Page 39 - Beverage Master December January 2020

Craft Beverage

tivated because they grew in an orchard so well,
or because they yielded so many tons to an acre. In his analysis, Parrish does not view large-scale
They are grown because of their flavor and aroma. production of cider apples tak-ing off unless
Furthermore, fermentation and aging of cider enough cider apples are grown and harvested to
apples is a fair bit different than working with mod- bring the cost down to the same price point as craft
ern eating apples.” Larsen designed his new opera- beer. Simply put, not enough consumers are willing
tion, Sunred Cider, to manage these challenges for to pay $10 to $12 for a bottle of cider made with
cidermakers and streamline the process between premium Pacific Northwest cider apples to justify
growers and producers. producing it on a large scale.

Adding to the cost of producing cider fruit is the Also, Jorgensen says the general cider distribu-
U.S. law prohibiting farmers from harvesting apples tion market trends towards cans, and thus towards
that fall to the ground. Hence, farmers cannot higher production volumes. He’s not aware of any-
mechanically harvest these apples on a large scale, one with ac-cess to enough “traditional” cider juice
unlike in the U.K., where apples can be harvested to be able to package and sell in large quantities,
after they’ve fallen off the trees. let alone at a price point comparable to the more
contemporary ciders on the market.
Larsen points to the need for consumer educa-
tion. In his estimation, “most peo-ple see cider as Emily Ritchie, Executive Director at Northwest
a sort of holistic Mike’s Hard Lemonade.” He attri- Cider Association, acknowledges the difficulties
butes this per-ception to the fact that most large faced by craft cideries like the Portland-based Cider
scale cider operations are forced to rely on a very Riot. They closed their doors in November 2019 as
restricted supply of apple juice that, at its best, is they found themselves unable to pro-duce their
pretty uninteresting. They spice up their product, award-winning heirloom ciders while also maintain-
adding flavorings, sweeteners and colors. “This is ing a viable cidery and pub. “Right now, it’s harder
great if you want something that tastes like alco- to keep a business open when you’re just using
holic watermelon juice with hibiscus or some other cider fruit, as your price points are higher,” Ritchie
flavor combination, but it’s not great if you want to says.
experience real cider,” he said.
In assessing the future of cider apples, Parrish
Ryal Schallenberger of Northwest Mobile Juicing points to cider’s long history as a working man’s
says that cidermakers try to dis-tance themselves drink. “It’s never been seen as having a high intrin-
from the apples when they are using bulk juice. sic value, and will not be viewed by the mass mar-
“They make comments on their labels that are ket as having a high value similar to wine.” In his
generic like ‘fresh northwest juice.’ Folks that are estimation, history has proven that cider apples will
using traditional cider apples say so on their labels, remain a niche market with a loyal following.
for the most part.” This distinction may be appar-
ent to cider connoisseurs; however, this differenti- Conversely, Ritchie compares the potential growth
ation does not seem to be conveyed to the general of Pacific Northwest cider ap-ples to the growth of
public. the wine industry in Oregon over the last 30 years.
Those who planted the first vineyards in Willamette
The question, though, is how many consumers Valley and other AVA’s began from a place where
crave “real cider” given the popu-larity of ciders they had no name recognition into producing inter-
made with added pineapple, hops, botanicals or nationally re-nowned Pinot Noirs and other vari-
spices? In 2018, apple cider without added fruits, etals.
spices or botanicals constituted 63% of national
retail sales. Even though over half of all sales in With the first harvest from these aforementioned
2018 were ciders made with ap-ples, the trend cider trees slated for 2020, will cider apples join
toward producing non-apple ciders appears to be Pinot Noir grapes as a fruit that defines this region?
on the rise. For example, Jeff Parrish, co-owner Time and price point will tell.
of Portland Cider Company, notes that consumer
demand continues to increase for ciders made with
pineapples, pears, and other non-apple fruit.

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