Alpenfire Spark!

October 17, 2016October 15, 2016 cidersays Alpenfire Alpenfire, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, port townsend, Spark, tasting notes, washington

Review of Alpenfire Spark!, their semi-sweet cider. I’ve tried it a couple times before, but only bottle pours. I’ve tried most of Alpenfire’s ciders–Dungeness, Spark, Smoke, ApoCalypso, Ember, Simple Cider, Calypso, Pirate’s Plank, Glow, Cinders, and Shrub.

Cider: Spark!
Cidery: Alpenfire
Cidery Location: Port Townsend WA
ABV: 8.9%
How Supplied: 750ml bottles
Style: Organic American craft cider from heirloom & cider apple varieties, sugar added

Availability: Year round in Washington and their online store

Cider Description: Spark! is blended from Melrose, Kings, Gravenstein, Winter banana, burgundys and other heritage apples as well as traditional cider apples. This bottle conditioned, unfiltered cider has the wonderfully crisp flavor of a just picked fall apple. This semi sweet cider is delicious with a appetizers, especially cheese and fruit.

Cidery Description: Alpenfire Organic Cider is made from our estate and locally grown organic apples. We planted our WSDA certified organic orchard in 2004 with over 800 trees and 10 varieties of English, French & Early American cider specific apples. These apples have been used for hundreds of years for the unique qualities they bring to cider production. Namely the tannins and bitters not found in dessert style apples. While the juice, much less the fruit, of many of these apples would be hard to enjoy by the glass they become amazing with a little fermentation. One of our favorites, the “Muscadet de Dieppe”, has a viscous, winey, yes, even musky juice. It takes months of slow, cool fermentation for that to develop the subtle aroma and flavor you will find in our bone-dry cider. We augment our juice and mellow the flavors with organic apples from other local orchards.

Price: $15.99
Where Bought: Schilling Cider House in Seattle WA
Where Drank: home
How Found: I’ve been wanting to pick up an Alpenfire bottle, and this is one of my favorites from them (in addition to Smoke, ApoCalypso, and Glow).

First Impression: Light pumpkin amber hue. Low carbonation and foam. Smells tannic, of honey and apple pomace.

Tasting Notes: Semi-sweet. Medium bodied. Moderate tartness. Moderate to high acid. Low to moderate tannins. Hints of bitterness. No sourness or funk. Apple-forward and rich. Notes of apple pomace, honey, orange, and leather. Moderate finish length. Moderate to high apple flavor, sessionability, and flavor intensity. Moderate complexity,

My Opinion: Awesome! I forgot how much I like this cider. Its easily in my top 10 favorites, and has all my favorite cider qualities. It would be a great introduction to “real” cider (made with cider apples), as it is sweeter and doesn’t have any overwhelming qualities.

Most Similar to: English cider such as from Aspall (except a bit sweeter and less yeast-forward), Bertolinos, and E.Z. Orchards Semi-Dry.

Closing Notes: I think this cider is a great choice and a good value too. Their Smoke is my favorite, but I need to be in a certain mood for that one…Spark is way more easy drinking.

Have you tried Alpenfire Spark? What did you think?

Alpenfire Calypso – Blackberry Rum Barrel Aged Cider

August 25, 2016August 21, 2016 cidersays Alpenfire, review Alpenfire, barrel aged, Blackberry, Calypso, cider, cider review, hard cider, port townsend, rum, washington

Review of Alpenfire’s Calypso, a cider with blackberries aged in rum barrels. I’ve tried this before, as well as the draft-only version of this which has double the blackberries and is barrel aged 4 instead of 2 months, Apocalypso (see here), but this is the first bottle I’ve bought. I’ve also sampled most of their line-up; see here.

Cider: Calypso
Cidery: Alpenfire
Cidery Location: Port Townsend WA
ABV: 6.9%
How Supplied: 500ml bottles
Style: American craft cider from heirloom apples, with local blackberries, aged for 2 months in toasted oak rum barrels

Availability: Primarily Western Washington, including these retailers. They also have an online store through Vino Shipper which ships to states which allow it.

Cider Description: Calypso, named for the legendary sea goddess and the research vessel of Captain Jacques Cousteau. This delightful sparkling taste of the Northwest is aged in Bull Run Distilling Rum barrels to bring a hint of the South Seas to the mix. Heirloom apple is the dominant flavor, the beautiful scent and hint of fresh Greysmarsh Farm blackberries comes second. Bottle conditioning adds a delightful sparkle and full bodied flavor! You don’t want to miss this limited production cider.

They have an outdoor tasting room onsite at their Orchard in Port Townsend, open seasonally.

Price: $11.99
Where Bought: Whole Foods
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing. It sounded good that day, but I actually didn’t open it up for a few weeks.

First Impression: Deep cranberry hue. Nearly still (very low carbonation). Smells mildly of blackberries with a hint of oak.

Tasting Notes: Semi-dry to semi-sweet. Light to medium bodied. Moderate tartness and acidity. Low tannins. Hints of bitterness. No sourness or funk. Notes of blackberries, plus some raspberry & blueberry & red grape, and hints of oak. Moderate length finish with slight warming. Low apple flavor. Moderate blackberry flavor. Low rum and oak influence. Moderate flavor intensity. Moderate complexity. Moderate sessionability.

My Opinion: Yum! Quite tasty. This is my favorite berry cider, which typically isn’t a category I find impressive.

Most Similar to: Other berry ciders, although I find this to be more sophisticated and complex, even a bit wine-like. I prefer their Apocalypso with its stronger oak and rum notes, but it is quite seasonable / hard to find, and only on draft.

Closing Notes: Another winner from Alpenfire! I like nearly every cider they make, and look forward to seeing what they come up with next. I think for what you get they are a great value, as they are a step above most other craft ciders, actually an Artisan product, as they grow most of the apples for their ciders themselves, as use primarily heirloom and cider apple varieties (instead of dessert apples). Check out my post here from when I visited the cidery.

Have you tried Alpenfire Calypso? What did you think?

Schilling Cider House Visit 16 Tasting Notes

June 17, 2016June 11, 2016 cidersays Alpenfire, Carlton, Eaglemount, Locust, review, Schilling Alpenfire, cider, cider bar, cider flight, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, Schilling Cider House, seattle, washington

Tasting notes from my sixteenth visit to the Schilling Cider House in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle WA. Check out my past posts with tasting notes here. I was there on a Tuesday evening for a tasting event with Alpenfire Cider (from Port Townsend WA). Its pretty rare they do events, besides some pricey (but awesome sounding) dinners with cider pairings.

Philippe (Nancy & Bear’s son) was there from Alpenfire. The Cider House was featuring a flight of six ciders from Alpenfire (five of which were bottle pours, which was a first for the Cider House, and Apocalypso on draft, which is a rarity for Alpenfire) plus a Shrub cider cocktail.

I arrived early so I tried a few ciders before the event. I had been there just a week earlier, but quite a few of the taps turned over (although there weren’t too many I hadn’t tried).

Eaglemount (Port Townsend WA) Perry (8.0% ABV): Smells of pear and citrus, slightly sour. Semi-dry. Medium bodied. Mild to moderate tartness and acidity. Mild bitterness. Hints of sourness, funk, and tannins. Notes of pear, citrus, spice, and vanilla. Alcohol-forward and sharp. Moderate length finish.

Locust Cider (Woodinville WA) Apricot (6.0% ABV): Smells sweet, of apricot and peach. Semi-dry to semi-sweet. Light to medium bodied. Moderate tartness and acidity. A hint of bitterness. No sourness, funk, or tannins. Medium flavor intensity with simple but real tasting apricot flavor. Quick finish.

Carlton Cider (McMinnville OR) Bourbon Peachy Keen (6.5% ABV): Foamy. Smells of bourbon and fruitiness (peach and apricot). Semi-dry to dry. Very light bodied with a frothy mouthfeel. Low tartness. Moderate acidity. Low bitterness. No sourness, funk, or tannins. Low barrel influence. Moderate spirit influence. Medium to long length finish. They also make a non barrel aged version of this cider.

The Alpenfire ciders were ready as it got closer to 6pm. I’ve previously tried all the ciders they were offering in the flight, so I decided to just order a pint of Apocalypso (a draft-only version of their Calypso blackberry rum barrel aged cider with double the blackberries and barrel aged 4 instead of 2 months).

Alpenfire (Port Townsend WA) Apocalypso (6.5% ABV): Semi-sweet to semi-dry. Medium bodied. Mild to moderate tartness. Mild acidity. Mild tannins. No bitterness, sourness, or funk. Mild rum influence. Moderate barrel (oak) influence. Moderate blackberry flavor. Moderate length finish.

