Cider house rules

Sandwiched between the wine coolers and malt beverages in a miscellaneous no-man’s-land of adult beverages, hard cider is struggling to find shelf space for the mass-market audience. While an increasing number of hard cider producers and fans of the apple-based alcohol are branching out to try and build a drinking culture around its new tastes, cider continues to be somewhat stuck in liquid limbo.

This is all despite the fact that production and consumption of artisanal ciders is on the rise in the West. In fact, this year Berkeley was added to the list of locales for the “Cider Summits” that take place each year in Portland, Seattle and Chicago. And on April 26, more than 90 artisanal ciders from nearly 30 producers from across California and the Pacific Northwest, as well as the East Coast and beyond, brought an impressive range of flavors to the Bay Area. The bright coastal sun and steady wind presented the perfect climate for a drink that’s cool and crisp—perfect for hot summer days—yet whose taste evokes the hearty flavors of fall.

No longer confined to a few simple adjectives such as dry, fruity or crisp, this new batch of ciders presents unique flavor profiles that are as distinct as they are varied. And like the revolutionary craft brewers that have paved the way—and filled up most of the shelves—in recent years, cider producers are bringing a variety of ingredients and approaches to their product. One of the fest’s cider makers, Sonoma County’s Tilted Shed Ciderworks, uses smoked apples blended with heirloom varieties in its January Barbecue Smoked Cider to create a smoky finish that’s subtle but unmistakable, and begs for a beach bonfire at twilight.

Cherries, berries and pears as well as herbs and flowers including chamomile, lemon balm and hibiscus were common additions for some of the others at the summit, including Drytown’s Common Cider Co., Finnriver Cidery of Chimacum, Wash., and Sebastopol’s California Cider Co., whose popular Ace line recently added a pineapple cider (which would be delicious as part of a dessert recipe).

A few of the producers are experimenting with aging ciders in bourbon and rum barrels, but none more effectively than Greg Hall, of Virtue Cider in Fennville, Mich. Formerly the brewmaster at Goose Island Beer Co.—known for aging its beer in bourbon barrels—Hall brings his experience to bear in The Mitten. With a blend of apple juice aged in bourbon barrels and fresh-pressed juice, The Mitten has an unmistakable Kentucky kick on the finish, making it something of a sparkling-bourbon cider with the depth and sweetness of an Old Fashioned cocktail.

Hall isn’t the only beer ex-pat who has made the switch to cider-making (the Cider Summit’s dress code seemed to require either microbrew T-shirts or plaid), but while many beer fans have heard the call of the cider house, Kevin Zielinksi, owner of E.Z. Orchards, based in Salem, Ore., sees cider as having a stronger connection to wine than to beer.

Zielinksi, an orchardist following in a family tradition that began in 1929, feels cider is a logical extension of the winemaking process—wineries already have the ability to crush fruit, bottle and ferment. It comes as no surprise then that E.Z. Orchards’ Willamette Valley Cidre—a blend of French, English and Early American apple varieties—is guised as wine, packaged in a sleek 750ml bottle with a simple elegant logo. Zielinksi isn’t an anomaly in the cider world. Along with apple growers such as the Devoto family—who’ve maintained orchards for close to 40 years and now bottle seasonal ciders under the Devoto Orchards Cider label in Sebastopol—there’s a connection to the fruit and to the land that wine wholly embraces and craft brewers also appreciate.

The cider revolution still may be hard-pressed to take root completely in either the beer or wine communities, but the seedling of fans will soon be growing into their own. The Cider Summit crowd—a combination of wine-festival sophistication and beer-fest unpretentiousness—may yet find an empty seat at the bar.