Member Spotlight - Waldschänke Ciders

For our December member spotlight, we sat down with Kelley Dufresne of Waldschänke Ciders:

Tell us about your cidery…
Our cidery is run and owned by the Dufresne Family. John and his son Keane; along with his wife, Ruth and Keane's wife, Kelley.

We are an entirely family-run and owned business! Our European inspiration comes from part-owner Ruth’s father, George. During the beginning of World War II, and at the young age of sixteen, George assisted in digging out the fermentation cellar of the original Waldschänke Ciderhaus on a forest preserve in Romanshorn, Switzerland. It quickly became a place where the entire village would come to relax, drink traditional unfiltered cider, and enjoy each other’s company. While George- now 97- had to retire and leave his legacy behind, we have decided to carry it on here in the U.S., taking inspiration from his original unfiltered cider recipes while adding a modern Colorado twist.

In addition to our own ciders, we plan to keep nearly half of our taps on reserve for other local Colorado cideries so that we can share and promote not only our cider, but our friends' and colleagues' as well. Our goal is to give you a European tap house vibe that includes both unique, unfiltered Swiss ciders as well as the best and most diverse selection of Colorado ciders in Denver for our community to enjoy!

Recipes in the works:
- Classic Black Currant
- Cocktail-inspired ciders, such as Apple-cello (Lemoncello)
- Dry-Hopped Mosaic
- Barrel-Aging for which we have partnered with Bear Creek Distillery.

Our patio is also in the works and should be ready to enjoy by Spring/Summer with area's for both owners and dogs. With this, we are hoping to implement a Sunnyside Farmer's Market in our parking area, where people will be able to shop, sample cider, and interact with community vendors and artists. We are also planning on having a music night once a week, featuring local musicians.

We're very excited to bring our Waldschänke concept to the urban environment of Denver. We hope to educate about cider (not all of it is sugar sweet or bone dry!) by having a variety of options and reserving a number of tap handles for our cider brethren throughout Colorado. As of now, we have the widest variety of Colorado cider in the city, including ciders from Talbott's, Old Mine, Climb Hard, Hard Summit, Snow Capped, Boxing Brothers, Big B's, Stem's, Clear Fork, St. Vrain, BOCO, Colorado Cider Company, Colorado+, and C Squared.

Additionally, beginning in the new year, we will be implementing a European-style coffeehaus in our taproom in the mornings. We will offer traditional pourover coffees, table-side french presses, standard espresso beverages, and delicious drip. For this, we have partnered with Mad Loon Roasters- a local, up-and-coming coffee roaster- who uses responsibly-sourced and uniquely-flavored beans from around the world. We have implemented a Kickstarter Campaign to help us reach our coffeehaus goals. Here is a link to the campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/waldschanke/waldschanke-ciders-coffeehaus/

Waldschänke Ciders 4100 Jason Street, Denver, CO 80211

Member Spotlight - Talbott's Cider Company

It’s November and we’re proud to announce Talbott’s Cider Company our Member Spotlight. We caught up with Charles Talbott to get their story.

In 1907 our great-great-great grandfather Joseph Evan Yeager pursued his dream of moving west and settled in the high altitude scenic Grand Valley of Colorado’s Western Slope.  He was among the early settlers who planted orchards in the Palisade region of the valley.  Constructing canals, they delivered Rocky Mountain snowmelt waters to the thirsty mineral rich alluvial soils of the valley floor and surrounding benches and mesas.

Joe’s granddaughter caught the eye of a young cattleman from a neighboring county and upon their marriage, our great-grandmother welcomed Harry Talbott, our great- grandfather and founder of Talbott Farms into the fruit-growing business.  Over the decades, our company has continued to expand orchard and vineyard production for markets throughout the nation.  In 1983 we constructed our first cider mill in the building that now serves as our Farm Market & Taproom.  As production increased in the 1990s, we built a larger cider mill that currently meets production demands.

Talbott’s Cider Company was created by Charles Talbott and Christopher Leader in 2015. Charles was just returning to Palisade from the United States Marine Corps in which he served as an Aviation Mechanic. His passion for fermentation science started in the wall locker of his barracks. Christopher was working as commercial diver for the United States Navy government contract all along the east coast when him and his wife moved to be closer to family in Colorado. Both Charles and Christopher worked for the farm and realized they both passionate homebrewers.

