Colorado Cider scene is Ripe with Innovation, Experimentation

By Kristen Richard 

The year is 1860. Thousands of miners are pouring into Colorado each week, perhaps pausing on arrival after an arduous journey to look out upon the Rocky Mountains. But these miners aren’t here for the scenery. Instead, they are hoping to get lucky, find gold, and strike it rich. But whether or not they found gold doesn’t change the fact that this large influx of people forever changed Colorado’s landscape, history and industry. Especially when it came to one small thing many of them packed on their journey west: apple seeds. 

Carrying apple seeds would spawn an entire industry, according to “American Cider, a Modern Guide to a Historic Beverage,” by Dan Pucci and Craig Cavallo. For instance, a man named Jesse Frazier, who arrived in the late 1800s, planted 130 apple varieties. Later, in the 1880s, William Pabor (who would later found the town of Fruita) became one of the first people to plant apple trees in the Grand Junction and Grand Valley area, helping spawn the region’s agricultural industry. 

But with unpredictable weather, harsh terrain, pesky moths and a myriad other factors, orchard owners soon discovered farming in the Rockies was difficult at best. Apple orchards and cider somewhat fell to the wayside.

However, in 1989, Brad Page, a craft beer brewer who always had an interest in cider, opened Coopersmith’s Pub & Brewing in Fort Collins, where he offered a cider on tap.

“That was in the days when there really wasn’t any cider to speak of and the federal regulator let us serve it because it contained a percentage of malt,” he says. Later in 2011, Page and his wife, Kathe, started Colorado Cider Company in Denver. And that’s about the time, according to Brad, when Colorado cider really began to come into its own and expand. 

“It’s grown quite a bit and there’s a lot of cider on the market for sure. And there’s a good variety of people making cider today,” he says.

Talia Haykin, owner and CEO of Haykin Family Cider in Aurora and Mountain West representative for the American Cider Association, echoes that sentiment. “Whatever you want, ciderwise, you can get here in Colorado,” she says. 

Here’s a look at Colorado’s cider culture today and where it’s headed. 

Making cider the focus, one apple at a time

While cider has seen an uptick in popularity, you still don’t see very many single-varietal bottlings. But at Haykin Family Cider, you’ll find bottlings of McIntosh, Columbia Crabapple, and many more highlighting single apples. 

“When we first started, the general consensus in the cider world was you needed a blend of apples to get a perfect balance of tannin, acidity and fruitiness. But we didn’t have that, we had single varieties,” says Talia Haykin. But she goes on to explain that they were able to make it work because they approach their cidermaking just like winemaking, which it technically is. 

“If it’s good for wine, it works for us,” she explains. “We will never add an adjunct or sugar to our ciders. We will never add jalapeños, peaches or cherries. That’s not what we do. We’re looking to find the beautiful levels of fruitiness, tannin, acidity and sweetness out of an apple.” 

Naturally, focusing on single-varietal ciders meant they were met with skepticism by those who had been in the industry for quite some time. Many would tell the Haykins it was not possible. 

“Then we would hand them a cider and they would be like, ‘Holy shit, you actually did it!’ It was cool to see the people who are grandfathers of the American cider revival say it’s actually possible.” 

Focusing on cider’s future by highlighting its past

From Haykin, travel nearly 400 miles southwest to Mancos and you’ll find yourself at Fenceline Cider, which focuses on highlighting historic apple varieties. Currently, Fenceline has around 3,000 trees on the property. But according to Sam Perry, co-founder of Fenceline, most of those trees aren’t in full production yet. 

Plus, “we are really trying to focus on upcycling the food that’s already grown here,” he says. “The bulk of our cider comes from these historic orchards in the North Animas Valley, northern Cortez and Dolores. A lot of these historic orchards people own are beautiful and they enjoy having them, but they don’t have any real need for the fruit that comes off of them. So, we worked out a deal with different landowners to come and pick their orchards.”

Currently, one can find offerings like their dry-hopped cider and Farmhouse, which is made with Dolgo crabapples. 

