Each fall, we gather heritage apples from local orchards: heirloom varietals with names like Black Oxford, Idared, Wickson & Northern Spy. We often harvest after orchards have closed for the season, allowing us to use apples that would otherwise become food-waste.
And along the Downeast coast, we forage feral apples from trees with names unknown or forgotten. These wild trees are the seedling offspring of some bygone orchard or abandoned homestead. Apple seeds have an incredible diversity of genetic material; each seed is unique and might grow into a tree that produces very different fruits from its parent.
A discarded apple core might spawn a new tree whose apples are excellent for cidermaking: wild fruit often impart unique characteristics like tannic bitterness, sharp acidity & curious aromatics. When fermented, these characteristics lend complex flavors and body to our ciders.
Folks have been making cider in this area for hundreds of years, and we make ours in the traditional way, with minimal processing intervention, in order to highlight the terroir - or hyperlocal character - of the Downeast Acadia region. Once pressed, we transfer the cider to oak barrels where it spontaneously ferments with native yeasts present on the fruit. We age it for a minimum of six months before blending & carbonating, often in the pét-nat style, allowing the
natural fruit sugars to sparkle the cider after bottling.
Each vintage is unique, as each year's weather brings
variation to the apples we select. Thank your for trying the ephemeral flavors of Downeast Maine!