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Cider Rite of Spring 2017 included 31 Northwest cidermakers and featured 100 ciders unique ciders. Photo: Sean Connolly

Saturday, March 24, 2017--It’s 8:50 am, and we are unloading scores of cider-filled sixth barrels in preparation for Cider Rite of Spring, which starts in about three hours.  I’m one of about a dozen or so people in the vanguard at the Evergreen, this year’s event location, working on set-up. The mood is purposeful and jovial—it seems most everyone in this tight-knit regional cider industry knows one another—yet there’s also the slight tension that comes from knowing the clock is ticking with lots still to do.

As a Portland-based cider disciple, this will be my third tour of the Northwest’s largest springtime, local-cideries-only cider festival—and I only missed last year’s event because I was out of town.  This time I’m volunteering, because I want a window into an event Sip NW Magazine in 2015 called the Best Northwest Cider Festival swings from planning into execution.

The 2017 fourth annual Cider Rite of Spring, a six-hour affair presented by the Northwest Cider Association and presented by Square Mile Cider, is going to be big. Thirty-one Oregon and Washington cideries will be present and pouring about 100 ciders, plus six additional, limited pours in the upstairs VIP lounge. 

Association Executive Director Emily Ritchie has promoted Cider Rite on Portland’s KATU-2 News, and the Pomme Boots Society, an industry organization for women in the cider industry, has leveraged its marking and outreach panache to spread the word, too. Schilling Cider Company’s Regional Operations Manager and Pomme Boots co-founder Jennie Dorsey at one point informs those working the room that at least 500 tickets have already been sold, with more expected once the doors open.

In addition to General Admission tickets, 2017 Cider Rite of Spring offered a throughout-the-event VIP Lounge experience with exclusive pourings. Photo: Sean Connolly  

Over the next couple of hours from nine to noon, representatives from the Oregon and Washington cideries file into the hall, check in, set up their jockey boxes and pouring stations and unfurl company banners. As the main hall morphs to its event-ready state, it’s hard not to get caught up in energy that radiates from a collective of people and businesses at one of the epicenters of what I call the New American Cider Movement.  Cider, early America’s alcoholic beverage of choice, is seeing a coast-to-coast revival, and the Pacific Northwest is one of the trailblazing regions.

Cider barrels at the Evergreen.  Photo: Sean Connolly

After the kegs are sorted and sent to the cideries’ assigned tables, I spend the couple of hours with a Portland Cider Company colleague cataloging and organizing the bottles and cans that’ll go on sale in the festival’s Cider shop. It’s where I’ll be stationed from noon to 3pm, and we expect sales to be brisk. I get a quick orientation on how to use Square and run transactions. We set up the display table so festivalgoers can get a gander at what’s on sale.

 The lineup—and collective craft invested in the making and marketing of ciders and manifested across 100 cans and bottles of varying shapes, sizes, and styles, is impressive. I cannot resist a picture, but have to suppress the urge to start quaffing cider until my shift is over.

Cider Rite of Spring 2017’s Cider Store offered nearly 100 unique ciders for sale, plenty for all kinds of tastes.

Before the doors open, I manage to get a few quick tastes and brief ‘hellos’ to a couple of cidermakers I’ve met at previous Cider Rites like Kevin Van Reenen of Pear Up Cider and Laura Cherry of Dragon’s Head Cider or that are new to Cider Rite of Spring and are pouring ciders I haven’t yet tasted, like Mike and Nate Thierfelder of Portland-based Woodbox Cider Company and Jeff Bennett, co-creator Tumalo Cider Company in Bend, Oregon. I’m struck by the realization that behind every table is the story of people who not only share my passion for cider, but also have elevated it as makers and the investment of their life’s work.

And then before we know it, it’s time for the doors to open. And apparently a line has formed that stretches around the block.

The line to enter Cider Rite of Spring 2017 at some points stretched around the block. Around 900 people attended the fourth annual cider-tasting event. Photo: NW Cider Association. 

The next few hours are a blur. The hall fills with a hum of festivalgoers and tasters, and stays filled. What starts as a trickle of people visiting the Cider Shop wanting extra drink tickets becomes a steady, undulating stream of customers ranging in age from their early 20s to 70s who want more tickets, or to take one or half a dozen different ciders home.

Early crowd favorites emerge at check-out: Alter Ego’s The Guardian Angel Blueberry Pomegranate; Bauman’s Peach Raspberry; Locust Cider’s Smoked Blueberry; Portland Cider Company’s Sangria; Schilling’s Pineapple Passionfruit;  Seattle Cider Company’s Gin Botanical; Woodbox’s Double Barrel Whiskey Barrel Ice Cider. People’s cider tastes are truly as eclectic as the cross-section of Portlanders who showed up today and the cideries filling glass after tasting glass.

Ciders for Sale at 2017 Cider Rite of Spring. Photo: Sean Connolly

But really, everything we have behind the table’s selling, a good sign. I fill orders and event tote bags briskly, occasionally eye the cheeseburger someone brought earlier as a snack that I don’t have time to munch on.  When time allows I make small talk with the buyers, asking them their favorite pours of the day. Unsurprisingly, favorites broadly run the range of ciders on tap. 

