People worldwide have known how to make cider for thousands of years. Archaeological evidence shows that ancient European and Asian cultures used apples to make a crude version of cider as early as 6500 B.C. The art of cider making improved over the years as people developed a better understanding of the factors that impact cider flavor. During the sixth century, a profession of skillful brewers was established in Europe. These people made beer-like beverages and cider. By the 16th century, Normandy became one of the largest cider-making areas in the world. Experimentation with different types of apples ensued, which resulted in better tasting ciders. England and colonial America also produced cider during this time, and it became an important part of each culture. The ciders of this time period were inconsistent however, as small farmers each had their own methods of manufacture. The technology of cider production made significant improvements over time as people developed a better understanding of each step in the cider making process. These days, cider is a highly controllable operation, which results in a dependable, good-tasting product. Peaks & Pints presents a World Cider Day celebration Saturday, June 3 at our craft beer and cider bar, bottle shop and restaurant in Tacoma’s Proctor District. We have more than tripled our cider taps on our Western red cedar tap log from open to close. Stop by Peaks & Pints Saturday and celebrate cider, including our selected in-house cider flight, Peaks and Pints Cider Flight: World Cider Day.

Peaks and Pints Cider Flight: World Cider Day

Incline Cucumber Jalapeño

5% ABV

Jalapeno is a pepper fruit from the species Capsicum annuum. It is bright in flavor and tastes like serrano peppers. Cucumber and jalapeño are one of Peaks & Pints’ favorite flavor combinations.  Too often, we think, jalapeños as carriers for spice, but it has a lovely sweet, earthy, peppery flavor that’s brought to life by the mellow, hydrating flavor of cucumber. Incline Cider’s latest creation capitalizes on this flavor combo with jalapeño aroma backed up by refreshing cucumber and authentic jalapeño flavor.

Independent Lavender Perry

5.5% ABV

Independent Cider is in the upper Wenatchee Valley near Leavenworth and Cashmere. The cidery produces handcrafter perry — a cider made completely with fermented pear juice as its base — playing up on the natural sweetness and pear flavor in their products. Their Lavender Perry is made with two varieties of lavender harvested down valley from their pear orchards. The blended buds from this mid-summer flower are dried and steeped to contribute subtle lavender notes and flavors.

Double Mountain Little Spy

7.5% ABV

Double Mountain macerates the finest American heirloom cider apples from the Hood River Valley and allows their juice to rest on the skins and seeds before pressing, producing just a hint of additional tannic character. The pet nat-style cider is fermented slow and low to maximize the fruit’s nuanced expression, highlighting notes of citron, Riesling grape, and ripe pear. Carbonation is the result of careful fermentation monitoring and racking accordingly.

Yonder Sunnyslope

6.9% ABV

Yonder Cider Co., one of Washington’s top independent cider producers, launched in August 2020 during the heart of the pandemic, selling its first cans out of the founder Caitlin Braam’s garage in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood and now a joint taproom with bale Breaker brewing in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. In its first two years, Yonder expanded statewide, growing by more than 240 percent in the past year. Produced in Wenatchee, Washington — the heart of Apple Country — the growing cidery prides itself on a blend of culinary and bittersweet apples, producing ciders as beautiful and bold as the packaging they come in. Inspired by popular pre-prohibition era cocktail, the Greyhound, their Sunnyslope pink grapefruit and lemon verbena cider is beautifully tart and bursting with notes of citrus, vibrant floral aromas conjure memories of warmer weather with a hue reminiscent of freshly squeezed grapefruit.

2 Towns Hip Hops Cider

8% ABV

2 Towns Ciderhouse’s Hip Hops is crafted with fresh-pressed Northwest apples, rose hips and Talus hops. It’s the musical mashup of two unique ingredients — rose hips and Talus hops. Rose hips add a delicate combination of stone fruit and rose aromas with a touch of acidity. Talus hops are hand selected by 2 Towns’ R&D team as the most expressive aromatic and delicious hop they could find. Hip Hops is bright and full of expressive aromatic herbals and rose aromas with a touch of acidity.

LINK: Peaks & Pints cooler inventory