Hard Cider in Madison, Wisconsin--Global Perspectives, Local Connections
Like many Americans, cider to me always meant the juice pressed from apples. I didn’t realize until I travelled in Ireland and Spain, that to the rest of the world, cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented apple juice. Usually called “hard cider” in the US, it actually has a long history in the nation. Along with beer, it was usually preferred over plain water as more nutritious and possibly safer, holdovers from European customs. These traditions died out with prohibition (1920-1933), and orchards producing the more bitter cider apples were destroyed. Sweeter apple varieties for eating were developed, and cider became the “sweet cider” associated with the Autumn season, trips to apple orchards, and fall festivals.
That is now changing. Hard ciders are now becoming easily available, and a surge of small-scale artisanal and locally-based cideries are making the beverage better known. Madison, Wisconsin is one location where excellent cider can be found, and I spent a week in April exploring some of them. It was well worth it. The ciders were not only tasty; I also learned how complicated it is to produce it and how varied are the motivations and experiences of the people making it.
(A note here—I did not get a chance to try all the ciders being made in this area, and I apologize for those not mentioned here. These 3 represent 3 stages in cider making: growing the apples, making the cider, and consuming it.)
Interestingly, all three of the makers interviewed had been introduced to hard cider in Europe. All had travelled extensively, then started making hard cider in southern Wisconsin that replicated the ciders they had enjoyed elsewhere. That’s not a knock on the American cider tradition. Experimentation with apple varieties was a hobby of some famous early Americans—George Washington relaxed by pruning his apple trees, and Thomas Jefferson developed at least 18 varieties of “cyder” apples.
One thread in the current cider revival is this connection to American history. The apple itself tends to be thought of as all-American, and many people assume that it is indigenous to the continent. Johnny Appleseed is a familiar legendary figure, so imbibing the beverage seems to be a way to participate in history—or, a good excuse if one is needed.
Taste, however, is one of the driving forces for the makers I spoke to. All three were exposed to the drier European ciders and wanted to reproduce those. Plus, hard cider seemed like a product that would allow them to combine their values with a potential business opportunity. Those values include a passion for the land, a love of the outdoors, and a commitment to local communities.
The Cider Farm (
http://www.theciderfarm.com) is an orchard and farm near Mineral Point in the “Driftless” area of Wisconsin. Deirdre Birmingham and John Bionchi started hand-grafting with cuttings from English and French
cider apple trees. Unlike the sweeter American apples for eating, the European ones have tannins that give “mouthfeel and complexity” to the cider. Their orchard is certified organic and is a hands-on operation, as I discovered walking with Deirdre while she checked on young saplings and a ditch being dug. The cider itself is made in Madison and then distributed to select restaurants and groceries in the Midwest. It can also be purchased at their recently opened Cidery and Tasting Room at Brennan’s Cellars in Madison, where I had a sampler of four of their ciders along with an imaginative and delicious radish and turnip dish. The ciders were
delicious, with pronounced differences between the varieties.
Restoration Cider (
http://www.restorationcider.com) is located on the east side of Madison. The owner, Paul Asper, met me at the door to a large room where cider is made and bottled. As I watched several employees working, Iwas reminded that this is hard work, especially when a glass bottle explodes from too much carbonation. A “veteran owned” sign hangs on the wall, and I soon learn that Paul is a nurse for the Air Force and helped bring wounded soldiers out of Afghanistan. Afterwards he spent time restoring his spirit flyfishing at streams in rural Wisconsin and now donates 5% of his profits to stream restoration, hence the name of the company. Paul and his wife/business partner, Lissa Koop, discovered cider in northern Spain and fell in love with the taste, and the food and lifestyle surrounding it. They wanted to recreate that experience, but with locally grown apples.
Restoration Cider seemed like a way to pursue their dream and also manage their own business, although they both work at other jobs in order to support it. They would like to grow their own apples and offer a space for tastings, but, for the time being, they have to be satisfied with sourcing from local orchards and making excellent cider. And they have been successfully doing that since 2014. I’ve purchased their ciders at stores in Madison and given samples to friends who swore they didn’t like cider. Restoration Cider usually won them over, much to my dismay since it meant depleting my stock. (Another trip to Madison in the near future!)
Brix Cider (
http://Brixcider.com) in Mt. Horeb, also in the Driftless area, is a cidery and family-friendly cider pub that focuses on sustainability. The owners,
Marie and Matt Raboin, have
backgrounds in agroecology, and spent time working in Africa. Like the others, they also were introduced to hard cider in Europe and wanted to reproduce those tastes but also connect them to Wisconsin. They did that by starting their own orchard, and, until that produces enough apples, they source from at least 18 local orchards. The pulp left over from pressing apples for juice is fed to pigs at a local farm, and the pork is then used for sausages sold in their pub. Their all-in-one building offers a view of the cider making along with a café and a very comfortable space for socializing and eating—and drinking cider, of course. Their website clearly states their vision, letting consumers know that producing cider at Brix is more than just a
business venture; it is a statement of values, and an opportunity to create positive change. I paraphrase here: “We believe that cider should be …about the land, the people who grow the apples, the people who drink the cider, and the connections between us all.”
Hard cider might not seem to most people to be about identity and passion, but these three businesses show that it is much richer than seen on the surface. It ties in with American heritage, but also connects us simultaneously with global food cultures and local landscapes. Making cider is a huge investment of time and energy (and money), but the results have positive implications for sustaining local economies, small-scale farms, and a wider variety (and biodiversity) of apples grown. And best of all, those results are delicious!
So what was exotic to me? A number of foods: lamb sweetbreads, pickled herring, sour soups, blood sausage, other varieties of sausage, beef tongue, snails, horsemeat tartar, trout tartar, any kind of tartar, small “cranberries” made into preserve used on sausages, pickled herring, smoked cheeses, lard spread on bread, rhubarb juice, obrazanec (bagels), edible flowers, vodka, pickled baby squash, pierogifilled with soft cheese, small jelly doughnuts (paczki), and smoked prunes. Some of these are distinctive but not unusual to Poland and eastern European food cultures, while some are specialties of Polish regions. They were new to me, however, because of my background as an American of British heritage born and raised in the South and in east and southeast Asia. Now that I have lived in the eastern Midwest for several decades, Polish American food is no longer unfamiliar, but it’s not a part of my daily eating. I also learned about it when I made a short documentary on Polish food in the Toledo area (https://foodandculture.org/about-food/food-and-culture/polish-food-traditions/) and was told that what survived is mostly the dishes brought by laborers and farmers, rather than the foods of the educated elite Polish immigrants. 