Just before my shift ends, I’m asked to substitute in at the Locust Cider table so their server can take a much-needed break. I’m glad I have my OLCC Server’s Permit so I can legally pour. I recently began working part time as a Brand Ambassador for Portland Cider Company, and enjoy interacting with people that are either new to cider or steeped in the craft. In between steady requests for Locust’s Smoked Blueberry, Chili Pineapple, and Vanilla Bean ciders, I chat briefly with a representative from McMenamin’s, and am surprised to learn that their Edgefield Winery has been producing cider since 1992.

I return to the Cider Store to see—somewhat to my relief—that a new crew is handling the transactions ably and don’t need me. My shift’s over: now it’s time to sample some of the ciders myself.

Cider Rite of Spring 2017 drew a large—and enthusiastic—number of Northwest cider aficionados. Photo: Kolin Leishman, NW Cider Brokers

Midway through the event, and the Evergreen’s hall is still packed. It takes crowd gymnastics make way to the tasting tables. I return to the Woodbox and Tumalo table, taste a Pippin Dry and Prickly Passionfruit , one of three samples each cidery is offering, respectively. Both are excellent, and proof that relative newcomers into the cider industry are arriving not only with great product out right of the gate, but with offerings that’ll sustain the Northwest’s reputation of one of the most diverse, innovative, and successful cider meccas in the country.

As I’m tasting, a man approaches and asks if he can snap a shot of four cider bottles and a 2017 Cider Rite of Spring tasting glass in front of a cedar-framed jockey box. The image is artful and the photographer moves with precision, so I ask what he’s going to do with the picture.

Turns out he is Steven Shomler, a former corporate banker who’s followed his passion and re-emerged as an active writer, radio host, and culinary storyteller. It’s quickly evident that not only has Shomler established a storytelling niche in the New American Cider Movement – as well as the local beer scene and Portland culinary movement – he’s dedicated his life to his love of craft in the same way so many of the cideries and people working at Cider Rite have.

Screenshot from the Portland Beer Podcast’s 3/20/17 feature on Cider Rite of Spring 2017. Photo: Steven Shomler. 

For the last hour of Cider Rite I head to tables stations with cideries that are relatively or completely new to me: Steelhead Cider out of Lake Chelan, Washington, Salem’s 1859 Cider Co., Baird and Dewar in Dayton, Oregon, Eugene, Oregon’s  Elk Horn Brewery,  https://www.redtankcider.com out of Bend, Oregon, who’s Pumpkin Pie cider is spicily delicious.  In the quest for completely new, I reluctantly bypass offerings from ‘more established’ cideries—which in this business remarkably often only means established in the past 4-5 years.

Over and over again as I talk to makers and marketers, the same storyline emerges, albeit with slightly different details. It’s the story of people with a passion for their craft , a sense of place, and a belief in the integrity of Northwest fruit and the creative cider-making process. Of striving and sometimes struggling, sometimes completely reinventing themselves and their carers along their cidermaking journey. And, ultimately, finding deep satisfaction through living life on their own terms and embracing the organic, sometimes messy nature of an industry that embraces the cycle of the seasons. And of course, making something that people love to drink.

 At Cider Rite of Spring, even the good-natured, yet sometimes passionate Portland-Seattle rivalry takes a backseat to showcasing Washington and Oregon cidermakers. Photo: Sean Connolly

As the taps close down at 5:45 and the hall finally begins to clear, I feel a brief sensation of melancholy with the realization that Cider Rite of Spring 2017 is coming to an end. Like spring itself, the event was colorful, bustling, frenetic, and seemed (for me) to come to an end quickly.

 But for the event organizers and volunteers beginning the break-down process, it’s not completely over until the hall is cleared. As I leave the Evergreen the realization hits that what I think is a long day is even longer and harder for others.  It fits, my perception of the cider industry, too: people work hard, make time for fun, but there’s not a lot of time to rest on one’s laurels. Things, and trends, move fast.

Cider Rite of Spring is hosted by the NW Cider Association, a trade organization that connects cider aficionados with cideries and cider makers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia. Photo: Sean Connolly 

I recall watching throughout the day as Dorsey, Jana Daisy-Ensign of Finnriver and Gemma Schmit of Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider—also Pomme Boots co-founders and Cider Rite 2017 organizers—and Carolyn Winkler (also with Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider) were seemingly everywhere, coordinating logistics with the cidery representatives and VIPs, greeting event-goers, checking in with and providing volunteers like me affirmation and thanks. Their professionalism, energy—and effort—vastly eclipsed mine. I see Deron Davenport, Sam Rico, and Helen Lewis, Portland Cider Company colleagues that were here this morning even before I arrived and still here as I leave, still working.

