Hard cider is having a moment. Large, mainstream brands like Angry Orchard and Woodchuck have fueled the national growth in recent years, but it is the small craft producers, from Oregon’s Willamette Valley to Sebastopol’s storied orchards, that are sustaining the interest.
They bring to market regional differences, fermentation and aging techniques, and heirloom and cider-specific apple varieties to create something complex and memorable, explains Olivia Maki, co-owner of Oakland’s new Redfield Cider Bar & Bottle Shop and co-chair for the cider category of the Good Food Awards.
We asked Maki to share some of her favorite ciders currently on tap or available by the bottle. Here are five she loves, along with her tasting notes. Try them with a cheese plate or kuku, a Persian-style frittata, at Redfield:
Sundström Cider Liminal, Hudson Valley, New York
Liminal is a cuvée ($24, 750 ml) focused on the terroir of New York’s Hudson Valley and the heirloom apple varieties that have historical importance there. This is a beautifully aromatic cider that is floral and spicy, albeit saline and earthy on the nose, with substantive soft texture that still retains grip and extreme length.
Art & Science 2016 Humble Cider, Willamette Valley, Oregon
This cider ($11.50, 500 ml) is made from foraged apples from old un-sprayed wild or abandoned apple trees found along creeks, rivers and old original homestead orchards. This is a rustic cider with floral notes, yeasty funkiness, and citrus on the nose.
Julien Thurel Pagus, Loire Valley, France
A native yeast-fermented poiré ($26, 750 ml) made in the Loire Valley from foraged pears of a single variety: L’Angouisse. A little funky but super elegant with big-time complexity, it offers brilliant juiciness, plenty of tang and crunchy sweet ripe pear.
Shacksbury Ping Pong, Vermont
Made in collaboration with San Diego’s Modern Times brewery, this is a Citra/Amarillo-hopped totally dry cider ($4.50, 16-ounce can) with big fresh hop aroma and nicely-high acidity. Really good!
Tilted Shed, Graviva, Sonoma County
A California cider classic, this sip ($11, 500 ml) is half Gravenstein, half Sonoma County-grown French bittersweet apples — all organic fruit. It’s fresh and big, but balanced and approachable. Incredible. Tilted Shed’s cidery is in Windsor, near its Sebastopol orchards.
— Courtesy of Olivia Maki, Redfield Cider Bar & Bottle Shop