Cider Chat

The announcement that CiderCon 2027 will be co-located with the Craft Brewers Conference sparked one of the most active online discussions the cider community has seen in years. In this episode of Cider Chat, ACA Board President Christine Walter joins host Ria Windcaller to discuss why the decision was made, the financial realities facing CiderCon, how the conference will operate alongside the Cra...

Sometimes all it takes is one sip. It happened to the founders of Woodfolk Cider, Martha Lowry and Alistair Whitehead, and it can happen to YOU! What began as a shared love of food, drink, and hospitality eventually led them to plant orchards, build a cidery, and welcome visitors to their 87-acre farm in Ontario, Canada. Today, their orchard-based cidery sits among forests, rivers, rolling hills,...

Richard Yi of Brooklyn Cider House isn't interested in making cider that appeals to everyone. He's interested in making cider with personality and if you've ever enjoyed hearing a cider maker tell the story behind the glass, you're going to enjoy this conversation. In this epiosde, you'll hear how a young man who once imagined a future in engineering found his way into the family cider business. R...

There is a question that keeps coming up in cider, small business, and independent media: Is this sustainable? In this episode, Ria sits down with Adrian Luna, known as the Hard Cider Guy, for a conversation that goes well beyond cider. What starts as a discussion about content creation quickly turns into something deeper. Two practitioners, each with their own discipline, circling around the same...

What happens when breweries start making cider… not because they have to, but because they want to keep drinking beer? That question kicks off episode 504 featuring Dan Kramer and Ben Anhalt of Element Brewing Company. "Most breweries probably see cider as a way to let them continue making beer." That line says a lot. And it opens the door to a bigger conversation. Breweries adding cider isn't jus...

Episode 503 takes you through England and Wales with audio snapshots from the UK Blossom Time Totally Cider Tour while exploring one big question: What is a proper cider? Travel orchard roads through Somerset, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and Wales as tour guests share reflections on traditional cider, perry pears, wild fermentations, farmhouse hospitality, blossom-covered orchards, and the peo...

Travel with Cider Chat to Hungary for audio snapshots from the country's first Cider Salon, featuring makers from across Central and Eastern Europe, orchard visits, and a look at why Hungarian cider is a region to watch. 00:00 Budapest Travel Update 02:24 Cider Salon Plans 04:13 Litke Champagne Caves 06:34 Hungary Surprises and Lessons 09:44 Meet Andrew at St Matthias 11:35 Election Energy at Cast...

Welcome to Season 11 of Cider Chat. After 500 episodes exploring how cider is made, Episode 501 brings it back to the glass— how to taste cider in a way that actually feels natural . No jargon. No pressure. Just a simple, sensory approach: What do you smell? What do you see? What do you feel? Do you want another sip? Includes a quick mention of Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition...

In this milestone Episode 500, we return to a simple question that has come up again and again over the past ten seasons of Cider Chat: How is cider made? After hundreds of conversations with cider makers, orchardists, historians, and fermentation experts around the world, this episode brings together the core lessons shared across 500 episodes - from orchard to bottle. This episode walks through...

Episode 499 of Cider Chat looks at the "Omnia Era of Cider" - a time when everything is happening at once in modern cider, from traditional methods to new styles and experimentation. Using art history and the Pommes in Art story as a guide, this episode explores how we often don't realize we are living in an important era until years later. This episode serves as a pause before Episode 500, where...

In this episode of Cider Chat, we visit Heeman Cellars in Ontario, where a multi-generational strawberry farm expanded into cider and mead production focused on heritage apples, terroir, and experimentation. We taste blends, single varietals, and rare apples including Wayne, Swayzie – Pomme Grise, Yarlington Mill, and crab apples while discussing Ontario cider history, barrel aging, Pet Nat cider,...

This archival episode of Cider Chat brings together five experienced cider makers answering real-world questions from beginners at CiderCon 2019 . Originally released as Episodes 174 and 175, this combined feature presents a comprehensive Q&A covering everything from fermentation and stabilization to business strategy, equipment, and scaling a cidery. The discussion bridges the gap between hobby c...

Liberty Ciderwork s in Spokane, Washington is an urban cidery focused on traditional methods. While located in the city, their cider reflects deep agricultural roots. Cider maker and founder Rick Hastings ferments with wild yeast , ages cider for 3 to 12 months , and source fruit from nearby orchards. This approach creates cider with structure, balance, and regional identity. This interview is wit...

