Cider Chat

Cider's back story behind the American Revolution In the 1700s ceramic teapots were the political bumper stickers of the day! In this episode we hear about the Cyder Act teapot that the Museum of the American Revolution located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has just acquired. The museum's Curator of Collections, Mark Turdo, tells us how the British based uprisings against the over reaching Cyder A...

Alex Peckham New Zealand's Premier Cidermaker With wit and charm and dashing good looks Alex Peckham charmed all who had the pleasure of meeting him. The fact that he produced exemplary ciders was merely a side bonus. I met Alex for the first and only time in Baltimore Maryland in 2018. We were both attending that American Cider Association's annual trade conference CiderCon . I posted that episod...

Climate Change insights for Orchardists Elizabeth Garofalo of the University of Massachusetts is an Extension Educator and part of the Fruit Team. This workshop presented how regional climates are shifting and the impact that climate has and will have on disease management and the pathogens seen in the orchard. The case study was on bitter rot and powdery mildew and how it is increasing in Massach...

Northern Michigan a.k.a. Top of the Mitten A cider tasting with Left Foot Charley, Tandem Cider and Presque Isle Farm Cider as presented at CiderCon20222. Nicole LeGrand Leibon of LaNose Knows consulting moderated this panel discussion and tasting. (LtoR) Nicole LeGrand Leibon, Dan Stepanski, Dan Young Order of cider from the Mitten Makers The flight as poured during this tasting 1. Earnest - Tand...

Wild, Clean & Free: Harnessing the Beauty of Wild-Fermenting, Without the Flaws Was presented at CiderCon2022 held in Richmond, Virginia in February. The seminar was moderated by Christine Walter of Bauman's Cider. Three makers shared a taste of their select ciders that are fermented with wild yeast or what is also referred to as ambient yeast. Another term for this type of fermentation is Natural...

Tribute to Author and Orchardists Michael Phillips I spoke with his long time friend Alan Surprenant of Brook Farm Orchard in Ashfield, Massachusetts on a cool March day a little over two week's after the unexpected passing of Michael Phillips.  The two men met originally at a New England Organic Farmers Association (NOFA) conference that was being held at Hampshire College and they soon became fa...

Farmstead Wyoming's First Commercial Cidery Ian McGregor who cofounded Farmstead Cider with Orion Bellorado holds the title of being both the first commercial cidery in the state of Wyoming and as of this episode published in 2022 remain the sole cidery in the state. These enterprising makers source their apples from residential homes in the area which have an abundance of crab apples that were pl...

The DOPE Brand Hannah Ferguson is giving us all a reason to visit Youngstown, Ohio. Her DOPE brand is helping to introduce the city to cider like never before. The bio says that the DOPE brand is about a "Winemaker, Marketing, Event planning, other business services" but this only stays in step wit how she is keeping the door wide open for opportunity.  This Winter and Spring she is busy getting h...

Blue Bee Cider Founder Courtney Mailey Courtney Mailey, always knew she wanted to be a farmer of sorts. In the high school she took part in an aptitude test with the result showing that she was to be a farmer. By the way, she was the only kids in her whole class with that goal. Her journey to cider became more obvious after a stint in working in DC, a trip to Ireland (where she met her husband) an...

Flynt could have grown pot, but it was apples that really caught her eye Flynt casually joked during this interview that perhaps she could have chosen to become a pot (cannabis) grower as a career before becoming an apple farmer.  I think I can speak for the whole of Ciderville in saying, "we are sure glad she went for the apple" Diane Flynt For Virginia and the rest of the cider industry we all g...

Keynote Speakers of CiderCon 2022 Gary Flowers is a keynote speaker, radio host and the tour guide who leads the Jackson Ward history tour. The tour was one of a number of pre-conference tour offerings for CiderCon2022 attendees who had flocked to the city of Richmond, Virginia in the first week of February. The food and cider was abundantly delicious, with stops at the wildly popular restaurant M...

Elegast Cidery Beginnings Arjen Meeusem shares his story of living in Portland, Oregon and how a stop at Reverend Nat's Hard Cider to taste the cider inspired him to find out more about this niche market and its viability to make cider in the Netherlands. Arjen Meeuwsen outside the estate based cidery Arjen and his business partners began their cidery in an old green house and then moved to their...

Maker Arjen Meeuwsen of Elegast Cidery  Offers business tips before you break ground, when your product is being sold and how to tap into a wider audience. Arjen's goal is "Being Present and Being Visible... and Providing a Good Product" Arjen Meeuwsen Maker Tips Size Growing with the market Managing your stock Cash flow Labor vs the economy of machines Widening your cider audience Contact Elegast...