I also tried a couple sips of the Shrub cocktail, made with Alpenfire bittersweet cider, Alpenfire apple cider vinegar, blackberry puree, and sparkling water.

Alpenfire (Port Townsend WA) Shrub: Semi-dry to semi-sweet. Medium bodied. Vinegar more in the scent than flavor. There is tartness and a hint of vinegar flavor, but not any sourness like I was expecting. No bitterness, sourness, funk, or tannins. Moderate blackberry flavor. Moderate length finish. Unique, but not my thing.

My favorite of the night was the Alpenfire Apocalypso cider. I liked this batch even better than the last one I tried for WA cider week 2015 at the Burgundian Bar (see here), as it was slightly sweeter, more fruity, and more oaky.

They even got in some bottles of Alpenfire Cinders (the Méthode Champenoise version of Glow, their rosé cider made with red-fleshed apples). Its a rare find outside of the Alpenfire tap room (which I visited in February; see here). I actually prefer Glow though, as its sweeter and more flavorful.

Stay tuned for more Schilling Cider House tasting notes here at Cider Says! Have you had any good draft cider / cider flights recently?

Alpenfire Cider Glow

April 19, 2016April 10, 2016 cidersays Alpenfire, review Alpenfire, cider, cider review, cider tasting, Glow, hard cider, Hidden Rose, red fleshed, single varietal

Review of Alpenfire Cider’s Glow rosé cider, made from red-fleshed Hidden Rose apples. I’ve tried a number of their ciders; see here. They also make a Methode Champenoise version of this cider called Cinders, which is quite different; see my tasting notes on that cider here.

Cider: Glow
Cidery: Alpenfire Cider
Cidery Location: Port Townsend WA
ABV: 8.2%
How Supplied: 750 ml bottles
Style: American craft single varietal cider from Hidden Rose red-fleshed apples

These are actually a dessert apple variety (rare for Alpenfire, as they use primarily cider and heirloom apple varieties). Hidden Rose apples are rare in the U.S. as the majority are shipped to Japan, where they can fetch $12-$15 per apple! They tried to grow these in the Alpenfire orchard, but they weren’t thriving in the cool climate, so now they source them from Oregon, where the variety was discovered in the 1960s.

Availability: Likely only in Western Washington. This is part of their Burnt Branch Reserve, so it also isn’t as prevalent as some of their other varieties such as Pirate’s Plank.

Cider Description: Glow is a single varietal rosé cider. The color in this unique cider comes not from the skin like in a wine rosé, but from the bright red flesh of the Hidden Rose apple. This incredible apple makes a cider with a crisp acidity and a tropical fruit flavor.

Price: $28
Where Bought: the Alpenfire cidery (although it is available near me in the Seattle area)
Where Drank: home
How Found: I was there for a tasting (my first time trying Glow). See my post here.

First Impression: Beautiful deep rosé hue. Smells sweet & apple forward (reminds me of ice cider) and fruity (strawberries & watermelon). Almost no carbonation upon pouring.

Tasting Notes: Semi-sweet to sweet. Moderate to high tartness when I first opened it, but after sitting overnight it was down to mild tartness. Moderate acidity. A hint of bitterness and tannins. No sourness. Still. Medium bodied. Notes of sweet apple, cherry, strawberry, and watermelon. The flavor starts tart and finishes sweet. Moderate finish length. Moderate to strong apple influence. Low to moderate sessionability.

My Opinion: Awesome! I love how unique, flavorful, and fruity this is. However, I like it better when it is lower tartness (I think the complexity can better shine through). So, when I have this again, I’ll let it breathe first.

Most Similar to: The only other rosé red-fleshed apple cider I’ve had is Snowdrift Red. That one is closer to $20 and has greater distribution, but isn’t a single varietal. I find Snowdrift Red to be slightly drier and much higher carbonated. Both cider are fairly tart and very fruity.

Closing Notes: Another winner from Alpenfire. This is one of my favorites from them. I think my absolute favorite however is Smoke. I love that they make such a wide range of ciders, and have a real commitment to being a small artisan cidery who produces outstanding ciders (and vinegars).

Have you tried Alpenfire Glow? What did you think?

Alpenfire Smoke Barrel Aged Cider

April 7, 2016April 9, 2016 cidersays Alpenfire, review Alpenfire, barrel aged, cider, cider review, cider tasting, hard cider, port townsend, smoke, washington

Review of Alpenfire Cider’s Smoke Barrel Aged Cider. See my past reviews of their ciders here. I tried this cider before and loved it, but hadn’t been able to find it for awhile (it hasn’t been released for awhile and the next batch is still barrel aging…see my post here), so I was excited to stumble across some again.

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Cider: Smoke
Cidery: Alpenfire Cider
Cidery Location: Port Townsend WA
ABV: 16.0%
How Supplied: 500ml bottle
Style: American craft port-style triple barrel fermented cider made from cider apples

2016-04-01 19.06.45 2016-04-01 19.07.06 2016-04-01 19.07.16

Availability: Limited (and hasn’t been released in awhile), and only in Western Washington

Cider Description: Smoke, our smoky-oaky after dinner tipple style cider has been triple fermented in whiskey and mead barrels. It starts with Kingston Black, Dabinett and Vilberie apples for a very tannic base. Aging in charred oak concentrates all the best features of each apple variety.

Price: $17
Where Bought: Special Brews
Where Drank: home
How Found: Browsing, although I’ve tried it before. I was surprised to see they had a couple cases of this on the shelf, consider how long its been since its release, and that no other shops have any left (including at the Alpenfire Cidery).

2016-04-01 19.09.12

First Impression: Copper light orange amber hue. No carbonation. Smells rich & strong, of oak, peat, spice, orange, bourbon, scotch, honey, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, and baked apples.

Tasting Notes: Semi-dry to semi-sweet. Still. Medium to full bodied. Low acidity, tartness, and tannins. A hint of bitterness. No sourness or funk. Notes of oak, peat, spice, orange, bourbon, scotch, honey, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, and baked apples, with a focus on orange and spice (not as much spoke & peat as I remembered). Long warming finish. Moderate apple influence. Moderate barrel influence. High spirit influence. Very low sessionability.

My Opinion: Amazing! This one is definitely one of my all time favorite ciders, and my favorite Alpenfire cider. Its a great after dinner sipping cider, and one bottle lasted me awhile as a few ounces is plenty (and it keeps rather well as it isn’t carbonated). This cider is highly complex, rich, very smooth, and tastes a lower ABV than it is. I enjoyed this at a range of temperatures, from just out of the fridge to room temperature, although I think I tended towards colder. I saw another post that ice could be used, and I think for a higher ABV flavorful beverage that isn’t out of the question (I’ve done so for Pommeau).

Most Similar to: Not much else. Maybe Sea Cider Prohibition / Rumrunner? That is another high ABV complex (rum) barrel aged sipping cider, but even though its higher ABV, I’d say the flavor is a bit more harsh and in your face (its also drier though). Another is Liberty Ciderworks Manchurian Crabapple. It wasn’t barrel aged, but is a high ABV port-style single varietal with a lot of complexity. This is also kinda similar to Pommeau with its complexity and high ABV.

Closing Notes: I’m glad I bought two bottles of this one, as I still have another to tide me over until its next release. This is definitely my kind of cider, having all the aspects I enjoy most–local, craft, higher ABV, sweeter, complex, flavorful, rich, made from bittersweet cider apples, and barrel aged.

Have you tried Alpenfire Smoke? What did you think?

Port Townsend Cider Route – Alpenfire Cider

March 2, 2016March 2, 2016 cidersays Alpenfire, review Alpenfire, cider, cider route, cider tasting, hard cider, Olympic Peninsula, port townsend, road trip, tasting notes, washington

As a continuation of my trip report on the Port Townsend cider route, here is post 2/4, on Alpenfire Cider (see here for post 1/4, an overview). It was our first cidery of the day, just after they opened at 11am, and we were the only customers. This was good as instead of their Red Wine & Chocolate & Cider event pairing, I was offered the option of partaking in their regular tasting (which I chose, then I sampled some of the chocolates!).

Alpenfire Cider is owned & operated by the husband & wife team of Steve (Bear) and Nancy Bishop. They started under the name Wildfire but changed to Alpenfire in 2010. The name is a nod to Bear’s firefighting background. They live on the property with their orchard, cidery, and tasting room. Their orchard is primarily made up of English and French cider apple varieties (although they have recently planted some heirloom apple and perry pear varieties). They were the first certified organic cidery in Washington and had their first harvest in 2008. I learned that currently all of their ciders which have the USDA Organic seal are made from apples from their own orchard, and those that don’t are from other orchards. They also produce a line of vinegars.

