THE CIDER CALLING

By Edward Matthews

Hard cider has had ups and downs in the American experience. It has gone from an essential and communal beverage in colonial times and on the frontier, to decline (and opposition to it) during the Temperance Movement and commercial neglect during and after Prohibition, to the craft cider renaissance of the 21st century. In the early days of the Republic, most any property or farm would have had an orchard attached to it, often grown from apple seeds (pippins), with a cider press at the ready. These pippins yielded mostly “spitters” – extremely bitter and tannic apples – that were poor for eating, but excellent for cider (which was the point). Community cider mills were mainstay local institutions, turning out an indispensable drink often used as a substitute for the less sanitary local water. Making cider was not really a calling, but rather part of every day 18th and 19th century life, and one of the few pleasures.

Fast forward to now , the hard cider scene has sprung back to life largely in smaller “craft” cidery form, and especially in New York State, where the largest number of cider producers in the US reside, and where the traditional apple-growing region of the Hudson Valley has been a magnet for a new generation of cider makers. But unlike the days of yore, cider competes with many other professional options, as well as with many other alcoholic beverages – wine, distilled spirits, craft beer, even hard seltzer. There is also the arduous work and expense associated with farming apple orchards, whether maintaining and converting older orchards, or establishing new ones. So, the plunge into craft cider is not for the faint of heart — it is indeed a calling — but one that has become much easier due to the efforts of some dedicated pioneers. And while the motivations and circumstances can be quite diverse, the common denominator is that many of those with “cider callings” ended up in the Hudson Valley.

ELIZABETH RYAN | HUDSON VALLEY FARMHOUSE CIDER