2021 RELEASES
Flagship Collection
Grown by us. Made by us. These are the stalwarts that represent the diversity of our remarkable collection of apple varieties from all over the world.
Single Orchard Collection
Celebrating the great organic apple orchards of Salt Spring Island. Every one of them made from the fruit of a single organic orchard. Varied and unique.
Specialty Collection
When our harvest is large enough, we get the chance to have some fun. Organic, of course. Estate grown by us. Creative and original ciders for the adventurous.
FLAGSHIP COLLECTION
FIRKIN
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The lightest and easiest-drinking of our ciders, we made it from a second pressing of all 425+ varieties in our orchard. Ideally suited to warm weather and good times, it’s super-pale-coloured, slightly sweet, pleasantly bubbly and happily uncomplicated, although those with discerning palates may notice subtle hints of complexity. A light patio sipper, for sure.
Slightly Sweet
4.6% alcohol
RED REBEL…
This one’s all about the pink. It’s a good-natured cider that gets most of its colour from a splash of organic blackberry juice harvested from our property and added after fermentation. It’s a blend of second press juice, modern apple varieties and red fleshed apples. Perky, not as sweet as the cotton-candy colour may suggest, and our top-seller.
Slightly Sweet
5.1% acohol
365
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‘Scrumpy’ is a term from the West of England that means ‘rough’ and describes a traditional cider made from a hodgepodge of apples, often gathered haphazardly and fermented in a hands-off, natural way. We used apples from almost every variety in our orchard to make 365, combining them in a rustic blend topped off with just a touch of sweetness.
Medium Dry
5.8% alcohol
SKY BLUE
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Our orchard is best known for our many heritage varieties, but equally significant are the modern connoisseur apples, largely ignored by industrial agriculture, but full of richness and quality. We made this cider dry and assertive, unfiltered (like all of our ciders), providing hints of the funky, cloudy Spanish sidra style, yet a little more accessible and easy-drinking. Salud!
Medium Dry
5.9% alcohol
SERIOUS CIDER
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The names are as memorable as the ciders they go into: Brown Snout, Grindstone, Foxwhelp, Chisel Jersey and more. You won’t want to bite into any of these bitter traditional cider apples, but they sure make great cider. This blend also includes crab-apples, making for a dry, full-bodied cider with deep colour and hints of bitterness and astringency.
Dry
6.5% alcohol
BILL BLAXTON
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We make all our ciders in a traditional style, this one most of all. Composed entirely of heritage North American varieties like King of Tompkins County, Winter Banana and Grimes Golden, we ferment it outdoors, long and slow, using only nature’s wild yeasts. It’s very dry, full-bodied, lightly carbonated and with the slightest hint of funkiness. As authentic as it gets.
Very Dry
6.5% alcohol
GOLDEN HARVEY
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Heritage European varieties like Calville Blanc d’Hiver and Ashmead’s Kernel rule the day here, fermented to complete dryness and then blended with just a teensy dash of apple juice. The result? A nearly-bone-dry cider with lemony zip that’s complex and austere in a European sort of way. Like all our Flagship Collection ciders, it’s 100% estate grown.
Very Dry
6.5% alcohol
SINGLE ORCHARD COLLECTION
ISABELLA FARM
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We’re excited to work with other organic Salt Spring growers like Isabella Farm to source great fruit for our Single Orchard Collection ciders. We made this one using apples provided by Isabella’s good-natured orchardist Kent Mjolsness. The sweetest of our 2021 releases, it’s easy-drinking, juicy and appley, a perfect match for spicy foods and lovers of sweeter ciders.
Sweet
5.6% alcohol
BRIGHT FARM
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This is our second year working with Charlie Eagle and his fabulous, historic Bright Farm orchard. This year’s blend features four great Bright Farm varieties: Laxton’s Superb, Lord Derby, Maxwell’s Apple and our old favourite, King of Tompkins County. Like last year’s version, it’s juicy and easy-drinking; but this year, we’ve upped the complexity just a smidge.
Medium Dry
6.0% alcohol
SPECIALTY COLLECTION
BELLE DE BOSKOOP
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It’s fitting that our first-ever single varietal cider is 100 per cent Belle de Boskoop. It’s the most widely-planted and productive apple variety in our orchard and arguably also our best. This cider’s highly drinkable, yet rich and complex. We harvested nearly two tonnes of super-ripe Belles in 2020, the high sugar levels making this our highest-alcohol cider.
Medium Dry
6.7% alcohol
THE STINGER
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We like to pick our battles. So, when stinging nettles began spreading in some of our orchard aisles, we decided to turn this irritating problem into an asset by harvesting them to infuse this complex, full-bodied cider. This cider includes traditional cider varieties plus others, making for a dry, substantial drink with a hint of the nettles’ mild herbal sweetness.
Medium Dry
6.3% alcohol
HOOPED
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Matured for just short of four months in American oak barrels previously used to age red wine, this blend is 100% wild-fermented North American heritage apples. About 20 per cent of it is the venerable old Wolf River variety. Dry, substantial and slightly darker-coloured than most of our ciders, it offers subtle hints of oak and is our most traditional cider.
Dry
5.8% alcohol
OAST HOUSE
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By popular demand! We infused this dry, scrumpy-style cider with organic Mt. Hood hops grown by Ron Puhky and Kim Hanson at Salt Spring’s Grandview Farm. The hops add ever-so-subtle floral and herbal aromatic notes to this full-bodied cider. We consider this our secret weapon in an ongoing campaign to turn more craft beer lovers onto cider.
Dry
6.0% alcohol