Ethic Cider has a 3.5 acre apple orchard, with about 20 varietals. They have some Gravenstein and Goldan Delicious and Johnathans. They use those as a basis and build on top of that, getting apples from other growers as well.
Blending Cider: balancing tart, sweet and bitter.
Blending cider is a balance between tart, sweet and bitter. They can also add sugars. Ned says they also use natural yeast. The majority of the small makers do natural fermentation. They like to let the ciders start naturally, then finish with some white wine yeast. They do it carefully, but it is to make the flavors more predictably uniform.
This middle path between wine and beer is Ned’s own way. He says cider people can be iconoclasts, a bit against the grain. He came from tech, did twenty years of that, then bought a farm in Occidental. He found that there was a lot to be done there, refurbishing the land.
It was already apple country. He had a lot to learn about agriculture and refurbishing the land they are on.
Ned sees that cider is growing. Since there is a known decline in wine and beer, people are discovering the option of cider. Everyone is asking what the consumer wants. Some of it is non-alcoholic. Ned thinks the growth in cider will also be driven by local production and brands.
Ethic Cider Events
Ethic Cider has events coming soon. The Summer Celebration Kick-Off is on May 30 from Noon to 5pm, at the Ethic Cider orchard in Sebastopol. Music, cider, barbeque and fun, no reservation required. Cider pairs well with BBQ! Also, they will also start doing Cider Salon on the second Thursday of the month, from 5-8 PM. The first Cider Salon is June 11, and they run through October.
They taste a Newtown Pipin, which grows in the back of the orchard. Later they taste an Eau di Vie which is a brandy. They distill it from apples. It is clear and has no wood and no wood influences. It is really a spirit. So they add things to it. It can go into a spritz, with a cherry and some ice. Eau de vie can support a really nice cocktail.
They also make a tonic water, which came from the need to have an N.A. option. They didn’t want to make a fermented cider and then de-alcoholize it, so they use apple cider vinegar mother to flavor it. With ethic tonic and apple cider vinegar, you can make a “shrub.” Herlinda points out that any menu or event should have at least one really good non-alcoholic option. This is to make sure that there is something for everybody. The problem has been sugars, and finding NA beverages that are not so high in sugar.