I had met Nancy at a few events for Washington Cider Week last year, including Cider Summit Seattle, and she actually remembered me! I had hoped they would have some bottles of Smoke, which I think is my favorite from them (amazingly rich & smokey), but alas their next batch is still barrel aging. Their last batch was 16% ABV, made from Kingston Black, Dabinett, & Vilberie apples, and triple fermented in charred oak whiskey & mead barrels. No estimate on when the next batch will be released as it takes as long as it takes until they are completely happy with it.

They had an interesting cider tasting order, from sweet to dry to sweet.

Spark – Their semi-sweet cider, a customer favorite, made from cider and heirloom apple varieties, and their most “American” cider. Semi-sweet to sweet. Low acidity and tartness. A hint of tannins. Honey and floral notes. Medium to full bodied. Moderate finish length. This would be a great introductory artisan cider for folks used to drinking commercial cider, due to its sweetness (and it was for me).

Ember – Made from late season French and English bittersweet apple varieties. This cider was described as being especially ideal to pair with food. Semi-dry. Low acidity and tartness. Moderate tannins. Bittersweet apple, caramel, honey, and floral notes. Light to medium bodied. Long finish.

Dungeness Orchard Blend – A unique still (non carbonated) cider made from over 200 varieties of apples from the Dungeness Orchard in Sequim WA. It can almost be better compared to white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc, than cider. I was also told that due to the number of apple varieties used, it can be a bit “volatile”, varying batch to batch (some past batches have been significantly sweeter). Dry to semi-dry. Slight funk. Light bodied. Low tartness. Moderate acidity. Light tannins. Complex with floral and mineral notes, but otherwise I find the flavor difficult to describe. Long finish.

Pirate’s Plank – Their flagship award winning “bone dry” (zero residual sugar) cider, described as similar to traditional English cider. Aged in white oak. This is a “Scrumpy” unfiltered and unpasteurized cider. It was said that this could be used similar to a sour beer in food pairings. Fully dry. Low acidity and tartness. Moderate tannins. A hint of funk. Light bodied. Citrus, floral, oak, and earthy notes. Long finish.

Glow – A single varietal rosé cider made from Hidden Rose red fleshed apples, which are unique for Alpenfire as they are actually a dessert apple variety (not heirloom or cider apple variety). These are rare in the U.S. as the majority are shipped to Japan, where they can fetch $12-$15 per apple! They tried to grow these in the Alpenfire orchard, but they weren’t thriving in the cool climate, so now they source them from Oregon, where the variety was discovered in the 1960s. The cider is a lovely blush color. It smells very fruity, of watermelon and strawberries. Sweet. Complex and fruity. Very full flavored. Low tartness and acidity. Medium to full bodied. Nearly still. Moderate length finish.

Cinders – This is their newest release, a Methode Champenoise version of Glow, and a very limited release of 454 bottles. Methode Champenoise is an old world labor-intensive way of making a naturally carbonated champagne-style cider. It involves secondary fermentation in the bottle, daily hand turning of bottles on a riddling rack, and manual disgorging of the residual yeast sediment. Semi-dry. Very high carbonation. It smells more yeasty than fruity to me. I was surprised how dry the Methode Champenoise made it. The flavor seemed mild, especially compared to Glow. A completely different cider.

Calypso – This is their only cider which has an addition besides apples, blackberries from Sequim WA. Pippin apples from their orchard were used, and the cider was aged 2 months in Bull Run Distilling rum barrels. Semi-dry. Low to moderate tartness. Very light oak barrel influence. Low to moderate blackberry flavor. Light bodied. Moderate carbonation.

I had tried Spark, Ember, and Dungeness previously (as well as Apocalypso, a twist on Calypso that was aged 4 instead of 2 months, and Simple Cider, which were both draft-only releases). Its crazy how much tastes can change (and ciders, year to year), as the first time I tried Dungeness I really wasn’t a fan…it tasted like dry white wine to me. Now that my cider palate has expanded I could taste the complexity of the cider. Even last summer I remember Ember as being too tannic for my tastes, but now it was enjoyable. The only cider of their current lineup I haven’t tasted yet is now Flame, a Methode Champenoise style cider.

I picked up a bottle of Glow and a cute Alpenfire t-shirt. I was expecting to purchase a bottle of Cinders, but honestly I preferred Glow. I can get Glow at home (but not Cinders, although it is currently on VinoShipper), but its no fun to leave a tasting room without cider! It was my favorite from this tasting. Overall my favorites from them are Glow, Spark, Smoke, and Calypso/Apocalypso.

Stay tuned for posts 3/4 and 4/4 on Eaglemount and Finnriver!

Port Townsend Cider Route – Road Trip Report

March 1, 2016October 23, 2016 cidersays Alpenfire, Eaglemount, Finnriver, review Alpenfire, cider, cider route, eaglemount, Finnriver, hard cider, Olympic Peninsula, port ludlow, port townsend, washington

I finally made it out the Olympic Peninsula to visit the three Port Townsend Washington area cideries, Alpenfire, Eaglemount, and Finnriver. My husband took me on a birthday weekend getaway, and we stayed the night in Port Ludlow (South of Port Townsend). This post will cover the trip as a whole, then I’ll have three other posts for tasting notes and info on each of the three cideries.

We planned this trip a couple months in advance, but it ended up being weekend 2/2 of a Red Wine (& Cider) & Chocolate Valentine’s Day thing, so unfortunately that meant I didn’t get the typical tasting experience. In addition to having a different tasting selection, the cideries appeared to be charging more for tastings (as they were offering chocolate pairings). However, that also meant that Alpenfire was open (they usually close for the Winter this time of year).

It was an early wake up for a Saturday, as I wanted to allow extra time for ferry delays or whatever just in case, although the trip is only a couple hours.

(1) We started with the 8am Edmonds to Kingston ferry, which is a quick 30 minute trip, but actually didn’t save us much time (vs. driving around to the South), but is fun and breaks up the trip.

(2) Then we headed up North to Port Townsend, did a quick driving tour of the town, and ate a late breakfast at a cute French-themed restaurant called Sweet Laurette (which was very good).

(3) Next we realized the Mount Townsend Creamery was on our route, and we had a bit of time, so that was a fun quick stop.

(4) Then, on to our first cider stop, Alpenfire! We got lucky as for this event weekend they opened at 11am instead of noon, giving us an extra hour. Also, we ended up being the only guests at Alpenfire, likely as it was so early.

I should note that this area is lovely just to take a drive, surrounded by trees.

(5) Next was Eaglemount (at their new location by the way–the cider route maps still have their old address). They are unique on the cider route as they also make grape wine and honey wine (mead) in addition to cider.

(6) After that we stopped in at the Chimacum Corner Farmstand to take a look.

(7) Last, we ended the cider route at Finnriver. We made good time and finished up there just before 4pm (so without the hour head start it would have been 5pm).

(8) Finally, we drove South to Port Ludlow to the Inn at the Resort at Port Ludlow. It appears to be the nicest accommodations in the area. There aren’t many newer / higher priced options in Port Townsend. Port Ludlow is actually closer to Finnriver than Port Townsend (and closer to the ferry), so it wasn’t really an inconvenience. The main thing it impacted was our dinner options, as Port Ludlow is much smaller than Port Townsend…we ended up at The Fireside restaurant at the Inn for both dinner and breakfast, which was very nice, but definitely added to the cost. The Inn is beautifully situated on the marina in the planned community of Port Ludlow.

I was surprised at how small it was, less than 40 rooms, although they also have several event and banquet rooms. Overall I think it was overpriced (it looked nice on the surface but the room had a lot of little annoyances like a loud heater & mini fridge and uncomfortable bed), but for the level of accommodations we are used to, it was the best option. We had time before dinner to walk along the waterfront. Its a popular destination for weddings, and I imagine they are full all summer long (even without air conditioning!). For our February stay however it was fairly quiet.

I was drawn to the restaurant’s cider selection on their online menu, but it ended up being a disappointment…they had reduced their ciders from 4 by the glass, 4 by the bottle, 1 Pommeau, and several Finnriver brandywines to only 1 by the glass (Eaglemount Ginger), 1 by the bottle (Alpenfire Glow), and the Finnriver brandywines. You’d think their best option would be to stock 500ml Finnriver bottles as to not have to keep anything open, have ciders that are widely appealing (not ginger), and have something that one person could order (plus although Glow is amazing, I’d call it more of a dessert cider than something to pair with dinner). I ended up ordering a cocktail with Prosecco and Finnriver Black Currant brandywine. The food was amazing but the service was absent at times. Overall our stay met our needs but didn’t amaze us.