Since the family had been producing cider since the 1980s, they immediately started fermenting hard cider. In about a year of R&D Talbott’s Cider Company was born.

Talbott’s originally started in 3 varieties in 16-ounce cans. The core focus of these ciders is to be produced 100% from fresh pressed juices. There are never from concentrates, no added artificial flavors, and no added colors. We press and package everything on site to maintain those quality standards.

Today we have 4 flagships and 4 seasonals all available in 12-ounce cans and on draft. Our additional craft exists only at our Taproom, where we have a series of small batch ciders including barrel aged, single varietals, ice ciders and much more. They also have participated in many collaborations with breweries across the nation including a can collaboration with Breckenridge Brewery.

The goal for us is to produce the best ciders that we are able too, continue to collaborate and build the industry, and to continue to educate consumers on true craft cider. Cheers!

Talbott’s Cider Company - 3801 F ¼ Road, Palisade, Colorado, 81526

Member Spotlight - Stem Ciders

We’re happy to feature Stem Ciders for our October Member Spotlight! They have three locations; two retail locations in Colorado, and one in Durham, North Carolina.

Acreage by Stem Ciders 
1380 Horizon Avenue
Lafayette, CO 80026

Stem Ciders Taproom 
2811 Walnut Street, Suite 150
Denver, CO 80205

The Northern Spy  
2812 Erwin Road, Suite 104
Durham, NC 27705

Stem Ciders was founded in 2013 by Eric Foster and Phil Kao, two entrepreneurs with a deep appreciation for craft, and a strong commitment to reviving the cider tradition, Stem produces cider founded on three main principles: quality, style and tradition.

The RiNo cider house doors opened in January of 2014 with three ciders on tap and a mission to share the cider traditions that our founders know and love. With the addition of a primary production facility and restaurant, Acreage, in Lafayette, Colorado, as well as restaurant and bottle shop, The Northern Spy in Durham, North Carolina, Stem Ciders continues to grow nationally with wholesale and retail focus. From the first batch of cider produced in 2011 – now known as Real Dry Apple Cider, to the seasonal ciders, collaborations, and monthly Firkin experiments, Stem is committed to producing the highest quality cider that brings those traditions to the forefront.

The measure of a good cider is in each of its parts.

It starts with quality ingredients, and the fewer the ingredients, the closer we are to the apple. We use fresh pressed full juice from whole, ripe fruit. We promise to create craft ciders that showcase the individual qualities of the fruit available here in the U.S.: from the Michigan apples that are at the heart of L’Acier and Le Chene to the crab apples from the Western Slope that put the pucker in our Crabby Neighbor.  From our first batch, made with Colorado apples, we’ve been committed to working in close collaboration with growers in our local communities and across the country in ways that are sustainable for our industry and environment and to promote the recultivation of heirloom cider apples.

Yeah, it's dry. Drink it already.

Simply put, dry ciders are the ciders we love to drink, but the story goes much deeper. We’re always evolving, experimenting, succeeding and sometimes faltering. Just a fraction of what we do makes it to the public, and even less makes it into your can or bottle. We push the boundaries of cider just as much as we are connected to cider traditions. The culinary apples we source from Colorado, Michigan, and the Pacific Northwest, when treated with care, help make our ciders cleaner, brighter and fresher. We embrace the dry, and wouldn’t have it any other way.

We are dedicated to reviving the cider tradition.

At the root of our ambition, we’re working to bring our customers and friends, into the world of cider. Cider is a convivial drink with a culture of community and sharing that we cherish. From the trees in the ground to the cider in your glass, it’s our mission to share these traditions with you. Cheers!

Stem Ciders

Member Spotlight - Snow Capped Cider

It’s September and we’re excited to announce this month’s member spotlight is Snow Capped Cider. We checked in with Kari Williams.

Where is your Cidery located?

Snow Capped Cider is located in Cedaredge on Colorado’s Western Slope—near our family’s century-old orchards and at 6,130 feet!

Tell us about your Business.

