Two ciders produced in East Jefferson County are among the 13 finalists in the cider category of the national 2016 Good Food Awards.
Eaglemount Wine and Cider’s Ginger Cider and Finnriver Farm & Cidery’s Fire Barrel Cider are among those that could win when results are announced Jan. 15 at a ceremony at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco.
Eaglemount’s Ginger Cider “is the original ginger cider,” pairing the flavors of organic ginger and hard cider, the Port Townsend company says on its website at www.eaglemountwinery.com.
First made by the winery in 2006, “it has been a consistent favorite with our customers,” the website says, adding that Sunset magazine chose it as one of the “best bottles in the world” in November 2012.
It is made with organic heirloom apples and organic fresh ginger root, said Trudy Davis, who made the cider.
“I do believe it was the first ginger cider made commercially anywhere,” Davis said.
“It just seemed like a great combination,” she said. “I like to try different things out, and that was easy to come up with.”
Eaglemount was the first cidery on the North Olympic Peninsula, opening in 2006, Davis said.
Finnriver’s Fire Barrel
Finnriver’s Fire Barrel Cider is “one of our more traditional ciders,” said Crystie Kisler, who owns the Chimacum cidery with her husband, Keith Kisler, and their business partner, Eric Jorgensen.
The cider originally was made by Drew Zimmerman at the Red Barn Cider in the Skagit Valley, she said.
“He became a mentor of ours,” Kisler said.
When he retired, Finnriver owners transplanted 1,000 of his cider apple trees and bought some of his equipment.
They also adopted Fire Barrel Cider.
“It’s evolved since,” Kisler said. “We’re not making it exactly as he did, but it’s definitely a tribute to him.”
Finnriver, which has been a farm since 2004, sold its first bottle of cider in 2010, “but we’d been working up to that for a few years,” Kisler said. It has some 4,000 apples trees.
The cidery was one of three winners in the Good Food Awards in 2014, she said. It was honored for its Black Current Cider.
“It was a big thrill last year,” Kisler said.
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Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.