully challenging ciders in the state. And if you happen upon a bottle of its Burnt Branch Reserve Glow Rosé Hard Cider, made with a rare green-skinned apple with bright magenta flesh inside, snap it up immediately. The crazy-laborious bottle conditioning process is what gives the sparkle to all of Alpenfire’s ciders.

Taste it The tasting room tucked next to the cidery is the place to find rarities like the Dungeness Orchard Blend, a semidry still cider, blended from no fewer than 70 different apple styles.

Eaglemount Wine and Cider

2350 Eaglemount Rd, Port Townsend, 360-732-4084; eaglemountwineandcider.com 
First release 2007

Cider apples are in short supply across the state, but when Jim and Trudy Davis bought an old 1883 homestead in Port Townsend, they ended up owning an abandoned orchard full of them. Today Trudy makes red wine and swingtop--stoppered bottles of cider. Her homestead series is made exclusively with apples from that long-forgotten orchard, colored with flavors of hops, ginger, raspberry, and even quince. The results are pleasantly complex.

Taste it Traverse the homestead’s winding driveway for a tasting split among eight ciders and five wines, separated by a palate-cleansing buffer of cheese. In the Seattle area, Full Throttle, 99 Bottles, and Metropolitan Markets carry Eaglemount. 

Snowdrift Cider Co.

277 Ward Ave, East Wenatchee, 509-630-3507; snowdriftcider.com
First release 2009

The Ringsrud family has farmed apples in the Wenatchee Valley since the 1930s. In the early 2000s the Ringsruds made the prescient choice to graft over part of the orchard to sharp-flavored cider apples. Another smart move—taking cider from an expensive hobby to an actual business in 2008, precisely the time cider started catching on. Five years later Snowdrift is racing to keep up with demand for its seven-cider lineup, made almost entirely from heirloom and cider apples. The most popular cider, the semisweet Cliffbreaks, pairs complexity with just a bit of sparkle. The English-styled dry cider caught on slowly at first, but in recent years it’s gained momentum as customers wrap their brains around cider that speaks of crispness and caramel rather than apple juice.

Taste it Snowdrift has a decently broad presence in Seattle, at PCCs, Whole Foods, bottle shops, and bars like the Dray or the Noble Fir. The cidery does tastings and tours Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 5 and also by appointment.

Tieton Cider Works

321 Humphrey Rd, Tieton, 509-673-2880; tietonciderworks.com
First release 2008

Three generations of the Campbell family have grown apples on this land but cider trees appeared on the scene in 2008; impressively 55 of the orchard’s 400 acres are dedicated to cider apples. Though it boasts the state’s largest cider apple plantings, Tieton’s top seller is apricot cider. The disarming sweetness is a gateway drug to the more complex stuff, like its reserve line—smaller in production, higher in price tag, and focusing on traditional cider apples. This year Tieton released its Cidermaker’s Reserve—a blend of bittersharps and bittersweets—that spent two years in a bourbon barrel with appealingly boozy results.

Taste it The cidery takes visitors by appointment, but Tieton’s regular line is easy to find in local bars, restaurants, and bottle shops. Look for the seasonal Holiday Cheer spiced cider, tasting of maple, vanilla, and apple pie.

Westcott Bay Cider

12 Anderson Ln, Roche Harbor, 360-378-3880; westcottbaycider.com
First release 1999

The oldest cidery in the state is nestled on the north side of San Juan Island, where the climate resembles the famed apple orchards of Normandy. And at 14 years old, it’s practically ancient compared with its counterparts. In 2011, founder Rich Anderson took on two new partners who introduced apple brandy and some other distilled products and continued making a trio of crisply complex British-style ciders—traditional very dry, traditional dry, and traditional semidry—from bittersweet and bittersharp apples. Westcott Bay is another of Washington’s few estate cideries, harvesting, pressing, and bottling right there amidst the orchards.

Taste it Ciders make occasional appearances at Capitol Cider, Whole Foods, PCCs, and Central Co-op, but none of these are nearly as quaint as the small orchardside tasting room, open on Saturday afternoons during summer (otherwise, just call ahead). The distilled liquors attract more visitors, according to partner Suzy Pingree, but “almost everyone walks away with cider.” 

Cider Pioneers

Carol Miles and Gary Moulten

Moulten founded and Miles expanded the extensive hard cider research program at Washington State University’s Mount Vernon extension. Miles and her team have been tracking and testing (and even making cider out of) 70 varieties of cider apples to help cider-curious orchardists get into the business. They’re also working on a mechanical method of harvesting apples, which could help bring down labor costs—and cider prices.

Peter Mitchell

The man who may have had the biggest influence on the production of Washington cider is actually a Brit. Specifically a professional cider instructor, considered the best in the business, who travels to Mount Vernon from the UK twice a year to help steep Washington’s cidermakers in centuries of technical knowledge. 

 

 

Spencer Reilly

The owner of newly opened Capitol Cider created a place where cider—from both the U.S. and Europe—is the focus, rather than just a tap or two (and the entire pub menu is gluten free). He also spends countless hours driving around the state to keep his 33 taps pouring Washington and Oregon ciders not usually available in Seattle. The constant crowds are most appreciative.

Newcomers to Watch

Some fledgling cideries operate in orchards and embrace the same labor-intensive practices as their elders. But the urban cidery is catching on too.