Wanting to make this trip yourself? Here are my tips:

Although its doable to make it a day trip from the greater Seattle area (especially as the cideries are only typically open noon-5pm), staying overnight was great, and gave us a chance to have a leisurely dinner too instead of rushing home. However, especially in the summer, be warned that hotels book very quickly, likely as there are few options.
Definitely be safe and have a designated driver, as its a lot of cider tasting in a short period of time.
Plan your route. I’m glad I planned the order we’d visit the cideries, how long of a drive between them, etc. It wouldn’t have been fun to go on the trip and end up only making it to 2/3 cideries for example due to running out of time.
Bring some snacks, as there are very few options once you start the cider route, and cider tasting on an empty stomach isn’t wise. Apparently in summer some of the cideries may offer food though (such as pizza at Finnriver). One option is the Chimacum Corner Farmstand, which is a mix between a roadside produce stand and a mini PCC (plus they even sell garden type stuff like fertilizer outside). They are close to Finnriver and have some grab & go lunch type stuff. We stopped in but didn’t end up buying anything. Due to our large breakfast just before starting the cider route, we ended up being ok food-wise until the third stop at Finnriver, where we had some of the snacks we brought (I went a bit fancy and packed us a cheese plate in a cooler).
Cash wasn’t necessary, although it could be handy for tasting fees and tips. All three cideries used the credit card payment app Square on an ipad (no extra fee).
Plan to purchase bottles (and cidery swag if interested), as you will get a chance to taste at least a few ciders that aren’t distributed. Cinders at Alpenfire and Pommeau at Finnriver for example.

Stay tuned for my tasting notes from Alpenfire, Eaglemount, and Finnriver!

(UPDATE – Posts on Alpenfire, Eaglemount, and Finnriver are now up.)

Cider Tasting with Bill Bradshaw and 9 Washington Cideries at Capitol Cider in Seattle

September 28, 2015August 10, 2017 cidersays Alpenfire, Capitol Cider, Cider Summit, Dragon's Head, event, Finnriver, Liberty, local, Nashi Orchards, Snowdrift, Tieton, Washington Cider Week, Westcott Bay Bill Bradshaw, Capitol Cider, cider, cider summit, cider tasting, hard cider, seattle, washington, Washington Cider Week

The Washington Cider Week posts continue! The previous week brought me to Seattle Cider and the Burgundian (Eden & Alpenfire event ) on Thursday night to kick off Washington Cider Week, and Cider Summit Seattle 2015 on Friday & Saturday (see post 1 for tasting notes and post 2 about the event & photos). This week brought me to Capitol Cider for a tasting event with Bill Bradshaw and nine Washington cideries (Tues Sept 15 2015, covered here), and to the Schilling Cider House for the 2 Towns tap night (Thurs Sept 17 2015, covered soon).

[Additions after initial post release are in brackets, and incorrect information is ~~struck through~~. Thanks Dave from Whitewood for the corrections and extra info!]

I had been to Capitol Cider once before, but it was probably over a year ago. I really didn’t like that first visit much at all, as nothing really went well, from the food (it was early lunchtime on a weekend but they mostly had brunch items, not lunch), to the service (grumpy bartender), to the cider (didn’t like anything I tried, and the bartender wasn’t too forthcoming with samples; I would have preferred a flight, which they now offer).

Much has changed there since then! Their service was good this time (I give them some slack as they had to give everyone a few handouts and 9 different ciders! in addition to taking any other orders). Their bottle list has much improved / expanded. However, unfortunately it is mostly just a list (they only have the smaller bottles in some fridges literally at floor level near the entry). As it is a printed list, it easily gets out of date (both times I bought bottles they only had half of what I wanted, although I was requesting more rare & special release selections). However, Capitol Cider isn’t really my sort of scene. Getting there & parking is a nightmare for one. The Schilling Cider House is honestly more my style, plus they have more taps (32) and a larger bottle selection (which you can see and look at the labels).

Bill Bradshaw is a cider expert who hails from the UK and has written several books about cider, among other things. This special event was a guided tasting through ciders from nine Washington cideries. Dave White from Whitewood Cider apparently helped Bill Bradshaw choose the cideries, although I’m not sure how the ciders got chosen (it didn’t appear Bill, Dave, or the cideries themselves chose the cider selections, so it may have been availability / mostly what they already had on tap). [The cidermakers chose the ciders poured, although there was some confusion from one of the cideries as far as their selection.] They are for the most part some of the more traditional cideries in WA. For $30, I got a flight of nine ciders (probably a 3 or 4 oz pour each), plus a full glass of the cider of my choice. I unfortunately had to drive, so I made due with my flight (finishing my favorite ciders and leaving the rest) and a couple tastes afterward, but no full glass of cider. Most of the cideries had one or more cidermakers on hand who came up on the stage and explained about their chosen cider.

They were also selling Bill’s books, he was signing autographs, and many of the cideries brought some bottles which they opened after the event and poured tastes. During the event there was a slideshow of Bill’s photos. They also played the teaser for a documentary titled ‘Cider Hunters’ that he and Pete Brown (co-author of World’s Best Ciders) are fundraising for, about the history of cider in the U.S. Cider is “the drink that built America”. He described how it disappeared, breweries moved in, the craft beer movement started in the ’80s, and now we are in the age of craft cider, built from the beer explosion. Throughout the event there was some discussion on whether cider is more similar to wine or beer. It depends on who you ask. Bill seemed to lean towards beer, but I’d probably lean more towards wine as scientifically speaking cider is a type of fruit wine, although the ABV of most ciders is more similar to beer than wine.

The event was also unfortunately at 6pm on a weeknight, which is late for me as I go to work at 6am. So, I didn’t get to stay too long after they were done with the guided tasting a bit after 8pm. I was surprised there were still some empty seats, as I had expected this to easily sell out (I purchased my ticket a few days in advance over the phone to ensure I wouldn’t get turned away). Considering that almost all of the 9 cideries were represented and that many brought more than one person, plus the Capitol Cider folks and such, there were almost as many folks that were working the event as attending the event! They were setting up live music and it looked like the party kept going after I left. The event was held in Capitol Cider’s basement bar area, which has a small stage, tables, bar height tables, a bar, pool tables & such, and restrooms.

I had an awesome time! Many of the cidermakers I had been chatting with the previous week were there. I also hadn’t previously tried 6 out of the 9 ciders they were pouring, which is quite good odds as they are all local. I tried to take some photos, but the lighting was pretty horrible. Click to biggify.

Upon sitting down I spotted a clipboard full of menus. They had menus for their cider tap list, beer & regular cocktails, cider cocktails, cider flights, food, and a cider bottle list! I focused on photographing the cider stuff. Weird angles to avoid glare; sorry. Their food menu (gluten free restaurant by the way) is on their website. I ate some pho before the event as I wasn’t sure if it would work well to try to eat dinner during it, and their menu is a bit fru-fru for my liking. That was a good call as its difficult enough to taste cider and take notes! I did however order some creme brulee, which was pretty disappointing, as it was almost half fruit, small, and expensive.

Now, on to the nine ciders of the night! They were tasted in an order to try to minimize the effect the last would have on the next, not in the numerical (alphabetical) order. I believe that all the ciders which were on their tap list were tap pours, and the remaining two (Nashi and Westcott Bay) were bottle pours. I really enjoyed hearing about the ciders as I was tasting them. They also took audience questions / comments.

(6) Tieton Ciderworks Sparkling Perry, 5.5% ABV. I hadn’t tried this one before, but have tried a number of varieties from Tieton. Its part of their “top shelf ciders” along with the Cidermaker’s Reserve (which I’ve reviewed), available in pretty 500ml bottles. Craig Campbell, a grower at Tieton’s orchard (and the one who started Tieton with his wife), was the presenter. It is made from 11 varieties of perry pears grown in their orchard (which is the largest cider apple & perry pear orchards in Washington, but still small by orchard standards). Craig noted that pears are much more difficult to grow and press into juice than apples. This perry was made using a French keeving technique, where it is slow fermented with wild yeast for 5 months. He said this method can calm some of the tannins of the perry pears. Craig also noted that this perry was just bottled/kegged in May, and may taste even better after bottle aging for 1-2 years. On the drier side of semi-sweet. Mild tartness, bitterness, and tannins. Medium bodied. Unique strawberry notes. I would have liked more carbonation, but I imagine my sample may have sat for a bit / not been able to be poured correctly due to the size. Pretty tasty!

(5) Nashi Orchards Issho Ni “Together” Cider, 6.9% ABV. This was my first time trying anything from Nashi Orchards, although I have one of their perries at home. Jim Gerlach, owner and cidermaker, was there to present. This is one of the few (two?) ciders that Nashi Orchards makes; they specialize in perry. Their orchard is full of asian pear varieties and they pride themselves in using traditional cidermaking methods. This cider was made using apples from the Vashon Island community, which included a lot of crabapples and heirloom apple varieties. It was dry fermented and not backsweetened. Smells like English cider, of rich bittersweet apples. On the drier side of semi-dry. Moderate to high tannins and bitterness. Mild tartness. I liked the bark better than the bite on this one (smelled better than it tasted). It was a bit too high in tannins & bitterness for my liking, likely from the high crabapple content. I imagine like most ciders, if I was having a full glass, I would have liked it better (vs. having a tasting glass).