Falling for the Chocolate Pear Forager of fruits enjoy the hunt of finding hidden trees and more often than not fully laden trees in plain site. Ben Kunesh's path as a forage has led him to fruits of all natures, including the once famous and now newly rising star known as the Chocolate Pear.  Ben Kunesh holding Chocolate Pears The Chocolate Pear has been discussed on two episodes of Cider Chat. F...

What is a Wassail A Wassail is a celebration of the orchards, most typically apple orchards to honor the natural world and pay tribute with hopes of an abundant fruiting season moving forward. A Wassail is also a cheer When you hear someone say "Wassail" it means -Be Healthy! The reply is "Drink hail" -   To your health! When does it take place? Historically a Wassail would be held on the 6th of J...

Washtenaw County Cider Mills 1841 - Present Day Patrick McCauley grew up in south eastern Michigan and recalls visiting cider mills as a child, enjoying in the fresh pressed apple juice and the cider donuts. Today he is avid cider maker and realtor in the Ann Arbor area a job that allows him to have an eagle eye on backyard orchards. Patrick McCauley Go to this link to see the October 2021 article...

Building a Water Wheel to Power a Cider Mill Phil Watson grew up on an old farm with an old cider press that powered a water wheel. When a water wheel turns it produces a lot of force, so his mom back then had the old wheel taken down. That water wheel made a big impression on Phil so years later he built his own water wheel powered cider press on his 200 acre lot where he mills up lumber. In this...

Episode 300 and the song "Strange Apples" In this episode we celebrate the 300th episode of Cider Chat and release a new cider song titled Strange Apples! This song is one part poking fun at ourselves as cidermakers  and enthusiasts for all things cider. I began writing this song one night while sitting along on a sailboat in the Santa Cruz Harbor in Santa Cruz California in August of 2021. I was...

The Boomers of America's Cider Trade Hudson Valley Farmhouse Cider founder Elizabeth Ryan tells the back story of key legislation that reduce taxes for US cidermakers in the 1990's. Though she may consider herself to be mentored by others, Elizabeth and her fellow cohorts of the day were giants before their time. [caption id="attachment_6714" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Elizabeth Ryan[/captio...

Gallettes at Scott Farm with Eden Specialty Cider Gallette dinners have been showcased at Scott Farm in Dummerston Vermont on Wednesday throughout 2021. Gallettes are a French cuisine where a batter is swirled around a flat cylindrical plate to form a round, flat, flexible bread. A gallette can be savory and stuffed with main course items such as cheese, mushroom and meat or savory. A savory galle...

Are Apples Odd? They sure are for those who solely define apples not by their names (which are often rather exotic like Mountain Rose or Kingston Black) but rather call them  by their color, red, green or yellow. In this episode hear Sean Turley and William Mullan present Apples 101, an overview on apples, and their origin at an open air event at Scotts Farm in Vermont on October 10, 2021. Turley...

Who is Bauman Cider Christine Walter is the cidermaker and visionary of Bauman's Cider.  She grew up on an apple farm in Oregon runned by her family. As she tells it, Angry Orchard's "Crisp" was the first cider she ever tasted and it was a wake up moment that helped her realize that her family could ferment and sell cider too. Christine Walter   Bauman's is a destination farm these days with a far...

Who is Western Cider Texans Michael Billingsley and Matthew LaRubbio are childhood friends who now both live in Montana and founded Western Cider in 2010. The cidery is based in Missoula and has an indoor and outdoor tasting room alongside the Clark Fork River.  Michael credits his love for Montana to the television series Lonesome Dove which he describes as an "epic journey of two Texas Rangers w...

Who is Lockhorn Hard Cider Alaskan natives Anna and Glenn Deal opened Lockhorn Cider in 2010 in Bozeman, Montana. Anna is a botanist and Glenn came to Montana to study and is a nurse. Lockhorn makes modern ciders with apples from Washington State and choice Montana apples like the McIntosh, but the goal is to upscale the ciders as people's palate continues to be drawn to dryer ciders. Anna & Glenn...

Who is Montana CiderWorks Lee McAlpine is the Founder and Owner of Montana Ciderworks based in Darby, Montana. In 2022, Lee will celebrate the 20th year of operations and has a special Pommeau release made with her cider and distilled locally. It has been aging for 3 years and will only be available at the cidery. In 2002, she planted over 700 cider varieties that focused on 7 English Cider variet...