The slightly sweet, sparkling classic is at the height of its harvest.
If you go back 350 years in America, every farm had orchards and everyone drank hard cider,” says
Brian Rutzen, the cider director of the Northman— a cider bar opening this fall in Chicago.
Cider’s on everyone’s lips again, thanks to the classic cocktail resurgence, the “slow food” movement, and even the
gluten-free trend. Giant brewers have all gotten involved, and cider-only bars from Seattle to New York
City are cropping up. Here’s where to savor these adult versions of apple juice across the U.S.
MIDWEST “Michigan is now the third largest applegrowing state behind Washington and New York,”
says Rutzen. He recommends Vander Mill cidery out of Spring Lake and Uncle John’s Cider Mill in St. Johns, which off ers a tasting room open from May to December.
NORTHEAST The Big Apple’s first cidery, Descendant Cider Company, opened last year in Queens and features small-batch ciders made entirely from Empire State apples. You can’t tour, but you can drink its ciders in 30 bars throughout the city. Our top choice? Lower East Side’s Wassail, a sleek cider bar and restaurant that opened this spring. WEST COAST Finnriver Farm and Cidery, home to more than 4,000 apple and pear trees, mixes botanicals like locally harvested fir tips and rose hips into its blends.
SOUTH Austin Eastciders in Texas plans to open a tasting room in artsy East Austin this year. In the meantime, visit Half Step for a Cider Julep—Eastciders Dry, Calvados, sugar, fresh mint, and angostura bitters.