In this archive episode of Cider Chat , we go in a barrel cellar in Prince Edward County, Ontario , with Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider and Lee Baker of Keint-He Winery . Listening to Fermentation What Is Bâtonnage in Cider? Find Key Takeaways for Home Cider Makers Barrel Room Glossary SO₂ Calculator 00:00 Barrels as Dance Partners 00:29 Episode 495 Replay Setup 01:40 Ryan Monkman Spotlight 04:06...

In this episode of Cider Chat , we hear from Tom Hart of Humboldt Cider Company , located in Eureka, California along the rugged Pacific coastline behind what locals call the Redwood Curtain . We also discusses preserving the original Albert Etter orchard in Humboldt County and continuing the legacy of these historic cider apples. 00:00 Welcome to Cider Chat 00:38 Wickson Crab and Albert Etter 03:...

What is Asturian cider? Asturian cider ( sidra natural ) is a traditionally fermented apple cider from Asturias, Spain, served through a high pour ( escanciado ) and shared socially in small servings called culines . This episode is part of the Cider Chat archive documenting global cider traditions and producers since 2015. In this epic replay from Season 2 of Cider Chat, Ria Windcaller traveled t...

This episode of Cider Chat explores the growing Maine cider scene through Absolem Cider Company in Winthrop, a farm-based cidery helping shape New England's evolving cider identity. Located on a 60-acre farm in Winthrop, Maine, Absolem Cider Company is a cidery that expresses place, heritage apples, and hospitality. In this episode, Ria sits down with cider maker Zach Kaiser to explore how Absolem...

An early conversation that explored possibilities cider was only beginning to consider. As Cider Chat moves toward its 500th episode, we revisit conversations from the earliest seasons, taking a long view of the moments that quietly shaped where cider and this podcast would go. This episode, originally recorded in Season One, features legendary winemaker  Randall Grahm , founder of Bonny Doon Vine...

An editorial on leadership, scarcity, and why cider no longer needs to borrow authority from beer or wine. In Let Cider Lead , host Ria Windcaller steps back from interviews to offer a clear-eyed reflection on the state of the cider industry, drawing on more than three decades in cider and nearly eleven years documenting the modern cider movement through Cider Chat. 00:00 Introduction and Episode...

Natural cider is often misunderstood as funky, volatile, or flawed. Recorded live at CiderCon 2025 , this seminar reframes natural cider as a philosophy of low intervention, balance, and intentional care , not a free pass for faults. Moderator Haritz is joined by Richard of Brooklyn Cider House and Jasper Smith of Son of Man (Oregon) to explore how Basque cider traditions influence modern natural...

A pending lawsuit spearheaded by Ron Extract of Garden Path Fermentation could change how cider makers label harvest year and "vintage" on cider over 7% ABV. Ron explains why the current TTB rules block truthful harvest-year labeling, how this impacts both producers and consumers, and what success would look like for the cider community. 00:00 Introduction and Podcast Overview 00:43 Cider Labeling...

In This Episode, We Cover Why Sorbus domestica is often nicknamed  "the chocolate pear"  (and why that name actually helps people  get it ) What  bletting  means, and why sorbs can be delicious  before  they turn fully brown (depending on the fruit) The "custard stage" vs. fully bletted "medlar-like" stage (and how this relates to cider pressing windows) Ben's sorb travel finds across: Croatia  (i...

Recorded live at CiderCon, this episode brings listeners into a rare, in-depth conversation about Chile's living cider tradition —one shaped by more than 450 years of apple fermentation, deep regional biodiversity, and community-based agriculture. Moderated by Eli Shanks, this panel features cider makers, cooperative leaders, and academics from southern Chile who explore how apples arrived, adapte...

Carlos Flores is an architect, landscape designer, and co-founder of Punta de Fierro Fine Cider. At the 2025 CiderCon in Chicago he presented Carlos presented "Developing An Experimental Edible Forest in a Heritage Apple Orchard." - this episode features his full presentaiton and you will also find his audio synced with all the power point slides at the Cider Chat YouTube Channel. Find full showno...

Meet Patrick McCauley , a Michigan-based cider maker and researcher, who is questioning some of the most common myths about American cider history. What Patrick uncovers is a far more regional, farm-based, and resilient cider story than the usual "cider died because of Prohibition" narrative.   00:00 Introduction to Cider and Prohibtion 00:23 Meet the Host and Guest 01:56 Listener Support and Comm...