One of Perry’s favorite varieties to work with is Jonathan, which according to “American Cider,” was planted by settlers as early as the 1800s. 

“It just has a really nice balance of tartness and acidity,” Perry says. “It makes some really good single-varietal cider that is balanced and complex. The last time we made it, we totally sold out.”

Travel just under 200 miles north and you’ll find yourself at Clear Fork Cider in Paonia. Here, Jay Kenney, owner and cidermaker, also aims to spotlight heirloom apple varieties when they are available. He sources most of his fruit from the North Fork Valley and grows apples himself in the small towns of Paonia, Lewis and Crawford.

“For a long time I picked apples at the Pitts Family Ranch outside of Cortez. And they had a collection of about 600 trees that included Red Delicious, which is not very good for cider. But they also had Stayman, Winesap, Rome and Jonathan. And those were just excellent, excellent cider apples.”

Currently, visitors can try Clear Forks’ Dolgo Sour, Big Britches, and eight other guest cider and wine taps at their tasting room. 

From dry to funky

One common misconception cider pros hear a lot: I don’t like cider, it’s too sweet.

Well, along with the aforementioned ciders, Page’s Colorado Cider Company offers all sorts of dry options. Those include the Glider Cider Dry, which has a Champagne-like finish, and their Pagetree Orchard Kingston Black, which is “bittersharp” with balanced tannins and acid. And not only do they serve up some incredible cider at their Denver tasting room, they also host events like yoga with rescued pigs. 

But much like Haykin suggested, there’s a Colorado cider for everyone, which is demonstrated by Stem Ciders, which has locations in Denver and Lafayette. 

Along with their chile guava, raspberry and other staples, Stem also has a variety of seasonal funky flavors. For instance, they utilize Denver Botanic Garden’s lavender, which they infuse with their off-dry cider. 

“It’s only available for about 45-60 days throughout the year,” says Patrick Combs, director of liquid at Stem Ciders. More recently, they launched their Tiki-cocktail inspired ciders - think drinks like the Singapore Sling and the Hurricane with an apple twist.

Much like Stem, Kevin Williams, owner and cidermaker at Apple Valley Cider Company in Penrose, also likes to get creative with the flavors he offers. For instance, in 2022, he worked with Burley Bees in nearby Cañon City to make a honey-cinnamon cider. He also offers a semi-sweet, strawberry rhubarb, peach and black currant all year. Look for seasonal flavors, such as mango chili with roasted Pueblo chilies from Milberger Farms in Pueblo. 

Looking toward the future

Despite the increase in popularity, Colorado’s cider industry still faces challenges. For instance, many of the cidermakers still need to educate consumers on what cider is, and disprove stereotypes like the “it’s too sweet” narrative. 

Additionally, cidermaking is an expensive process. Yet, as Perry and Page point out, it’s often lumped together with beer, so people expect to pay lower prices for it, especially when they see it packaged in cans. 

“It’s so much more expensive than beer that sometimes I worry that the cider industry as a whole has made a mistake by going into that lower price point market,” Perry says. 

Williams also notes that in the aftermath of the pandemic, increased interest in hard seltzer and gluten-free options only put more pressure on smaller cideries. 

Yet, despite the challenges Colorado cidermakers continue to push forward. 

“In the last five years, we’ve seen a lot more people not only become more aware of cider in general, but try it, like it, and give it a place in their pantry,” Williams says. 

It’s pretty safe to say the state’s cider scene will continue to grow. 

Perhaps Talia Haykin puts it best when she says, “Part of what works for us in Colorado is the same thing that worked for craft beer, it’s a Wild West mentality of willing to experiment and not being held to conventions or traditions that may not be relevant anymore.”

This story is in our January-February print issue. Click here to read the full magazine.

Kristen Richard is a drink and food freelance writer based in Denver. Her fascination with beverage history and the science of drinks act as a guiding force in her work. When she’s not traveling down rabbit holes of random esoteric booze knowledge, you can usually find her camping, hiking, hanging with her dog, reading or rocking out to metal bands.