(7) Snowdrift Dry, 7.6% ABV. I’ve tried a number of Snowdrift cider varieties; my favorites so far are Red (made from red fleshed apples) and Cornice (barrel aged). This one was presented by someone from Capitol Cider, but Snowdrift sent along some notes. It was commented that they have a small orchard and cidery which is ideally located in East Wenatchee, with its hot summers and cold winters, ideal for cider apples which thrive with temperature variations. Their orchard is mostly Yarlington Mill cider apples, but they have over 40 apple varieties. They noted this cider won an international contest, which is rare for a PNW cider (vs. a UK cider). Semi-dry. Clean plain apple scent. Low in tannins, bitterness, acidity, and tartness. Some citrus notes, but I otherwise didn’t pick up much. Smooth. The alcohol is well hidden. I found it kinda boring, but a very solid selection.

(2) Dragon’s Head Traditional, 6.9% ABV. This is the variety I tried at Cider Summit. I also have a bottle of their Wild Fermented at home. Wes Cherry (co-owner with his wife) presented. They are from Vashon Island, where they grow over 70 varieties of cider apples, mostly English and some French. They moved their cidery from the Seattle area 5 years ago to start the orchard. This year was their first significant harvest from their own orchard. This cider underwent malolactic fermentation (which is when malic acid is converted to lactic acid, and can often be considered a fault but some cidermakers desire it) which was arrested to retain some residual sweetness and give some butterscotch notes. Semi-dry. Higher acidity. Citrus and fruity notes. Low to moderate tannins and bitterness. Mild tartness. I really enjoyed this cider. Probably as it had a little more complexity to it and didn’t go too overboard on tannins and bitterness.

(8) Westcott Bay Semi-Dry, 6.8% ABV. This was my first time trying any ciders from Westcott Bay. Presented by Capitol Cider. Westcott Bay has their own cider orchard in the San Juan Islands which dates back to the 1870s. They re-planted in the mid 1990s and released their first cider in 1999. They make more traditional apples using cider apple varieties such as Kingston Black, Yarlington Mill, Dabinett and Sweet Coppin. Semi-sweet. Similar to English cider. Bitter finish, but still only mild to moderate. Moderate tannins. Bolder flavor. I really enjoyed this cider. I like ciders like this which have a bold flavor profile without being too bitter or too high in tannins.

(1) Alpenfire Simple Cider, 6.9% ABV. I’ve had a number of ciders from Alpenfire, but hadn’t even heard of this one (it looks like it may be tap only at this time?). I particularly like their Apocalypso and Spark! ciders. Presented by Nancy Bishop. They described themselves as a more traditional cidery whose ciders tend to be higher in tannins. They planted their cider apple orchard in 2003, then needed to learn how to use it, and get people to buy their ciders! This variety is their least traditional cider, made from basic heirloom and dessert apples. It is sweeter and described as having some honeysuckle aromas, and was lightly oak aged. On the sweeter side of semi-sweet. Slightly hazy. I picked up some honey, pear, and mild herbal notes. No significant tannins, bitterness, acidity, tartness, etc. I thought it was rather complex for a simple cider! I really enjoyed it.

(4) Liberty Ciderworks Abbess, 7.6% ABV. I’ve had a number of ciders from Liberty. Presented by Rick Hastings. This is a newer cidery from Spokane, open about a year and a half, and they currently produce 7,500 liters a year. Unlike many of the cideries featured, they don’t have their own orchard. However, they have found ways (probably at great expense) to obtain cider apples, primarily from three different orchards, including from Garfield WA. They also use a lot of crabapples. They aim to keep the apple centric, and don’t plan to do flavored ciders; their Turncoat Dry Hop cider and this one is as flavored as they get. I particularly like their Manchurian Crabapple and English Style ciders. Rick commented the Spokane cider market is growing slower than Seattle, but is still growing. Liberty was tasting their new Abbess variety, with gin botanicals. Made from Empire, Macintosh, and Manchurian Crabapples. Its been out for about a month in their tap room and has been popular. English cider scent with a hint of botanicals. On the drier side of semi-dry. Bold flavored. A hint of botanical flavor. Significant tartness, bitterness, and tannins. I’m not a huge fan of this one, but it didn’t have any faults and is a solid selection.

(9) Whitewood Cider Kingston Black, 9.7 ABV. I had tried this cider at Cider Summit, but didn’t mind having it again in the least, as it was one of my favorites! I’ve only tried Whitewood’s Summer Switchel and this one, but look forward to trying some others. Presented by Dave White. Whitewood released their first ciders in 2013, so this is their third season. Dave aims to make more traditional ciders, with heirloom & cider apple varieties. He noted their Southsounder cider is made from apples within 20 miles of Olympia. This Kingston Black cider was made with champagne yeast, but Dave hopes to eventually make a wild fermented batch. It is 80% Kingston Black and 20% ~~Cornish~~ [Porter’s] Perfection, much to Dave’s disappointment. He aimed to make a single varietal, but apparently the Kingston Black apples were sliding around too much during pressing or something, as they were sweated to bring out more flavor. Doing an almost single varietal Kingston Black cider must have been very expensive, as they are rare. ~~He noted some Woodinville Whiskey was added to the barrel before aging~~. [The barrel was from Wishkah River Distillery in Aberdeen, WA.] I don’t like aged spirits, but love the flavor in a cider. This cider was taken out of fermentation in early 2014 and barrel aged until just recently. Dry. Whiskey and vanilla notes. Rich bold flavor. Very smooth, with hidden ABV. Low to moderate bitterness. Yum!

(3) Finnriver Fire Barrel, 6.5% ABV. I’ve tried a large number of Finnriver ciders, and even tried this variety quite awhile ago. I remembered really looking forward to it but being disappointed. I bought another bottle recently as so many folks enjoy this cider, and I wanted to give it another chance, as my palate has changed. So, here will eventually be a full review of it here. Presented by Eric Jorgensen, a co-founder. They were described as a small organic farm which started selling cider in 2010. Eric thinks they were the least traditional of the nine cideries present. However, he described this as their most traditional cider, as it is made from cider apples. They started a second orchard three years ago and aim to remain sustainable and organic. This cider recipe was original produced by Drew Zimmerman, who sold the rights when he retired. It is made from Kingston Black, Yarlington Mill, and Dabinett cider apple varieties. This cider is no longer aged in Kentucky whiskey barrels though, as they aim to keep it more local, instead using UT or WA barrels. This cider has inspired Finnriver to take on other barrel aging projects. They mentioned they are barrel aging a small batch of their Black Currant cider, which sounds awesome, as that is one of my favorites of theirs, along with Honey Meadow. Very smooth. On the sweeter side of semi-dry. Mild barrel notes. Bold flavor. Moderate tannins, bitterness, and acidity. I was surprised with how much I enjoyed this cider, in contrast to my memory from awhile back. I look forward to drinking the bottle I have at home!

I was interested in buying four bottles to take home from Capitol Cider, but they only had two of the ones I wanted, Virtue The Mitten and AeppelTreow Appely Doux. I had heard of both but didn’t know they even sold them in WA! I had been wanting to try The Mitten ever since I got into cider; it often makes top cider lists. Note that the prices shown on their bottle list below are to drink there, but you get a 25% discount to take home. That brings their prices just a bit over local bottle shops for most ciders. The cost to drink a bottle is much less of a markup than most wine lists. However, with all those ciders on tap, why would you want to? They initially forgot to apply the 25% discount (they were very busy and I was asked them to go to the back and find specific bottles), so I was very glad I checked my receipt.

Unfortunately the cider list was stapled at the top, so even taking it off the clipboard I couldn’t get good photos. The angles are again to avoid glare from overhead lighting. Impressive bottle list! However, the win still goes to the Schilling Cider House in Fremont, as you can look at the actual bottles.

I got my new copy of World’s Best Ciders (which I reviewed here recently) autographed by Bill Bradshaw, and even got to chat with him for a few minutes.

Stay tuned for the last but not least Washington Cider Week event post, from the 2 Towns night at the Schilling Cider House! Like Cider Says on Facebook for the latest info.

