Cider Chat

Curtis Sherrer is barreling aging single variety apples at Millstone Cellars. An old grist mill dating back to the 1850s houses the Tasting Room. "We will have 50 barrels and then settle on 15 to pick from to blend for that one cider that will be bottled" Curtis Sherrer, Millstone Cellars "If you are looking to save money, all you need is a barrel. You don't need chillers." Millstone's Cider Makin...

Neil MacDonald is a self described "man of the soil". He co-launched Orchard Pig Cider in 2004. His specialty is apple growing and the primary process of the cidermaking at Orchard Pig Cider. This recording was taped with Neil at CiderCon 2016 in Portland Oregon. Neil MacDonald, Orchard Park Farms and Orchard Pig Cider The Path to the Orchard Pig Cider Neil was granted a scholarship from the  Nuff...

You might know Darlene Hayes by her blog  All into Cider . There you can find some quick cider cocktail lore and recipes. Yes, Cider Cocktails are hot…again! That's right, again! Mixing spirits with cider has been favored by farmers to royalty alike  (okay, not sure about the royalty, but I know my gramps used to love to age his cider in a bourbon barre l) ever since cider and spirits have been po...

Getting the right blend or single variety juice to make the perfect cider is part of every business plan for cideries both in the startup phase an ongoing. If you are not growing your own orchard, getting apple juice could be a real constraint – Thus these chats with two juice suppliers. In this Cider Chat on Juice Merchants At the 2016 CiderCon , two chats were recorded with global suppliers of j...

John Bunker "Friend of Apples" John Bunker in this chat helps to trace the lineage in the US between cider apples and cidermakers. If you ever doubted whether you are on the right track with your cidermaking skills, Have no fear. Not only does John affirm even one's most basic cidermaking skills, but our basic love of the apple. When I asked John what he would give himself as a job titled, he thou...

At Freedom Farm, cider is on! Chris Jackson who is new to cidermaking has an enthusiasm for fermenting that is contagious. At the Farm his family is working towards sustainability and he is blogging about it all, via his website  FreedomFarmTV. Chris had shared his photos of his homemade Peach Cider on Twitter and I liked him immediately. Finding out that he was blogging about grafting fruit trees...

Kurant Cider co-owner and head cidermaker, Joe Getz's business is expanding, just after one year into producing cider commercially in the eastern region of Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia. Besides making cider at Kurant, Joe is also the Vice President of the Pennsylvania Cider Guild, the commonwealth's organizing body for cider producers and apple growers in PA. Cidermaker Joe Gertz Kurant Ci...

Mechanical engineer and entrepreneur Ryal Schallenberger is helping cidermakers throughout the northwest by providing a mobile juicing service. He drives truck and trailer right in to the orchard and in 30-minutes is ready to start moving through 3 bins of apples an hour with a yield of 150-200 gallons of juice per hour. Northwest Mobile Juicing offered services to cidermakers for the first time i...

Who is Randall Grahm Randall Grahm has been rocking the world of winemaking for over 30 years. He began commercially selling wine under the  Bonny Doon Vineyard  label in 1983 when he opened the winery's tasting room in the hills north of Santa Cruz, California in the village of Boony Doon. He authored  Been Doon So Long  : A Randall Grahm Vinthology (2012), and has the title and responsibilities...

Wooden barrels are so 2014. What is old is new again as Castle Hill Cider has brought to the states an ancient fermenting vessel that was used for over 7000 years. Qvevri or Kvevri, as it is called on this Virginia estate, is best known to winemakers in the Georgia Republic. Traditional Methods for Fermentation from the Georgia Republic Where is the Georgia Republic? It is in Europe and lies to th...

Utrecht cider importer Margot Sanderse brings in ciders from the UK and Wales via her mobile bar and online shop  Het Ciderhuis . She is an entrepreneur who is touting cider to the Dutch and slowly helping transform their palate. Margot Sanderse | Het Ciderhuis Utrecht is between 30-40 minutes from Amsterdam, and is a bustling arts city. Bars that serve cider mentioned by Margot Cafe de Zaak Cafe...

Who is Angry Orchard? Angry Orchard  is the #1 cider brand in the US and there is a very good reason why it holds this coveted place. Undoubtedly, being a subsidiary of  Boston Beer Company  means connections to Jim Koch's brewery empire a.k.a. Samuel Adams Boston Lager. But to think that Angry Orchard is merely tapping into the US cider mania would be short sighted. yes – this is exactly how the...

Les Vergers de la Colline, Quebec Now  Cidrerie Milton This epsiode was recorded in person with the team at that time of this Quebec based cidery. Note: The name of this cidery has changed since the time of this recording. This was in part due to the the difficulty of pronouncing Les Vergers de la Colline. So the owners took on the town name and shorten it all to Ciderie Milton! I, Ria, had the pl...

David and son Robert have spearheaded an organically certified cidery right in the heart of the wine country in California. Sonoma Cider is located in Healdsburg California, a bit east and north of San Francisco in the a region well known to wine connoisseurs. David was a commercial winemaker for 20 years and the first commercial cidermaker in California back in 1992. He and Robert opened Sonoma C...

Paul Zocco, of Zok’s Homebrewing and Winemaking, is a 12 time winner of the title “New England Cidermaker of the Year” and he is discussing  cider recipes and trends in this episode. Paul Zocco, New England Cidermaker of the Year with Ria Paul has been running Zok’s Homebrewing and Winemaking Shop for the past 16 years. Over that time he has seen a growth of the homebrew shift from beer to cider g...

President John Adams chats cider & podcasting! Cider Chat MC Ria chats with the 2nd US President John Adams about cider and podcasting - via this mini promo/spoof for "Thanks, Podcasting".  Welcome to “Thanks, Podcasting!” where you’ll get to hear stories of inspiration, transformation and impact because of podcasting. My name is Ria Windcaller from Cider Chat over at CiderChat.com Listen to the B...

Gunn and White on a Cider Road Trip Nick Gunn  of Anthem Cider   and Wandering Aengus in Oregon (as of 2024 both cideries have closed – Nick is now with  BenchGraft  a cider consulting business) and Dave White,  Whitewood Cider  in Washington sat back for a chat about west coast ciders and the cider trend in the US Nick Gunn has been in the cider business for eleven years working two labels: Anthe...

Robert Colnes, of New Salem Preserves wanted to build a ciderhouse for the farm's bountiful orchard. Little did he know when he started that he was on journey that would take him two years to complete. New Sale Preserves is situated on the edge of the Quabbin Reservoir, which provides drinking water for the city of Boston. Robert tells his tale of what it took to jump through the federal, state an...

Wouter Bijl's opened CiderCider in 2009 online and then as the first cider store for the Netherlands. The Dutch can now proudly proclaim cider has arrived. Proost! This cider chat goes back and forth to the US to the Netherlands discussing the range of the ciders available, country styles, and the current and future state of cider in the Netherlands. Wouter is a cider importer who is helping cider...

Field Maloney of West County Cider Field Maloney of West County Cider Terry, Judith and Field Maloney – American Cider Pioneers West County Cider, of Colrain Massachusetts was one of the very first producers of cider post prohibition in the US, starting back in 1984. Terry Maloney made the cider on the side while continuing to work as head of the local hospital's ER. Terry Maloney He and wife Judi...

Welcome! Let’s begin the journey to Ciderville! Interviewing cidermakers importers, orchardists, foodies, farmers and cider enthusiasts around the world. Let’s delve into the semantics of cider…or is it hard cider, cidre, sidra or fermented apple juice? The truth is out there in Ciderville and we are going to find it. We toast in celebration of cider; As a libation, a gift from the gods, a taste o...