Cider club

Traditional 6

MARCH 2025

Spring is on the way!

Winter is slowly loosening its embrace of Salt Spring. A heavy snow and a couple of very chilly weeks kept the ground blanketed in snow for the first half of February after a sunny and dry January, at least by our standards. Now the rain has returned and things are starting to warm up. Daffodils and crocuses are poking through the ground, and the first little buds will soon start to take shape on the trees. After a busy Valentine’s Day weekend, the visitors to the cidery are beginning to increase. We’re still a long way from the busy, bustling days of summer, but you can feel that the tide has shifted, however subtly.

We’re delighted to share this season’s ciders with you as we head into springtime. Our work with small-batch, naturally carbonated ciders continues with our new Apricot Saison cider. It’s a bottle-conditioned apple cider that was co-fermented with a bit of apricot puree using a saison yeast. Saison yeasts are normally used to ferment saison beers—farmhouse ales that are typically dry with a hint of spice and fruit, and they tend to have a lively carbonation. The yeast has a somewhat similar effect on the cider, and it ferments to a crisp dryness with a similar subtle note of spice (think coriander and white pepper). Historically, saisons were enjoyed by farmhands in France and Belgium after working in the fields, and their crisp, dry flavour made them super refreshing. Even if you’re not a farmhand, this is still a great cider to enjoy as the weather turns warmer, maybe after a hard day’s work in the garden this spring or summer.

From the cellar, we’ve got another look at our Wild Pear & Quince Cider. We first included this one in our June 2024 shipment, and it was pressed in 2023 and fermented over the winter with native yeast. It’s a blend of perry and eating pears, plus a hint of quince, all from Salt Spring Island, and it’s ageing nicely. We’re also including our beloved flagship, the Dry Cider, just to make sure you’ve got a classic, pure apple cider to enjoy as well.

After a successful first run last December, we’re again inviting you to pick the rest of the ciders. Just click on the button at the bottom of the page to go to our special Cider Club shop where you can make your selections for this shipment.

We hope the winter has been kind to you and send our best wishes for beautiful spring ahead! Thanks for your continued patronage. Cheers!

Featured Ciders

  • Apricot Saison

    Salt Spring Island apples were pressed and fermented on apricot puree using saison yeast. Very dry, with fruity notes from the apricot, and a subtle hint of spice from the yeast. Bottle conditioned to bring out the lively effervescence of traditional saisons. 6.7% ABV

  • Wild Pear & Quince

    Made with hand foraged Salt Spring Island wild seed pears, tannic cider pears, Asian pears, and quince. Cold fermented using native yeast, then bottle conditioned. Gently sweet due to the natural residual sugar from the pears. This is a juicy cider, with notes of melon, white pepper, and manuka honey.

    Originally a very cloudy cider, many of the solids have now settled out over the past year. If you’d like to relive its original cloudy juiciness, give it a good swirl and shake a few minutes before you open it. You might taste some almost rosy notes that have emerged from the quince if you do. Or, if you’d like something clearer, subtler, and a hint drier, leave the solids at rest in the bottom of the bottle. 5.7% ABV

  • Dry

    A wild fermented, full-bodied cider with light citrus notes and a clean, dry, tannic finish. This cider is made from over 30 varieties of entirely organic apples, including English Bittersweet varieties and heirloom varieties picked from historic Salt Spring orchards that were originally planted for hard cider production in the late 1800's. 6.7% ABV

PICK YOUR THREE CIders!

All shipments will include the ciders listed above. You get to pick the rest.

Click the button below to visit our Cider Club store. Select three ciders from the choices there, and we’ll include them with your shipment. Please only select three ciders— additional ciders will be excluded from the shipment.

If no selection is made by March 10th, we’ll pick them for you. (Don’t worry, they’ll be good ones!)

Shipments will be put in the mail by March 14th, or after your card on file is processed on its reoccurring subscription charge date if it normally falls after the 14th.