Our family has been in the fruit growing and packing business in Colorado for five generations—108 years this year, actually! My husband Ty and I love cider, and started Snow Capped Cider in 2014 as a fun way to use the surplus from our family’s orchards. This has been an exciting year for us—earlier this summer, we launched our products in cans; we introduced our newest collaboration with Molly’s Spirits, Rockies Rosé; and we have some fun new single varietal releases this year in the 500ml and 750ml format coming out this fall.

Tell us about the Cider!

We are passionate about making cider with fresh Colorado ingredients and authentic orchard-based English and French styles and combining that style with modern trends and flavor profiles. The orchard is producing more high quality cider-specific fruit than ever before, and we’re focused on blending those unique apples into everything we make. We are really proud to use only Estate Colorado-grown fruit in all of ciders. Come see us at Cedaredge Apple Fest this October.

Snow Capped Cider - 250 South Grand Mesa Road, Cedaredge, CO 81413

Member Spotlight - Boxing Brothers Ciderhouse

Four our August Member Spotlight, Colorado Cider Guild checked in with Matthew Bonno, of Boxing Brothers Ciderhouse.

Where is your cidery located? We are located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 4655 Town Center Dr
#130 Colorado Springs, Co 80916

Tell us about your business. We were the first cidery in the city of Colorado Springs. We originally opened as Colorado Common Hard Cider back in 2015 and have since rebranded to Boxing Brothers Ciderhouse to bring our personal story to our brand. We focus on apple and pear ciders with regular seasonals throughout the year. We are a small company of 5 employees that mostly distributes in Colorado Springs.

Tell us about your ciders! We currently offer three flagships. Our "Bulldog" is a traditional English pub style dry cider that took three years to develop. Our "American Apple" is a semi-sweet American style cider and our "Ginger & Elderflower" is a semi-dry cider aged with real ginger and organic elder flower. Some of our regular seasonal ciders include: Blackberry Sage, Pumpkin, Holiday Spice, and Whiskey Barrel Mint.

Boxing Brothers Ciderhouse 4655 Town Center Dr. #130 Colorado Springs, Co 80916

Member Spotlight - Haykin Family Cider

Colorado Cider Guild recently checked in with Talia Haykin, Owner of Haykin Family Cider.

Where is your Cidery located? We are located in Aurora near the Stanley Marketplace at 33rd and Peoria, in Aurora Colorado.

Tell us about your Business. Our business happened completely by accident. We've been making cider as a hobby since 2013 and our friends and family encouraged us to send our bottles to competitions. Much to our surprise, we won best in class at the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition, (GLINTCAP) which helped convince us to go commercial. Our tasting room has been open for a year and a half. The 2019 harvest will be our third production season as a company.

Tell us about the Cider! We make our cider with two ingredients: apples and yeast. The apples come from small farmers who we know personally, and most of them are in Colorado. With tiny bubbles, our ciders are like sparkling wine. We strive to elevate the apple just like wineries treat grapes, highlighting the flavor and complexity of interesting and unique varieties.
We don't use any adjuncts (sugar, flavorings, or other additives), we focus on letting the unique flavors of the apple shine. The majority of the ciders are single varietals (made mainly from one apple variety) with a few cuvees or blends showing up on the menu from time to time. All of our ciders are certified kosher with the Scroll K.

Haykin Family Cider ~ 12001 E 33rd Ave, Unit D, Aurora, CO 80010

Member Spotlight - Colorado Cider Company

Colorado Cider Guild checked in with Brad Page, Owner of Colorado Cider Company.

Where is your Cidery located? 
Colorado Cider Company is located at 2650 West 2nd Avenue in Denver. The tasting room is open Friday from 4 - 8pm, Saturday from 3 - 8pm and Sunday 1 - 5pm.
Tell us about your business.
Colorado Cider Company is the oldest operating cidery in the State. Owners Brad and Kathe Page have also been planting cider and heirloom variety apples and pears at their property in Hotchkiss since 2012.
Tell us about the cider! 
Having introduced Glider, Dry Glider and Ol' Stumpy in 2011 we're also known for our unique lemon grass/dry hopped Grasshop-ah as well as other botanical favorites such as Pome Mel (Cyser with rosemary and Lavender) and our session cider Radl'ah.

Colorado Cider Company - 2650 West 2nd Avenue #10 Denver, CO 80219
303-759-3560