Eve's Cidery

Eve's Cidery Eve's Cidery is a small family farm producing naturally fermented ciders from our own organically-gr

We are a family run orchard and cidery located in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

Dabinett is a variety that I started out hating and have more recently come 180 on. Way back when I first discovered the...
01/18/2025

Dabinett is a variety that I started out hating and have more recently come 180 on. Way back when I first discovered there were apple varieties grown specifically for cider, yet had no idea which ones to plant, I planted Dabinett because Steve Wood of said so. Steve has been a huge inspiration and gracious mentor to me and has enthusiastically endorsed Dabinett as both a grower-friendly tree and an excellent cider apple. But for many years I could not see eye to eye with him on Dabinett. The difference owed to Steve being a very good grower and me being a torturer of apple trees. The biggest mistake we made with Dabinett was grafting it in to the same dwarfing rootstock as the rest of our North Orchard, mainly g30 and g935. Dabinett is a a precious and productive tree that very easily runts out right off the bat if you let it. In our organic management system lots of factors conspired to decrease vigor on an already weak tree. Many Dabinetts died. Some I just cut down because they never grew. I wrote it off as a throw way variety. But I wanted to try again so we grafted B118s in our new Valley Orchard. In true Dabinett form they started cropping in 3 years. When we had enough apples to make our first single varietal cider I was impressed. The cider is rich, with substantial tannins and a distinctive strawberry character. In 2023 when we had a total crop loss due to a deep late spring freeze, we had the good fortune to pick apples at where Nat Bouman grows Dabinetts and other bittersweet’s organically on B118 at 1700’ elevation. The cider (label pictured here ) was beautiful and it solidified my notion that Dabinett in an organic orchard should be on a large, vigorous rootstock. This year, we had another (but not as devastating) frost event that put a dent in orchard wise production. Not so with the Dabinetts which were heavily cropped. They bloom very heavily and very late. In a future where frost risk is increased by climate change, Dabinett seems like a good bet.
-posted by Autumn

This is how bottling starts with the ‘24 harvest: three pet nats whose primary fermentation hasn’t finished, going into ...
01/17/2025

This is how bottling starts with the ‘24 harvest: three pet nats whose primary fermentation hasn’t finished, going into the bottle. Here we are bottling Emerald Necklace, made from wild apples, pressed November 7th. Coconut likes hanging out with us while we bottle but does not like the uncomfortable conditions of the Cidery, especially the cold floor. So she is constantly seeking cardboard, and elevation is a plus. Unfortunately, that excellent spot went away as we bottled the Emerald Necklace. Ezra

We planted Gold Rush 15 years ago because it had a reputation for high sugar, high acid and is ‘disease resistant’ At th...
01/16/2025

We planted Gold Rush 15 years ago because it had a reputation for high sugar, high acid and is ‘disease resistant’ At that time I had become disillusioned with conventional IPM Orcharding and had come to the notion that if we couldn’t go organic we were getting out. All the info on organic orcharding in the Northeast that I could find at the time was basically along the line of “very difficult if not impossible and only with disease resistant varieties” an 15 sulfur sprays per year. It was a grim proposition.
I chose these photos of Gold Rush to make the point that the so-called disease resistant varieties are not disease resistant in a sort of broad, unusual healthy kind of way, they are resistant to apple scab (and in the case of Goldrush, powdery mildew). The irony of it is that when we transitioned to organic, apple scab just about disappeared from our orchards. Instead the fungal problem that caused us the most ill health was black rot (which was recently surpassed by marssonina leaf blotch.
So if the ‘disease resistance’ of Goldrush is irrelevant, is it worth planting? Is it even a cider apple? Well, I would still wholeheartedly recommend it for every homestead orchard, the apples are fantastic keepers in cellar conditions and if you like tart, full flavored apples, this checks the box. Hey never really rot or get mushy, just slowly dehydrate while retaining their vibrant flavor.
For cider? I’m on the fence. I have deeply appreciated our Goldrush harvests and what they contribute to blend…the brix on fully ripened late harvest Goldrush can be 16-18. And they give a blast of acid which is sometimes sorely needed. Our Albee Hill blend almost always has at least do@e Goldrush. But the few times I’ve fermented them on their own, I couldn’t imagine bottling it that way. The acid can come across as very malic, and tastes reminiscent of a sweet-tart or a sour patch kid. As a stand alone I’m not a fan. But I think when it’s layered into a complex blend like our Albee Hill, that super bright acid gives the cider a vibrant lift.
One plus for Goldrush is that it is an extremely tame tree. It’s a heavy cropping annusl with a tidy form.
-posted by Autumn

