The Fruit
We grow and source high-quality, cider-ripe apples predominately from small farms in the high country of North Carolina and Virginia. We focus on relationships with orchardists who grow rare heirloom and heritage cider apple varieties essential to fine-quality cider.
Hewes Crab Apples from Foggy Ridge Cider orchard in Dugspur, VA
2022 harvest summary
120,000lbs of fruit from 24 farms. Ninety-three percent from small farms located within sixty miles of the cidery.
2022 Fruit Purchases by Type
12%
Share of fruit grown at our farm, just four miles from the cidery
24
Number of farms from which we sourced fruit in 2022
22
The number of new to us apple varieties pressed in 2022
Apple varieties (2022)
Kate with Jon Jirka, Orchardist at The Historic Orchard at Altapass.
Sixty varieties of apples in 2022, including many rare varieties likely found only in the Southern Appalachians.
If not for the dedicated work of a small community of fruit-tree preservationists, there’s a good chance that many apple varieties would go extinct. Grocery stores and fruit processors use only a handful of apple varieties grown at industrial scale. By providing a market for these unique apple varieties, we support the ongoing planting and preservation of fruit varieties that could disappear.
Our sources
Apples selected for cider testing, grown by a group of fruit preservationists in Avery County, NC
Most of our fruit comes from growers less than 60 miles away.
Ninety-three percent of our fruit was transported less than 60 miles in 2022. Any agricultural business is at the mercy of nature. So, we do maintain relationships with a handful of growers further afield from the cidery to protect from localized disasters like freezes and tropical storms.