An abundance of apples, locavores, and gluten allergies has Washington ripe for a cider resurgence.
David White did not enjoy his first taste of cider. “It took a couple of tries, but then I started to crave that stuff. Kind of like red wine, it doesn’t grab everybody at first,” says the owner of Olympia’s Whitewood Cider Company, which opened in late 2011. Now he’s betting his savings that a significant portion of Western Washingtonians have acquired a taste for cider as well.
He’s not the only one.
Capitol Cider will open soon on East Pike Street, affirming the fact that cider is gaining popularity—not just here, but across the country. New cideries are opening, and more orchard acreage is being set aside for cider apples. In the past few years, sales of U.S. hard ciders have increased tremendously, from four million gallons in 2004 to more than 17 million in 2012.
Read on by heading over to the Seattle Weekly's website.
http://www.seattleweekly.com/food/947012-129/cider-says-beer-apples-schilling-washington