Yarlington Mill is a bittersweet cider variety from Somerset England. It is emerging as one of my favorites from a cider...
01/15/2025

Yarlington Mill is a bittersweet cider variety from Somerset England. It is emerging as one of my favorites from a cider making perspective. It has beautiful (and very classic) bittersweet apple aromas, the most lovely soft tannins- and I don’t mean soft as in ‘lite’, the tannins are very present- but they feel more like suede leather than burlap bags and there isn’t a trace of bitterness to them. The pink color of the skin seems to seep into the flesh and every time I have made a single varietal Yarlington Mill it has a tinge of pink color. Another aspect I like about this apple is that it is prone to water core and rarely ferments completely to dryness. I love the hint (and I do mean just a hint) of smoky sweetness.
The tree is strongly biennial but very productive. For a cider apple, it is fairly tame and easy to train and prune. I know growers who have ripped it out because of fire blight- but we have not had a lick of fire light in our Yarlingtons (thank the great goddesses) so I don’t know if it’s any worse than all the other late blooming bittersweets. Another difficult aspect of this variety is that it’s a pain to press. It’s the only bittersweet apple that I grow that has this issue. Perhaps because of the water core, or for some other reason, we have found Yarlingtons so slimy that we always use rice hulls and press extra thin and slow.
Our 2024 Yarlington was pressed from our certified organic apples grown in our Candyland Orchard. We fermented it with wild yeast in neutral oak barrels and are planning on bottling in tomorrow as a pet nat. Fingers crossed it becomes the chalky fizz I’m dreaming of.
PS growers and others interested in propagating YarlingtonMill can purchase scion wood from our pop-up shop they March first. I’m going to go out on a limb and say I think this is a variety all serious cider makers should consider.

-posted by Autumn

People sometimes ask me about our ice cider: “so you pick the apples when they are partially frozen, right?” “No” I say...
01/10/2025

People sometimes ask me about our ice cider: “so you pick the apples when they are partially frozen, right?” “No” I say, “we press our apples then bring the juice to a freezer.” It’s not as sexy as the scene they have in their mind’s eye of someone going out in the snow and picking frozen, red balls, but it’s the reality of fruit that doesn’t hang, that needs to be ground before pressing, and of a picker who would rather not pick fruit in the winter anyway.
We cryo concentrate our juice before fermenting, meaning that as the frozen juice warms to a liquid, we extract this sweetest portion of the whole.
I like the whole process: big productive days pressing our desert fruit into cubes; driving a flatbed truck that handles five tons no problem; getting a glimpse into our food system that includes warehouse sized freezers; talking to the forklift operators who pretty much spend their shifts operating in minus 10 conditions; contemplating the awesome power of hydraulics that allow me to unload 1 ton frozen cubes with our tractor; the look of the frozen juice after it’s unloaded in the fading light.
Ezra

Got our report card today. Soil health assessment of the North Orchard. This site was a worn out hay field, left to go f...
01/10/2025

Got our report card today. Soil health assessment of the North Orchard. This site was a worn out hay field, left to go fallow for a few decades when we got started. Some of the management practices contributing to building up the soil health in the orchard are:
-amending the soil with minerals and bio char
-incorporating pre-biotic (molasses, seaweed and fermented fish) and pro-biotic (beneficial microbes both home-fermented and purchased)
-shredded bark mulch as the under-the-tree ground cover for the first 3-4 years
-cultivating/encouraging/allowing/tending a diverse meadow-like perennial ground cover directly up to the trunk as the trees mature.