Cider Summit Seattle 2015 Tasting Notes

September 21, 2015September 10, 2017 cidersays 101 Ciderhouse, 2 Towns, Alpenfire, Anthem, Apple Outlaw, Cider Summit, Dragon's Head, E.Z. Orchards, Eaglemount, Eden, event, Farnum Hill, Finnriver, Liberty, local, Manoir du Parc, Millstone, Montana Ciderworks, Moonlight Meadery, NV Cider, One Tree, review, Sea Cider, Snowdrift, Sonoma Cider, Traditions, Wandering Aengus, Whitewood, Woodinville Ciderworks, Worley's cider, cider summit, cider summit seattle, cider tasting, hard cider, seattle

What an epic event! This long-awaited post will cover my tasting notes on the 32 ciders I tried at Cider Summit 2015 (Sept 11 & 12 2015 at South Lake Union). Another post (post 2/2 now up HERE) will cover information about the event and have lots of photos, including of the swag I picked up and the event program. I was lucky enough to attend both days, and after a couple tastes I learned to ask for a smaller pour!

When you are going for quantity (vs. many of the folks who were just there to drink some cider and didn’t care so much what type or trying as many as they could), the smaller the taste the better, as long as you can get a couple good gulps in. Sorry in advance I don’t have too many cider photos (its difficult at an event like this to juggle a glass, notepad, camera phone, etc), but post 2 will have more event & booth photos. Hopefully someone enjoys these notes, as it took me many hours.

101 Cider House Black Dog Black Cider (Westlake Village CA). 6.9% ABV. This is a unique “black cider”, which is from adding activated charcoal (apparently a new beverage trend, and is good for the digestion too). It also includes lemon and agave nectar. The color turned out a very weird green-blue-black tint (see below). Fairly dry. I’d say similar to Spanish Sidra (as it had a lot of sour citrus flavor) with a hint of weird from the charcoal. I thought of it as more of a novelty, but some of my tasting buddies said they would actually buy a bottle. This was more drinkable than their Cactus Red (which was crazy tart), but not my thing.

2 Towns Prickle Me Pink (Corvallis OR). 6.0% ABV. This cider was released just this week, and uses prickly pear cactus fruit juice from California (reminiscent of my time in Arizona). Semi-dry. Fluorescent pink color! Tart. Nice and flavorful. Some cactus fruit flavor (yes I’ve actually eaten one before and know what they taste like), but also some berry and watermelon notes.

Alpenfire Ember (Port Townsend WA). 7.2% ABV. This one is made from French & English bittersweet apples, organic, wild fermented, and bottle conditioned. Semi-dry. Higher carbonation. Very high tannins and moderate astringency (I’d almost describe the mouthfeel as “chunky” lol). I wasn’t really a fan, but folks who like a really high tannin ciders probably would. I really love their Spark! and Apocalypso though, which are their more approachable and sweeter varieties. Their Smoke was also pretty tasty.

Anthem Ap-Bee-Cot (Salem OR). 6.5% ABV. Apple-apricot cider fermented with natural yeast from bee pollen. Draft only. Semi-dry, unfiltered, and tart, with mild apricot & honey notes. I’ve not really been a fan of any of Wandering Aengus / Anthem’s ciders.

Apple Outlaw Oaked Sweet Dark Cherry (Applegate OR). unknown ABV. Tart with mild cherry notes and the slightest hint of oak barrel flavor. Not really impressed, but it wasn’t bad at all either. The first time I’ve tried their ciders. At this time they also offer Original, Rabid Dry, Ginger Bite, Cranberry Jewel, Hoppin’ Holdup, and Tangerine Twist in bottles.

Dragon’s Head Traditional (Vashon Island WA). 6.8% ABV. Semi-dry, rather still, smooth, acidic, mild tartness, and moderate tannins. My first time trying their cider (although I have a bottle of their Wild Fermented at home). A pretty solid selection.

Eaglemount Homestead Dry (Port Townsend WA). 8.0% ABV. Hazy. Dry, tart, and bitter. Made with heirloom apple varieties including Gravenstein, White Pippin, Stayman’s Winesap, and Tolman Sweet. Not really my thing. I love their Quince though! I mostly tried it as I wanted to try another one of their offerings, and nothing else sounded interesting (Rhubarb, Raspberry Ginger, and Boot Brawl, which is hopped). A solid choice for those who like this style of cider though.

Eden Heirloom Blend Ice Cider (Newport VT). 10% ABV. Very sweet. Syrupy but awesome bold full flavor. Well-hidden ABV. Vanilla and brown sugar notes. I look forward to trying more from Eden! It was awesome to meet Eleanor at the Burgundian event the night before and try two of their other ciders. I hadn’t tried any of their ciders before this weekend. My husband surprised me with a bottle of this for our anniversary! Happy wife.

E.Z. Orchards Semi-Dry (Salem OR). 6.4% ABV. On the sweeter side of semi-dry. Uses French bittersweet apples, which have lower acidity and bring in some tannins and tartness. This was my first time trying their ciders. Pretty tasty.

Farnum Hill Extra Dry (Lebanon NH). 7.5% ABV. I’d still call this one dry, not extra dry, as I picked up a hint of residual sugar. Very tannic and acidic with moderate bitterness. Significant carbonation. Not really my cup of tea, but I think this is a great wine-lovers cider. I had wanted to try their Dooryard, which had been on the tasting list, but they didn’t have it.

Finnriver Country Peach (Chimacum WA). 6.5% ABV. Hazy slightly pink lemonade color. Semi-dry. Sour and tart, but a more approachable sour than some (vs. their Barrel Berry Sour and traditional Sidra and such). More of a peach skin than peach taste. Acidic and slightly vinegary.

Finnriver Cyser Cider (Chimacum WA). 6.9% ABV. Honey cider made with mead yeast. Semi-dry. Similar to their Honey Meadow, but without the hint of herbal flavor (I like Honey Meadow better). Low acidity, tartness, and bitterness. Earthy.

Liberty Ciderworks English Style Cider (Spokane WA). 8.0% ABV. Made with cider apples (including Dabinett, Yarlington Mill and Ashton Bitter) and aged for over a year. Semi-dry. Lovely bittersweet flavors with a bit of a “bite”. Tannic and acidic. Bright amber. Very tasty, and definitely English-style. I’m a big fan of theirs, and looking forward to trying the bottle of their Stonewall Dry Fly Barrel-Aged cider I have at home.

Manoir du Parc Authentic Cidre (Normandy France). 5% ABV? A naturally carbonated (bottle conditioned) wild yeast fermented traditional French cider with “no shit added” per the French dude pouring it lol. Semi-dry. Funky, tart, high carbonation, and high tannin. A bit too traditional / funky for my tastes, maybe from the wild fermentation? So far I’ve been more impressed with Dan Armor and Domaine Pacory Poire Domfront from France.

Millstone Cellars Farmgate Dry (Monkton MD). 8.5% ABV. I really wanted to give Millstone another chance, as I didn’t care for their Cobbler at all. I chose this one mostly as the other varieties they were pouring weren’t appealing (hopped, ginger, and strawberry rhubarb). Barrel aged and made from 40% Stayman Winesap, 30% Northern Spy, 25% Jonathan, and 5% Cameo apples. Apparently they are known for tart, funky, and astringent ciders which are similar to Sidra, although of course no one told me! In contrast to Cobbler, I found this drinkable, but I still didn’t care for it. Definitely dry, tart, sour, funky, and astringent. To me all those qualities were overpowering such that that the cider couldn’t shine and I couldn’t detect any barrel influence, etc. A lot of folks really like sour ciders (and beers) though. Shoutout to Kyle who I e-mailed with, was there pouring cider, and really wanted me to find something from them I liked! I also saw him at the Burgundian the night before. They recently re-did their website, and I think it does a much better job of describing their cider style. The mis-advertisement on the bottle and their website was my main complaint about Cobbler (I get not everyone likes every cider so I never fault a cider because I didn’t like it)…that it wasn’t described as sour, tart, astringent, funky, etc.

Montana Ciderworks Darby Pub Cider (Sula MT). 5% ABV. Semi-sweet. Described as “semi-dry new world style”. Sold in MT, WA, and CO. English cider flavor with some woody & earthy notes, but its an easy drinking and approachable variety. Fuller bodied and effervescent. Mostly Spartan (Montanan) apples, but the earthy notes are from some bittersharp and crab apples. I wasn’t expecting it to be as sweet as it was (slightly back sweetened), but it was nice. This was my first time trying their cider, and I’m impressed!

Moonlight Meadery How do you like them Apples Bourbon Barrel Cider (Londonderry NH). 13.5% ABV. Draft-only cider with honey and brown sugar, aged at least 3 months in Jim Beam bourbon barrels they used for their Last Apple mead. Very similar to their How do you like them Little Apples I tried at the Schilling Cider House, which was also bourbon barrel aged (this one was slightly sweeter and had more barrel flavor). Very tasty! Definitely sweet and syrupy, but it has a lovely rich barrel flavor too.

