Nine Pin Cider: Farm Cidery Revitalizes Albany’s urban core

As New York’s first farm cidery, Albany-based Nine Pin Cider isn’t required to be located on a farm, but it is required to source 100% of its apples from the Empire State. The vast majority of the cidery’s fruit comes from Nine Pin’s partner farm, Samascott Orchards, with growers in Wayne County, the Finger Lakes, and the lower Hudson Valley supplying additional apples. Sourcing only from New York, however, is far from a limitation: A typical can of Nine Pin Cider includes about 30 varieties of apples, and specialties like Cider Monster can boast over 150 varieties. Nine Pin’s lineup is a veritable ode to the diversity of New York apples.

It was New York apples that enticed co-owner and cidermaker Alejandro del Peral to return home after apprenticing at Citizen Cider in Vermont and open Nine Pin with his mother, retired attorney Sonya del Peral. “In upstate New York, the orchards, apples and cider are part of our culture,” says Alejandro del Peral. “Everyone who lives here has their favorite orchard for pick-your-own and are fierce about who they think makes the best cider doughnut — in New York, cider runs in our veins.”

Despite founding Nine Pin with limited cidermaking experience, Alejandro had a background in biology and hydro-engineering, while Sonya brought experience with small business regulation, real estate, intellectual property and liquor licensing. Those strengths — plus a passion for supporting regional agriculture — allowed the pair to successfully establish Nine Pin in 2013.

Since then, their success has grown. Nine Pin recently received a $50,000 economic development grant via National Grid’s Main Street Revitalization Program. “This grant was awarded because we were able to occupy, renovate and revitalize an abandoned facility located right behind our existing facility and tasting room, which is an anchor business in the vibrant scene that is Albany’s Warehouse District,” explains Sonya del Peral. She says this 7,000-square-foot expansion not only brought life to a vacant building, but also helped Nine Pin increase production capacity, improve efficiency and double down on investing in their region.

“The Warehouse District is a unique area that is undergoing some major changes with new condos being built and more entertainment and retail businesses opening up. However, at its core it is still the same gritty and industrial area that it was 25 years ago when my pop painted the giant 32-foot rose that towers over our tasting room today,” Alejandro del Peral explains. She adds that the location is also convenient both for their transport, production and retail needs. At Nine Pin, visitors find an agricultural product in an urban, industrial setting.

Nine Pin offers a variety of flavored and apple-focused ciders, including a line of light ciders as a nod to ciderkin — the historic tradition of making a low-alcohol drink from cider dregs and water suitable for children’s consumption — and in response to drinkers’ interest in low-ABV and low-calorie categories. If you can only taste one Nine Pin Cider, however, Alejandro del Peral recommends the Nine Pin Signature cider: “It’s the perfect balance of sweet-sour and it’s the flavor profile that made me fall in love with drinking cider in the first place. And after nine years, its popularity continues to grow.”

Valley Meets Mountain

This cocktail was created by Nine Pin Cider and features the company’s Signature cider and Cider Syrup, a collaboration between Nine Pin, Samascott Orchards and the Forest Farmers — New York’s largest syrup producer.

Ingredients:

1 oz Nine Pin Cider Syrup

1.5 oz Harvest Spirits Core Vodka

1 can Nine Pin Signature Cider

1 apple slice

Directions

Fill cocktail glass with ice. Add in Core Vodka and Nine Pin Cider Syrup. Top with Nine Pin Signature can. Stir vigorously. Garnish with an apple slice and enjoy.