It’s an ethos of hard work and energy that makes us cider aficionados who live in the Northwest, the region where dry-hopped cider was invented, very, very lucky. And despite our rainy, cold winter, apple and pear trees are beginning to blossom. Cider Rite of Spring 2017 was a reminder that warmer, brighter days are ahead.  And no matter what your cider preference is, there’s something you tasted today, or tomorrow, that’ll be worth raising a glass.

Sean Connolly is a cider enthusiast who’s much better at writing, talking up, and drinking cider then he is making it. He recently passed Level 1 of the the U.S. Association of Cider Maker’s Certification Program, and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Image Credit: Sean Connolly

Two weeks ago at the end of September I hit the road for Hood River, Oregon.  In addition to some great breweries, the ‘Wind Surfing Capital of the World” also has something cider fans can appreciate: nearby Hood River Valley annually produces nearly 3,700 tons of Newtown Pippins.

Image Credit: Sean Connolly

The Newtown, also known as the Abermarle Pippin, is an American original.  Its origins date back to colonial times, and its heirloom quality makes for some fine ciders (think Reverend Nat’s Revelation Newtown Pippin (Amen!) or Original Sin’s Newtown Pippin Single Heirloom Varietal (Wicked good)).

Naturally I couldn’t resist picking some up for my own for an attempt at a Newtown Pippin single varietal cider to be made later.  But I digress…

Image Credit: Sean Connolly

The Hood River Valley is home to Fox Tail Cider, a relatively new cidery established by Bob Fox and Justin Cardwell (the head Cider Maker). While Fox Tail opened in 2013, the roots of its orchards go back to the late 1800s when German immigrant August Paasch originally planted apple trees for export back to Europe (and apparently made his own hard cider to the delight of locals).

Image copyright: Fox Tail Cider 

The cidery is located along the Valley’s Fruit Loop, next to Smiley’s Red Barn (where one can score the aforementioned Pippins), and there are up to 10 ciders to taste in Fox Tail’s taproom. But since I had a hike up to Angel’s Rest Trail planned afterwards, I decided to stick to five.

Image Credit: Sean Connolly

The Ginger Haven was the first up, and my favorite (but then, what redhead wouldn’t like a cider named ‘Ginger Haven’?) It clocked in at a 6.2% ABV, and had a very nice ginger bite, nice blonde color, a balanced dryness, and floral notes that were peachy (literally). I liked it enough to fill a growler with this seasonal offering, which sadly, like summer, is gone for now. My Untapped Rating: 3.5

Image Credit: Sean Connolly

Sir Issac, one of Fox Tail’s flagship ciders, was next. It’s a pleasing gold color with a green apple tartness that lingers like a late summer afternoon. Like Ginger Haven, it’s got a 6.2% ABV rate. My tasting notes have it rated decent, as in, ‘it won’t knock your socks off,’ but it’s definitely quaffable.  My Untapped Rating: 3.0

Image Credit: Sean Connolly

I got quite stuck --in a good way--on Brierberry for the third sample. This semi-dry cider has a 6.3% ABV and leaves you with no doubt that tart, jammy ciders done well can be just what the doctor ordered for summer afternoons. Brierberry has a great rose blush color that’s balanced with apple blossom notes. It was my second favorite, and one I would bring to a summer cookout for cider novitiates. My Untapped Rating: 3.25

 Docklands was next. At 6.9% ABV, it was kicking up the kick a notch. Fox Tail calls Docklands an ‘Irish style cider, and double-ferments it. The result is a respectable drink that to me had definite grassy notes and a farmhouse, scrumpy-style flavor. My only (mild) complaint about Docklands is that, unlike Ginger Haven and Brierberry, it had an abrupt finish. Kind of like my command of the lyrics to “Danny Boy.” My Untapped Rating: 3.0

Image Credit: Sean Connolly

I wrapped up my tasting with the IHC, or Imperial Hopped Cider. Like Docklands it’s 6.9% ABV. A dash of hop flavor and aroma was easy to get in every sip, but IHC left me wanting more apple notes and finish for balance. I think with a little more apple, over time, IHC could muscle into the list of must-taste dry-hopped ciders. My Untapped Rating: 3.0

The take-away: I like Fox Tail’s eclecticism and the fact that they’ve established what I hope will be one of several flagship Gorge cidery destinations. Fox Tail embodies the New American Cider Movement (you heard that catch-phrase here first, folks) that honors old world taste while showcasing American innovation by as pairing apple blends and single varietals with interesting fruits and veggies (think boysenberries, raspberries, plums, rhubarb).  I still haven’t tried their full lineup, and based on Justin Cardwell’s constantly changing array of seasonals, more trips to the tasting room might be in order. Taproom host Paige Munyan is friendly and helpful, too; don’t be afraid to ask questions. And the Taproom has seating both inside and out, for those Oregon days when sitting surrounded by orchards seems just the thing. 

Image Credit: Outside Patio of Fox Tail (lysmekah, Aug 2014)

 I’m looking forward to seeing their ciders further evolve in complexity and become more widely available (for the moment outside the taproom they’re mainly available in Western Washington and Central/North Central Oregon).

But until then, Fox Tail is a great excuse to take a road trip and visit Hood River. As if you needed one anyway, right?