If you’re reading this, it is likely established that cider is made from apples. This, to say the least, is no secret. While an impressive amount of variety has been achieved using this one fruit, it may leave many fans of the drink yearning for something a bit different. The cideries below all shared that sentiment at one point and decided to utilize truly local ingredients — whether they be berries unique to a specific part of the country, a strain of honeysuckle foraged straight from the local woods, or their state fruit — to create a cider wholly unique to their home state.
Made Marion Marionberry Cider || 2 Towns Ciderhouse || Corvallis, OR
About an hour and a half outside of Portland sits Corvallis, home of 2 Towns Ciderhouse, the makers of this delicious, 100 percent Oregon-grown cider. Made with nothing but apples and marionberries, Oregon hybrid subspecies of the blackberry, Made Marion marionberry cider has both an aroma and taste dominated by the berries. A semi-sweet cider with a tart finish, this is a refreshingly Oregonian cider.
Kalypso Cider || Mad Beach Craft Brewing Co. || Madeira Beach, FL
If there’s three things that Florida is known for it’s sunshine, retirement homes and key limes. Valued for being a more flavorful variety of the standard lime, Madeira Beach’s Mad Beach Craft Brewing has decided to take the key lime and use it to make their Kalypso Cider, a sweet and appropriately tart cider.
Honeysuckle Cider || Dingo Dog Brewing || Carrboro, NC
This unique cider from North Carolina-based Dingo Dog Brewing (named after the 16-year-old St. Bernard mix that serves as the company’s mascot) is made from locally foraged, wild-grown honeysuckle that is then steeped in this release of the Suzie’s Cider series, resulting in a sweet and floral cider. As an added bonus, a portion of Dingo Dog Brewing’s profits go towards funding an animal rescue fund created by the brewery’s founder’s family in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
JC Bull Dog Peach Hard Cider || Bull Dog Hard Cider || Cleveland, GA
In the heart of Cleveland, GA (not to be confused with Cleveland, OH) sits Sautee Hard Cider Co., cidermaker of Bull Dog Hard Cider and its wickedly tasty semi-sweet cider, supplemented with famous Georgia peaches. The slightly tart finish helps to prevent the drink from ever becoming too dominated by either flavor. Bursting with both the flavor and aroma of Georgia peaches, this is a cider that could be enjoyed on its own, with food, or even in food.
Blueberry Cider || Kennebec Cider Co. || Winthrop, ME
For this cider, Kennebec Cider Co. has combined both apples and hand-picked wild blueberries to create a delectably refreshing cider that is perfect for any season. Wild blueberries, Maine’s state fruit, are smaller than run-of-the-mill blueberries but pack a much bigger punch, making them perfect for cooking, baking, and especially cider.
Cranberry Road || CiderBoys Hard Cider || Stevens Point, WI
In 2004, the fifth grade class from Trevor Grade School in Trevor, Wisconsin, carefully concluded that the cranberry would serve as a much better state fruit than would the runner-up cherry, and so the state adopted the cranberry as the official state fruit of Wisconsin. Almost one decade later, CiderBoys created Cranberry Road, a cider made with a blend of apples and cranberries. What resulted was a sweet semi-tart cider that would make for a perfect dessert in the fall season during which Cranberry Road is available.