Moonlight Meadery Kurt’s Apple Pie Mead (Londonderry NH). 16.8% ABV. Mead bottle pour. Made from local apple cider, Madagascar-bourbon vanilla, and Vietnamese cinnamon spice. My husband got a small pour and I tried a sip. Not really my thing because of the spice, but very smooth. This is one of their most popular products.

Neigel Vintners (NV) Cider Cherry Perry (Wenatchee WA). 5.1% ABV. They announced this new variety when I interviewed brothers and co-founders Kevin & Mark Van Reenen, and this weekend was its release. They left this fairly unfiltered, so there was a nice thicker mouthfeel with both pear and cherry flavors. Very balanced between the two flavors. Sweet but not overly. Yum! I was surprised to see a couple other local cideries also make a “Cherry Perry”, Wildcraft and Carlton. They don’t currently plan to bottle it, but if they do, they noted it would have to be slightly more filtered so it would be more stable.

One Tree Caramel Cinnamon (Spokane Valley WA). 6.8% ABV. Sweet. Cinnamon with a hint of caramel. Syrupy. Spiced cider isn’t really my thing, but I was intrigued. Their booth was very popular at the event.

One Tree Lemon Basil (Spokane Valley WA). 6.5% ABV. Semi-sweet. Nice lemonade-type tartness with a hint of herbal basil flavor. Very unique. This was my first time trying ciders from One Tree. They are fairly new, but seem to quickly be building a following. At this time they also offer Cranberry, Huckleberry, and Ginger in bottles, and Crisp Apple in cans.

Sea Cider Bramble Bubbly (Saanichton B.C.). 9.9% ABV. Semi-sweet. My sample didn’t have much if any carbonation, so I missed out on the “bubbly” part, but it was the end of the bottle. Lovely berry/rosé color but the blackberry flavor was a bit underwhelming and sorta standard. Some tartness. Overall it was disappointing…I had really been looking forward to trying this one (its difficult to find this side of the border and I’d always rather taste something than commit to a bottle, especially when its in that $20 price range for a 750ml). I will say that it hid the alcohol very well though, and was well-crafted. I really love their Prohibition, but that is a completely different flavor profile!

Snowdrift Cliffbreaks Blend (Wenatchee WA). 7.6% ABV. Semi-sweet. I picked up a lot of pear notes with this one for some reason? Its supposed to be more of an English / bittersweet apple cider with some melon & dried fruit notes. A bit tart with a hint of citrus too. I tried it at a different time than the Perry (below) too. Bold flavor, but I didn’t really get that richness I was expecting. Very tasty nonetheless. This is probably the most popular of their regular line. Their Red & Cornice are probably their most popular overall. I was happy to hear they are increasing production & distribution of both of those, as they are my favorites…the Red slightly more so, which is odd as barrel aged is usually my favorite. I was very happy to pick up two bottles of Red for $12 each at Whole Food’s 20% off cider day (Friday of Cider Summit). Its a good thing I picked them up near home, as they were out at the one near the Summit.

Snowdrift Perry (Wenatchee WA). 10.1% ABV. Semi-dry. I was expecting different with this one…I tasted a lot of bitterness & tartness, and only a very mild pear flavor. I haven’t had too many true perries though, so I probably didn’t know what to really expect. Its made in the labor-intensive way of Méthode Champenoise (secondary fermentation). I wasn’t really a fan. Red is definitely still my favorite from Snowdrift….and it was getting a lot of love at the Summit!

Sonoma Cider Dry Zider (Healdsburg CA). 6.9% ABV. Cider aged in Red Zinfandel oak barrels for 7 months. Rosé wine-like cider. Very dry (0.3 BRIX). Light berry/salmon color. A bit tart. Nice fizz. Not bad, but not really my sort of cider. This one is a special release that is available now (has slowly been rolling out for a few months).

Sonoma Cider The Pulley (Healdsburg CA). unknown ABV. This is a brand new variety for them, and launched at the event (not even bottled yet)! They referred to it as absinthe-style, and said the only addition was fennel. Dry. Slight herbal flavor. Very unique. Not bad, but not my sort of cider. I got to meet David (one of the cidermakers, with his son Robert).

Traditions Ciderworks (by 2 Towns) Amity Rose 2012 (Corvallis OR). 6.5% ABV. Made from traditional French and English cider apples grown in Amity OR. Semi-sweet (but maybe it just came across that way? I’m guessing it would test drier). Rather plain, but wine-like with some honey notes.

Traditions Ciderworks (by 2 Towns) Bourbon Barrel 2012 (Corvallis OR). 6.9% ABV. On the sweeter side of dry. Strong unique bourbon barrel flavor, but not overwhelming. Very smooth. Light bodied. Higher in tannins. Aged in Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels for 4 months (apparently they got their barrels very wet, so it adds more of the flavor of the spirit). Made with Dabinett & Kingston Black cider apples and wine yeast. Awesome! This was my first time trying their Traditions line, which uses cider apples and is sold in 750 ml bottles (vs. the regular 2 Towns line which uses dessert apples and is sold in 500ml bottles, plus a couple selections in cans). Definitely try this one if you can find some! I was very happy to get my hands on a bottle (at Full Throttle Bottles, as they ran out at Cider Summit, or couldn’t find it or whatever).

Traditions Ciderworks (by 2 Towns) Riverwood 2013 (Corvallis OR). 6.9% ABV. Semi-sweet. Made with Jonagold apples (a cross between Golden Delicious and Jonathan) and inspired by sparkling brut champagnes. I found it very similar to their Amity Rose but slightly sweeter, with some floral notes. I imagine if I sat down with both of them I’d have better tasting notes, but I had just a few sips of each one after the other.

Wandering Aengus Oaked Dry (Salem OR). 6.8% ABV. Made from English and French bittersweet apples. Dry. Mild barrel earthy flavor. Fairly easy drinking for a barrel aged cider. Like all of their ciders though, I picked up more bitterness than I prefer, so I’m not a big fan.

Whitewood Whisky Barrel Aged Kingston Black (Olympia WA). 9.7% ABV. I was really looking forward to this one (mostly as Kingston Black is a famous epitome of a cider apple and I’ve never had a single varietal of it), and it didn’t disappoint! Apparently this isn’t a true single varietal (ended up 80% Kingston Black and 20% Porter’s Perfection due to some pressing difficulty due to the type of apples), but very close. Aged almost 2 years in Wishkaw River whiskey barrels! Dry. Significant rich barrel flavor. Higher acidity and tannins with some tartness. Longer finish. Very similar to Traditions Bourbon Barrel, but more cider apple than (good) boozy flavor (although this one is higher ABV as Kingston Black has a high sugar content). Quite different from their Summer Switchel I tried previously. Definitely try this one if you can find some (very small run)!

Woodinville Ciderworks Tropical (Woodinville WA). 6.3% ABV. Tap pour. Cider from dessert apple juice (granny smith, gala, fuji, etc, from Fruit Smart) with mango & passionfruit essence (fresh made concentrate) to backsweeten. Semi-sweet. Definitely some nice bold tropical flavor going on. Mild tartness. Good fizz. Definitely a tasty easy drinking cider that I think with the right price and advertising would sell well. I found it very interesting that the cidermaker/owner Leroy said he ~~made this~~ (added: put the finishing touches on this) Tuesday for the weekend event, comparing to his experience in the wine industry where it takes much longer to get out a product. (added: the cider was tank aged for 4 months and back sweetened just before the event) Most craft cidermakers I’ve talked to will at least tank age then bottle age a bit, if not bottle condition, their ciders, so although the product is done quickly, they don’t consider it ready for many months. This event was their release! They said bottles should be in stores in about a month. Overall I think its a solid introductory craft cider, kinda similar to Atlas. The flavor of their Tropical reminded me a bit of Rev Nat’s Revival, although Rev Nat didn’t add any tropical flavor to the cider (it was all from the yeast, which must have been difficult). I’m very intrigued to see what they will price their bottles at.

Worley’s Special Reserve (Shepton Mallet England). 5.4% ABV. A keeved bottle conditioned cider made from cider apple varieties. Semi-sweet. Slightly hazy, moderate tartness, and high tannins. This was my first time trying their cider, although I have a bottle of their “Premium Vintage” at home. It was a solid selection, but nothing too remarkable. Maybe as it wasn’t all that cold and had lost some fizz, which is a drawback of bottle pours from events like this.

So, what were my favorite ciders you may ask? Traditions Bourbon Barrel followed by Whitewood Kingston Black. Both were fairly similar bold barrel aged ciders, which is my typical favorite cider type. I was disappointed I couldn’t get a bottle of either at the event (they were out or couldn’t find them or whatever). However, I was able to try the Whitewood Kingston Black again at the Bill Bradshaw tasting event with 9 local cideries at Capitol Cider the Tuesday after Cider Summit, and found a bottle of the Traditions Bourbon Barrel at Full Throttle Bottles.

