Get outta town this spring with these five cideries and orchards that require a scenic and worthy drive from a major metropolitan hub. Pro tip: toss a box in the trunk to hold the bottles you’ll inevitably purchase for later consumption when you’re back in the city.
Brooklyn Cider House at Twin Star Orchards
April through early November, drive the 80 miles outside of the Brooklyn bar to taste the Basque-inspired Raw and the Kinda Dry in the cider house’s big red barn in New Paltz, New York, before settling along the lake to enjoy one of the wood-fired pizzas served on-site.
Sapsucker Farms Yellow Belly Cider
Every Saturday from August through October, travel 70 miles north of Minneapolis for small-batch ciders that are made from 100 percent Minnesota apples. Taste the balanced Semi Sweet and the refreshing Lemon Basil.
ÆppelTreow Winery & Distillery
Thirty-five miles from Milwaukee and 80 miles from Chicago, this Midwest cidery offers weekend tastings. Try a flight of cider and perry made from modern and heirloom apple varieties, including one of the six in the Songbird series, such as the Sparrow Spiced Draft Cider.
Finnriver Farm & Cidery
Less than 50 miles from Seattle, this 50-acre organic farm grows more than 6,000 heirloom and traditional cider apple trees, with 20 acres also farming grains like quinoa and buckwheat. A historic former dairy, the fields and buildings were recently renovated to create a cider-focused gathering space, featuring Finnriver’s expansive line of ciders to be enjoyed on-site.
Snow-Line Orchard
This family-owned apple orchard is located 80 miles from Los Angeles and uses their historic mill to produce batch craft ciders made with California ingredients. Rotating options include a semi-sour cider and their semisweet, Black Dot, a name that comes from a family tradition of marking caps of cider jugs with a black dot once they start to ferment.
This story originally ran in the print Vol. 12 of Cidercraft magazine. For the full article and more like it, click here.
