Taste your way through Pacific Northwest orchards and discover your new favorite cider apple varietals with the NW Cider Club’s September 2021 release.
This limited-release box includes a mixed-6 selection of hand picked ciders showcasing the heart and core of cider – APPLES. Sign up by 8/18/21!
Apples – arguably one of the most diverse, adaptive and celebrated fruits on earth – are the heart and core of cider. From soil to rootstock, climate to growing conditions, nature determines what the cidermaker has to work with. Apple variety largely determines available acid and tannin levels, just like grape varieties do in wine. In this club release we explore the world of cider, diving deeper into apple varietals.
The Discover Cider Club Apple Varietals release includes the 6 ciders listed below. This release is $53 plus shipping and handling. Email club@nwcider.com for a shipping estimate.
The Discover 12 Cider Club Apple Varietals release includes 2 of each of the Discover ciders (12 total) and is $106 plus shipping and handling.
The Discover & Elevated Cider Club Apple Varietals release includes 4 Elevated and 6 Discover ciders and is $130 plus shipping and handling.
Join the club and start exploring varietals.
Tieton Cider Works
Porter’s Perfection 6.9% abv (500ml) ~ Apples: Porter's Perfection
Tieton Cider Works is located in Yakima, Washington, the leading apple producing region in the nation. This area, characterized by hot, dry days, cool, crisp nights and rich volcanic soils has proven ideal for apple cultivation. Tieton Cider Works ciders are crafted from fruit grown in their own orchards, including gnarly, inedible wild apple varieties needed to make great cider, like Porter’s Perfection.
This year will be the first major production of this biennial cider apple for Tieton. Porter’s Perfection, an old English cider apple named for Charles Porter (1844 – 1932) of East Lambrook, a small village in Somerset, England has stripes of red and a thick stem. This apple has a remarkable tendency to form fused fruit, usually in twos, but sometimes three or more, producing a cider high in acid and tannins. Tieton Porter’s Perfection is moderately sparkling and can be enjoyed now or will age well. This tart, dry cider with mineral undertones goes well with young and mild aged cheese like chevre and gouda.
Bauman’s Cider Company
Muscadet de Dieppe SV 6.7% abv (500ml) ~ Apples: Muscadet de Dieppe
Curiosity, a biochemistry degree and a history of family farming (including cider production) inspired Christine Bauman to revive her Great-grandpa Stephen’s tradition of making hard cider. Founded in 2016, Bauman’s Cider is located in Gervais, Oregon on Bauman’s Farm and Garden, a beloved Willamette Valley family destination, first homesteaded in 1895. Today, visitors can sip Bauman’s cider on site, pick up produce, baked goods, stroll the garden center and petting zoo.
This selection from Bauman’s is a small batch, single varietal cider featuring a famous French apple, the Muscadet de Dieppe. Muscadet de Dieppe is a bittersweet cider apple from Normandy that’s highly thought of among French cider fans. This apple was grown at E.Z. Orchards, a neighbor of Bauman’s. Muscadet de Dieppe is known for being low in acid, high in tannins. The apples in this cider went through a long, cool and wild ferment, allowing the fruit to come through with a sublime headiness. Fermented to dry, this cider presents notes of caramel, dates and figs.
Rootwood Cider
Harrison 7.1% abv (500ml) ~ Apples: Harrison
Rootwood, in central Washington along Lake Chelan, focuses on small batch, high quality cider from their own orchards and other local growers. The apples grown in the valley benefit from warm summer days, cool nights, glacial soils and pure lake water. The company is owned by the 3 Koenig sisters–Emily, Ann, and Kate– who have deep roots in the Chelan Valley with over 100 years of orcharding history.
The Harrison apple originated in New Jersey, before the American Revolution. This apple is elongated in shape, with rich, yellow flesh. It can produce a superior-flavored cider by itself, and was much sought-after in colonial America. Once thought to be extinct, a single Harrison apple tree was rediscovered in 1976 in New Jersey, allowing for the reintroduction of this variety through grafting and budding, though this apple is still quite rare. This cider was produced with apples from Rootwood Cidery’s estate cider orchard, where more than 500 Harrison trees grow today. The fruits are considered ripe when they start falling to the ground in November. This Harrison cider has higher tannin levels and moderate astringency. Rootwood Harrison offers juicy apple brightness with a warm sherry like finish.
E.Z. Orchards Cidre
Roman Beauty 4.2% abv (500ml) ~ Apples: Roman Beauty, Yarlington Mill & Granny Smith
Roman Beauty apples have been growing on the E.Z. Orchards family farm in the Willamette Valley of Oregon since 1929, where the ground is an ancient seabed full of rich and nutritious soil. Cidermaker Kevin Zielinski grows apples with intentional cider blends in mind. Orchard rows are organized around specific cultivation and harvesting techniques, enabling Kevin to manage a precise maturation on the tree that improves with every year’s lessons.
E.Z. Orchards Roman Beauty Cider is predominantly Roman Beauty with Yarlington Mill, an English bittersweet apple, and Granny Smith. The Roman Beauty, sometimes called Rome, is an antique apple that hails from North American and was bred for cooking and drying as it has good aromatics and texture. This cider is fermented slowly at cool temps to retain the ripe apple aroma, resulting in a low alcohol, semi-dry cider with mild acidity. E.Z. Orchards Roman Beauty presents an aromatic body that places you in the cidre house and farmyard. Acidity is noticeable, not dominant, harmonizing with the build of orchard ripe fruit. A soft, lazy bubble carries the cider across the palate adding length to the flavors.
Woodinville Ciderworks
Red Flesh 6.5% abv (375ml) ~ Apples: RedWave
Woodinville Ciderworks offers high-end, limited-edition ciders that can compare with the boutique wines of Woodinville. Soon they’ll offer wine-like ciders created based on the season, terroir, and apple varietal.
You’re one of the first to taste their new, Woodinville Red Fleshed Cider which is a delicate and dry blush cider made from the juice of the RedWave apple varietal. Naturally red on the inside of the fruit, RedWave apples yield a bright red cider full of berry and red-fruit flavors (hinting at watermelon, rhubarb, cranberry, strawberry or raspberry). Lovely enjoyed on its own, this cider also pairs well with seafood, Caesar salad or light cheeses.
Swift Cider
Honeycrisp 6.2% abv (12oz) ~ Apples: Honeycrisp
The largest known roost of migrating Vaux’s Swifts in the world can be found in the autumn in a chimney at Chapman Elementary School in Portland, Oregon. They are beloved and a sight to see annually. The Vaux Swifts are the namesake for independently-owned Swift Cider. Swift’s mission is to make great cider that manifests creativity, community and sustainability. Swift ciders are fresh-pressed from locally-grown apples using natural fermentation.
In our apple-themed club release, Swift Honeyscrip shows what a bouquet of bright apples can taste like. This modern, dry cider is made with fresh pressed Honeycrisp apples and champagne yeast. The Honeycrisp apple, developed at the University of Minnesota was bred for taste: crisp, with balanced sweetness and acidity. This sessionable, apple-forward cider has a slightly sweet candy aroma that dissipates long before becoming cloying. A vibrant taste profile of fresh sliced Honeycrisp apple comes across this light bodied, slightly tart and bubbly cider with an easy, clean & dry finish.
