Pressing for real now & The South Sound Blend

​Well last week's announcement was a little premature. The apples could have been pressed but I decided to sweat them out for another week. Now it appears we'll be pressing apples every weekend for 3 consecutive weeks.

This weekend we'll be pressing almost 4000 pounds of Oly's finest locally sourced/scavenged/found heirloom apples. Thanks to much help from my brother we may have exceeded our 200 gallon goal. Looks to be closer to 300 gallons now which should fit into one of those tall white tanks behind the apples there. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

We are looking for a name​ for this local cider blend and maybe you guys can help us. If you have any suggestions please submit your comments at the bottom of this post. The names we like we'll add to the potential list.

​Our stack of locally picked fruit waiting for the press this weekend.

In the following weeks we'll be pressing organic heirloom Macintosh and Jonathan apples from Eastern Washington near Leavenworth. After those are done we'll be diving straight into our cider varieties for about 4 days of pressing. Wish us luck! We'll be busy in our little upstart cider house.

Let's start pressing 2012's apples!

Well I just got back last night from a most excellent cider adventure that took me around the Northwest with 3 other really terrific cider folks. Bill & Pete from England and fellow Northwest Cider folk Jennie Dorsey from Tieton Cider Works. Post to follow soon (I hope...) on Oldtimecider.com in between pressing cider of course.

Speaking of and the actual reason for this post:

Our 2012 cider pressing starts this weekend. We'll be pressing about 4000 pounds of locally sourced South Puget Sound heirloom apples for our boutique "drink local" experiment. From those apples we could get 250+ gallons. By design an extremely high percentage of this cider with either remain here and be enjoyed around Olympia in local homes and businesses by our friends and neighbors. Although new to Washington again, this is not at all a new idea. On the contrary in fact. This is how Americans used to drink their cider. Locally sourced, locally crafted, locally drunk.

The "Big Pick" @ Friendly Grove Farm in Olympia, Washington. October 2012.

I haven't decided exactly how much but my current though it to keep between 75-80% here in the South Sound. The 20-25% will likely be poured at a few festivals and I have a few shops outside the area in mind for a few special shipments. I suppose I should say we are not responsible for cider purchased here in Olympia and bootlegged outside the area by unscrupulous cider loving individuals. ;)

We are very optimistic about this blend and will keep you posted on the progress. All the apples have been delicious and beautiful and all so far seem to be potentially really terrific apples for cider.​ We are kind of picky, and usually prefer making cider from heirloom apples that are acidic and bitter.

​My good friends at Finnriver Farm & Cidery announced that they are doing a similar project in their neck of the woods. They are gathering apples from around the upper peninsula around Chimacum and Port Townsend. If you live in the area they have 5 convenient drop off locations. Hoping to do a special tasting or 2 with both these ciders. Read more about it here.

Really big shouts out to my very first enthusiastic supporter of this project Jim at Friendly Grove Farm for the apples from the 5 acre homestead farm he is reviving, also to Fido's Farm for sharing their farm's orchard harvest. There are also a number of terrific households around South Puget Sound that shared some of their yard's bounty. The biggest shout out should go out to my brother Ryan who has gathered the lion share of these local apples over the past few weeks. Thanks bro!

If you have a bunch of apples lying around and would like to participate i​t in our little local experiment it ain't too late. Late season apple varieties more often make the very best cider apples and these little guys should still be hanging in the trees. Do let us know. We'll add as many pressings as we need to get'r done.

It's also not too late for the Cider CSA we recently announced. Depending on how things go this cider should be a good part of the subscription.

A British Invasion Coming to the NW.

I've got an exciting roadtrip ahead of me...

About a year and a half ago and just as we were really starting up​ the Northwest Cider Association I get this email out of the blue from this photographer guy in England. The guy is Bill Bradshaw of IAMCIDER. He explained to me the he likes cider a lot, he takes pitcures of the stuff and the culture, and was putting together a book project on world cider with this award winning beer writer guy Pete Brown. Well if you know me, and maybe even if you don't, you could guess how excited I was to hear about a project like that.

​A sample of Bill's handy work. http://iamcider.blogspot.com/

​I started to help Bill get connected with a few folks like Mike Beck from Uncle John's Fruit House Winery who almost immediately made arrangements for a visit to the Great Lakes area and Michigan with a short layover in the Northeast for a few stops. I knew we needed to bring these guys out to the Pacific Northwest too. I brought the idea to NWCA President Sharon Campbell of Tieton Cider Works and she was equally enthused about the idea and after approval from the board she immediately spearheaded the planning of their visit.

We really wanted to bring them to the Northwest during harvest time and during pressing to make the best of the opportunity and give them the best possible experience. Because Eastern Oregon and Washington have such a different growing season than Western Oregon and Washington pinpointing exact dates that showed the best of both sides was difficult too. We decided on early to mid October of 2012.

Bill and Pete arrive soon and I get to be one of our Northwest cider ambassadors and help escort these two gentlemen around our beautiful little corner of the world during what I think is the best time to visit the Northwest. It's gonna be a blast I'm sure. Stay tuned as I'm sure we'll document a pretty good road trip with this guys on NW Cider's website.

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​Hang with Bill Bradshaw and Pete Brown and your local Cidermakers.

Sharon planned a couple special evenings one in Portland and another in Seattle where Bill and Pete and the Northwest Cider Association members will meet and great and drink some cider. I hear Bill and Pete put on an entertaining performance where they discuss their project and their booze filled globe trotting adventures.

Are you interested in attending one of these events?

PORTLAND

If you are in or near Portland come to Spirit of 77 Saturday October 13th ​at 6pm where you will find our esteemed guests hanging out with Oregon cidermakers and drinking their wares. No cover fee, and cider, eats, and cocktails are all available for purchase.

SEATTLE​

On Wednesday October 17th the boys arrive in Seattle and will head on over to Central Cinema at 6PM for a repeat performance and Q&A session with ​Washington cidermakers. Tickets are $20 per person, cider tastes and eats provided.

Visit the Northwest Cider Association's events pages to find out more.​