Other favorites included Liberty’s English Style, Eden Heirloom Blend, Moonlight Meadery How do you like them apples bourbon barrel, and Montana Ciderworks Darby Pub Cider. Definitely impressed. I didn’t really have a single bad cider (there aren’t too many out there), although there were some I didn’t care for. Stay tuned for Cider Summit 2015 post 2/2, and posts on the remaining two Washington Cider Week events I went to!

Let me know what you think! Comments please.

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East Meets West: An Evening with Eden and Alpenfire Ciders at Burgundian Bar

September 15, 2015August 10, 2017 cidersays Alpenfire, Cider Summit, Eden, event, local, review, Washington Cider Week Alpenfire, Burgundian, cider, cider review, cider summit, cider tasting, Eden, hard cider, seattle, Washington Cider Week

Stop 2 on Thursday night brought me to the Burgundian bar in Seattle. Cidermakers from Eden Ice Cider (Newport VT) and Alpenfire Organic Hard Cider (Port Townsend WA) were on hand to chat, they were pouring ciders from each, and there were even specialty cocktails using their ciders. It started off very slow at 5pm, but that worked very well for me as I got some awesome conversations in while there were more industry folks than customers. I met Kyle from Millstone Cellars (Monkton MD); I had e-mailed with him about their Cobbler cider and he remembered me. I also met Dan from Orcas Distributing, which is one of the main cider distributors in the Seattle area. I got to see both again the next day at Cider Summit.

The special event menu is below (click to biggify). They also had a number of bottle pour ciders from Eden, Alpenfire, and more. There was unfortunately only one draft cider as they apparently had some logistical issues.

I started with a glass of Alpenfire Apocalypso, a double rum barrel aged blackberry cider. This is their Calypso cider but rum barrel aged for four instead of two months. This draft-only cider was $6 for 6oz (Calypso runs about $13 for a 500ml bottle). 6.9% ABV. Middle of the road sweetness. Berry with a touch of wood scent. Lovely berry hue. Fruity, moderately tart, with a hint of barrel influence. Very tasty! It had more complexity than your average fruity cider, which I really enjoyed. There haven’t been too many fruity ciders I’ve been impressed with, but this is one. Apocalypso is probably a tie with Spark! for my favorite Alpenfire cider so far.

I chatted with Eleanor Leger from Eden Ice Cider for quite awhile. it was awesome to learn more about Eden’s ciders, as I had seen them and was very interested, but hadn’t tried any yet. Eden’s ciders are made by husband & wife team Eleanor & Albert Leger. They specialize in and started with ice ciders, but have also branched out into aperitif and traditional ciders. In addition to offering their customers more variety, both of these products are a way for them to use the same juice as their ice ciders, from a second and third pressing (the sugar content decreases). They may actually be the only company selling cider apertifs at this time. It was interesting to hear they are even trying to find uses for the “apple water” which is left after making the cider, such as selling it to a gin distillery which would use it in place of water for added flavor.

They were the first ice cider company in the U.S. and also have their own orchard of cider apples. Ice cider by the way is a dessert wine variety which was developed in Canada, and is made from apples which have been concentrated by natural winter cold. The apples are harvested at peak ripeness then kept in cold storage. After pressing, the juice is set outdoors to freeze for 6-8 weeks, which results in a residual concentrate which is high in sugar and flavor. The concentrate is then fermented, cold stabilized, filtered, and bottled, leaving a high alcohol and high residual sugar cider. The final amount of cider is typically less than 1/4 of the original amount of juice pressed. Eleanor told me approximately 20% of their juice is used for ice cider, 7% for apertif, 8% for cider, and the remaining 65% is “apple water”.

I then tried Eden’s Oak Aged Sparkling Dry Cider, 8.5% ABV, $9 for a 6oz bottle pour (runs around $10 for a 375ml bottle). This is Eden’s first traditional cider (also available in Semi-Dry), released in 2013, and distribution was expanded outside of VT in 2014. It is naturally sparkling from bottle conditioning using juice, not sugar (Methode Champenoise, which is VERY labor intensive; here is a great explaination). This cider is crafted from traditional and heirloom apples (50% Kingston Black) grown within 200 miles of their cidery, aged in French oak puncheons (twice the size of typical barrels) for one year, then bottle conditioned for six months.. The purpose of the barrel aging in this case is to impart a more mature flavor, and it can actually increase the amount of tannins as well (vs. when a barrel from spirits is used it would also impart the flavor of the spirit, such as bourbon).

<disclaimer: these bottle label photos were taken at Whole Foods the following
day as I didn’t get a chance to ask the bartender to see the bottle>

Using such a large amount of Kingston Black apples is expensive, and Eleanor discussed the cost difference between using juice pressed from dessert apples ($2.50-4.00 / gallon) and juice pressed from cider apples ($8.00-10.00 / gallon) to make cider. The high cost is primarily due to their rarity. Hopefully in the coming years the cost will go down as availability increases, which will also increase the quality of ciders as more cidermakers use cider instead of dessert variety apples. In addition to apples from Eden’s own orchard (which has about 1,000 trees and took approximately 5 years to go from planting to first harvest), they use a lot of apples from the nearby Scott Farm on Kipling’s estate, which is an old Macintosh orchard which was top grafted with many heirloom and cider apple varieties. I also learned about Eden’s newest product addition, Imperial 11 Rose, which is an off-dry lightly sparkling 11% ABV cider made from heirloom apples and red currant. Perfect for the wine-loving cider drinker.

On to the Eden Sparkling Dry cider tasting notes: Lovely brilliant amber with tiny bubbles and a light foam ring. Definitely dry, but there was a touch of residual sweetness. Ripe apple scent and taste. Moderate amounts of acidity, tannins, and bitterness. Mild tartness. Medium bodied. High carbonation. Hints of earthiness and funk. Very well crafted and balanced. I could really taste the difference from using cider apples (vs. dessert apples) and bottle conditioning (vs. force carbonating). A perfect cider alternative to champagne. Yum!

It was a special treat to enjoy it while sitting and chatting with the cidermaker. I typically have trouble tolerating both dryness and bitterness in a cider, but both were so well balanced with the acidity, tannins, and carbonation that I found the cider enjoyable. I may have to pick up a bottle of this to have on hand; the small bottle size and reasonable cost (moreso per bottle not per ounce) are nice.

I also met Nancy Bishop and her son Philippe from Alpenfire. Ron from DrinkingCider.com and crew also showed up later!

Eleanor from Eden even brought some specialty ciders with her all the way from VT that aren’t available here in WA. I had to leave before the event was over as I had work at 6am the next day (Friday) so I was unfortunately only able to taste one, dubbed “Cinderella’s Slipper”. It was a very special variety that hasn’t been released. It was their first cider made only from (35 varieties of) apples from Eden’s own orchard. It had literally been forgotten about, sitting in a tank at Eden’s old facility for a year. I found it to be dry, still, slightly tart, highly acidic, and high in tannins. Very unique!

Here is a photo of the bartender at the Burgundian making one of the specialty cocktails by the way. They were all very pretty and involved many interesting ingredients (time consuming for the bartender when Eleanor decided to try all four lol). See the photo of the menu at the top of this post.

However, I didn’t try any, as I am pretty picky when it comes to food & drink, especially cocktails (I don’t like gin or any aged spirits for example), and none of them sounded good to me. Plus, I don’t really get the point of mixing high end cider into a cocktail; to me it would be like mixing expensive vodka with orange juice or whatever. I’d rather drink the cider on its own and get the full experience of it! I will admit I haven’t tried a cider cocktail though, and its something I want to do.

Cider cocktails seem all the rage lately around here, with Capitol Cider pouring them at Cider Summit, and Darlene Hayes even wrote a book all about them! I was lucky enough to meet Darlene Hayes at Cider Summit and chat with her for a bit (she likes my blog by the way–very cool). Check out her blog as well, All Into Cider, which has some great stories and information about cider.

Stay tuned for more Washington Cider Week posts at Cider Says. Up next are posts about Cider Summit itself (including more tasting notes on Eden and Alpenfire ciders), then the Bill Bradshaw tasting event at Capitol Cider, and Schilling Cider House (2 Towns night but also hoping for some barrel aged ciders left from the night before). I have quite a lot of photos and tasting notes to go through from Cider Summit though, so I apologize if there is a delay in the Cider Summit post/s. To give a hint, I believe the final count is 33 ciders that I tried! However, I have some other cider review posts to cue up in the meantime. Cheers!

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