Depending on where your cidermakers get their fruit, April through September can be prime time for sourcing stone fruit to add into their blends. With fermentation math on our side, we should see another flood of stone fruit-infused ciders rushing the market soon. Here are six to check out next.
Plum Intended | Citizen Cider | Burlington, VT
Plum and apple as they should be, whole plums from a nearby orchard are macerated in 100 percent local apples. The coupling is then fermented, using yeast traditionally seen in sake (rice wine). Tiny bubbles marry the clean flavors of the ripe stone fruit and bright apple for a crisp finish. | 6.8% ABV | 750ml | $12
Apricot Sage | Meriwether Cider Co. | Garden City, Idaho
Juice from Northwest apples is back-sweetened with apricot and seasoned with a house-made tincture of freshly dried sage. This family-run operation specializes in infusions, homing in on the full-bodied, savory and sumptuous flavors of summer in a vibrant and flavor-packed offering. Pair with sharp cheddar and apricot preserves. | 6.9% ABV | 22oz | $8
POM-Cherry | Atlas Cider Co. | Bend, OR
Electric red fruits pop in this electrically hued cider produced exclusively from Northwest apples, berries and stone fruit. Tart pomegranate melds with sweet cherry and ripe apple, balancing the succulent flavors in its bright and off-dry, approachable finish. | 5.8% ABV | 22oz | $7
Cherry Glider | Colorado Cider Co. | Denver, CO
Tart Michigan cherries are added to this urban cidery’s flagship Glider cider, a semi-dry blend of dessert fruit from Colorado’s booming and blooming Western Slope, as well as from Washington State. A union of flavors from throughout the country, pie cherry couples with lively apple and zingy acidity. | 6.5% | 22oz | $8
Hallelujah Hopricot | Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider | Portland, OR
A year-round bottling for these experimental cider enthusiasts, a dessert apple blend is steeped with coriander, bitter orange peel and paradise grains, then fermented with Belgian saison ale yeast. Apricot juice and Cascade hops are added as a finishing touch to the tangy, zesty, off-dry cider that tastes as billed. | 6.7% ABV | 500ml | $7
Imperial Blizzard | Embark Craft Ciderworks | Williamson, NY
Clocking in at a heftier alcohol weight class, this deep and layered cider is far from heady. Plums and sweet cherries are added to the New York heirloom apple base post-fermentation, resulting in an unctuous and complex cider. Drink next to slow-smoked ribs. | 8% ABV | 500ml | $8
This story originally ran in CIDERCRAFT Volume 10. For the full story and more like it, click here.