Dragon’s Head Cider

18201 107 Ave SW, Vashon Island; dragonsheadcider.com
First release 2012

Three years ago, Wes and Laura Cherry moved to Vashon Island and planted 400 apple trees, mostly the bittersweet and bittersharp. Now the orchard boasts 1,500 heritage and cider apple trees, and this fall will be the first harvest from that original planting. Their ciders are just as old school as the production methods. One is wild fermented, another is made entirely with Newtown Pippins, one of America’s most storied cider apples. A third style celebrates the tiny but mighty Manchurian crab apple.

Taste it At a few local restaurants, like Bar Sajor and Matt’s in the Market, as well as Full Throttle, Bottleworks, and Capitol Cider

Finnriver Cidery

62 Barn Swallow Rd, Chimacum, 360-732-4337; finnriver.com
First release 2010

The joy of operating a cidery on a working farm is having an abundance of lavender, cranberries, and other fruits and herbs to inspire mind--bending cider blends. Capitol Cider ran through a keg of Finnriver’s habanero cider in less than six hours. When one of Washington’s earliest cidermakers, Drew Zimmerman, retired, Finnriver owners Keith and Crystie Kisler transplanted 1,000 of his trees from Mount Vernon to Chimacum, a heartwarming, if labor-intensive transition from old guard to new.

Taste it The cozy, cabinlike tasting room hidden away in the heart of the farm pours Finnriver’s full complement of ciders. Don’t miss the stately Artisan Sparkling Cider made in France’s labor-intensive méthode Champenoise tradition or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, the smoky, sour Fire Barrel Cider—a British inspiration created by Zimmerman and now produced at Finnriver in his honor.

Methow Valley Ciderhouse

13B Walters Rd, Winthrop, 509-341-4354; methowvalleyciderhouse.com
First release 2010

Founder Richard Wasson does not scorn sweeter styles of cider. But his hypertraditional approach of growing his own apples, pressing, and bottle fermenting very small batches yields results that impress cider novices and nerds alike. This year’s best seller is the semisweet Howling Wolf, with a familiar sweet aroma that gives way to the largely unfamiliar flavor of tannins and hops. On the much drier side (and hands-down the best name) is the Eagle Screechin’ Scrumpy, a strong British style lacking in carbonation but heavy on the tannins.

Taste it The indoor-outdoor tasting room boasts a dazzling 360-degree view of the North Cascades, rolling hills, and apple trees.

Schilling Cider Co.

schillingcider.com 
First release April 2013

Consider this a serviceable workingman’s cider at a most friendly price. It’s fast fermented with beer yeast rather than wine yeast (cofounder Colin Schilling likes the maltiness). Using a blend of table apples from the Yakima Valley keeps prices on par with a pint of IPA, probably one of the reasons business has boomed since the Auburn-produced cider was released earlier this year.

Taste it The lightly hopped Schilling Original and the popular version fermented with fresh ginger are popping up at bars, bottle shops, and stores around town, and Schilling is scouting locations for a tasting room.

Seattle Cider Co.

4700 Ohio Ave S, SoDo, 206-762-0490; seattlecidercompany.com
First release September 2013

Joel VandenBrink is the founder of microbrewery Two Beers Brewing and now the man behind the city’s first working cidery since Prohibition. Well, the first legally working cidery, anyway. His first forays into appledom—dry and semisweet versions—are sold in tallboy cans. The blends of common dessert apples have just the right acid and sugar.

Taste it The Two Beers Brewing Company has expanded its comfortable SoDo tasting room, the Woods, to pour cider.

Sixknot Cider

sixknotcider.com
First release July 2013

After a decade of experimenting with sulfite-free cidermaking using apples from their Methow Valley orchard and its environs, owners John and Beth Sinclair alighted upon the French cidre-making method of keeving. It retains natural sweetness and showcases flavors of the specific apple and orchard. Sixknot’s modified method uses tart and dessert apples, and the first commercially released kegs got a warm reception when they arrived in July.

Taste it The cidery is partnering with a few others to open a tasting room in Ballard in November. 

Spire Mountain Draft Cider

515 Jefferson St SE, Olympia, 360-943-6480; fishbrewing.com
First release 1985

Olympia’s Fish Brewing Company ferments a trio of ciders—the Dark and Dry version is caramel flavored without being overly sweet and is a big crossover hit with beer drinkers. Spire is a common sight at bars; its prices are competitive with most local beers.

Taste it In six packs and 750ml bottles at local stores.

Whitewood Cider Co.

6227 Rich Rd SE, Olympia, 360-705-8202; whitewoodcider.com
First release 2013

David White admits some of his cider education came from squinting at spreadsheets of apple characteristics to create his ideal blend: “a sharp, tannic cider, the equivalent of a big red wine.” White’s a longtime fixture in the cider community, thanks to his blog, oldtimecider.com. His clear-bottled creations include the Northland, a pleasantly musty blend of traditional cider apples, and the South Sounder, an experiment in using only Olympia-area apples that yielded a more tannic touch.

Taste it You can sometimes find it at Full Throttle Bottles, Bottleworks, 99 Bottles, and Capitol Cider. Sadly there’s no tasting room…yet.

Beer or Wine?

Cider occupies a curious space in the drinking spectrum and appeals to both oenophiles and beer geeks. Here’s why.

Cider Styles