Areas of our system that still need work:
How to address the physical constraints (hardness) of the soil with out being disruptive, a less labor intensive and more reliable way to prevent vole and mouse damage, and a more hill-friendly zero-turn mower to make meadow-mowing less dangerous.

Feeling accomplished 😊
Thanks

-posted by Autumn

Wishing you comfort, hope and meaning on this most darkest time of year. - Ezra, Autumn, Leila and Zuri.
12/24/2024

Wishing you comfort, hope and meaning on this most darkest time of year.
- Ezra, Autumn, Leila and Zuri.

Gift Eve's Cider Club! Last call for shipping and discounts! We have 2 discounts to share for our Eve's Cidery family th...
12/18/2024

Gift Eve's Cider Club! Last call for shipping and discounts!
We have 2 discounts to share for our Eve's Cidery family through December 20th... copy these codes and use at check out!

For a 6 pack, we offer an increased discount of 15% off. Use code "EVESHOLIDAYSIX"

For folks getting a case (12 bottles), we offer FREE SHIPPING. Use code "HOLIDAYSHIPPING2024"

https://www.evescidery.com/ourcider/

This incredible season is past, dark months are settled in.🌑We've got sunshine in a bottle, bubbles and colors and sweet...
12/14/2024

This incredible season is past, dark months are settled in.
🌑
We've got sunshine in a bottle, bubbles and colors and sweet moments to sip and share.
☀️
Our Golden Russet Collector's 3 Pack and Eve's Sampler 6 embody all that we have to offer ....

🧡Single location single varietal ciders side-by-side
🍎 A classic bittersweet-forward telraditional method in company with a gulpable Coferment, pet nat style
🔥Pommeau and Essence Ice Cider for savoring

There's still time to ship!
We've got some promo to share... run til Dec 20th.
🚚
Local and want to taste first?
Head to Ithaca Farmers Market
TODAY
And pick up there or Pre-Order online for pick up DEC 21 (last market, no delivery charge)
👩‍🌾
Thank you for supporting our small orchards and cidery!
🙏
For a 6 pack, we offer an increased discount of 15% off. Use code "EVESHOLIDAYSIX"

For folks getting a case (12 bottles), we offer FREE SHIPPING. Use code "HOLIDAYSHIPPING2024"
💚
https://www.evescidery.com/ourcider/

Cider can get folks pretty excited! This hypothesis bears out regularly, and- marketing plug because we do, after all, s...
12/07/2024

Cider can get folks pretty excited!
This hypothesis bears out regularly, and- marketing plug because we do, after all, sell what we make- we've got you covered!

Golden Russet looks good at a party!
Autumn's Gold suits a table quite well.
Coferment #5 is gulpable, great with games and fun to pour!

Check out our website and 3 more weeks at Ithaca Farmers Market (Dec 7, 14, 21)
https://www.evescidery.com/ourcider/

-posted by Melissa, accepting her fate as a poor model
Cameos thanks to Perry City Orchard & Nursery, Silas, Friede, Ryan and Open Spaces Cider

Available now! Eve's Golden Russet 3 Pack for Cider Nerds and Collectors- single varietal, multiple sites, same pommage,...
12/05/2024

Available now!
Eve's Golden Russet 3 Pack for Cider Nerds and Collectors
- single varietal, multiple sites, same pommage, all traditional method sparkling -
🍾
These 2023 ciders are made to showcase the terroir of New York. They are all single varietal Golden Russet and traditional method sparkling. We believe you can really taste the locations!
🌳
Featuring:

Golden Russet Oakes Farm, LynOaken Farm on the Niagara Escarpment.
apricot ~ melon ~ honey comb
🍯
Golden Russet Fruition Farms, Enders’ Fruition Farm in Sodus, NY. petrol ~ dried herbs ~ salty stones
🌿
Golden Russet cellar blend, LynOaken Farms, Mead Orchards and Wilding Orchards.
raw honey~ key lime ~ canvas cloth
💚
(Make it a 6 pack and apply our holiday discount: EVESHOLIDAYSIX)
🤭
Order online for shipping to 36 states
or
choose Pick Up for free delivery to Ithaca Farmers Market
for Saturday Dec 14 & 21
https://www.evescidery.com/ourcider/
🔗

Hello! We've got a few holiday gift ideas to share and some promo to match!😁Our website is fully stocked with the just-r...
12/02/2024

Hello! We've got a few holiday gift ideas to share and some promo to match!
😁
Our website is fully stocked with the just-released 2023 pommage, our final set of ciders exploring the terroirs of New York. Last year started the season with a sense of devastation due to our 100% crop loss but by harvest time, 2023 turned into an excellent exploration of NYS orchard sites and community generosity.
🙏
Our Golden Russet Locational 3 Pack will tickle the Cider Collector's fancy.
💛
Our 6 Pack Eve's Sampler is great for stocking up, for sharing out and for making sure you have a cider to taste or gift for any moment!
🍾
And... if you love Eve's Cider and want to choose your own, we get it!
🥳
We have 2 discounts to share that run through December 20th... copy these codes and use at our online check out!
https://www.evescidery.com/ourcider/
🔗
For any 6 pack, we offer an increased discount of 15% off.
Use code "EVESHOLIDAYSIX"
6️⃣
For folks getting a case (12 bottles), we offer FREE SHIPPING.
Use code "HOLIDAYSHIPPING2024"
🚚
Thank you, happy cider-ing!
🍎

Got folks in town? Thinking of shopping locally? We've got some things for you!😁Taste with Melissa amd Emi down at Ithac...
11/30/2024

Got folks in town? Thinking of shopping locally? We've got some things for you!
😁
Taste with Melissa amd Emi down at Ithaca Farmers Market TODAY 10a - 2pm and Saturdays thru December.
🍾
And/or, shop our website!
https://www.evescidery.com/ourcider/

For the holiday gift-sharing time, we put together a few cider packs- a 6 bottle Sampler and a 3 bottle Golden Russet (all single varietal, all traditional method, different NY sites) collectors selection.
🍎
We'd love to be at your table.
Thank you supporting small orchards and NYS cider.
🙏
-posted by Melissa with gratitude to friends who share their joy and faces

Eve's Cider for the Holidays! Gift Idea: Eve's Cidery explores the Terroirs of New York
11/30/2024

Eve's Cider for the Holidays! Gift Idea: Eve's Cidery explores the Terroirs of New York

Late November orchard, late afternoon light. A blunt stillness, like you’d never guess the riotous scene here six weeks ...
11/25/2024

Late November orchard, late afternoon light. A blunt stillness, like you’d never guess the riotous scene here six weeks ago. The trees know when to pack up and call it quits. Me, I have a harder time coming down off of the intensity of harvest push. Everyone needs to rest. I come here to be reminded.

Posted by Autumn from the North Orchard.

Thank you for the shout out !Pears are symbol of mysterious reliance and our wild pear foraging and scion collecting p...
11/14/2024

Thank you for the shout out !

Pears are symbol of mysterious reliance and our wild pear foraging and scion collecting project is an ongoing act of hope and love. Pears and people have a long relationship and archaeological evidence shows pears being used by people at Neolithic sites in the British isles upwards of 10,000 years ago. The trees are universally slow growing and rather feral (even the tamest varieties and not really that tame.) They have insanely dense, hard, gnarly and brittle wood, sometimes with thorns, are late to bear fruit and sometimes can be shy bearers but they are quite long lived. On their own roots, some pears grow 40’ tall with awkward vertical branches that are difficult to climb and difficult to shake. Pear fruits seem 50% heavier than apples and press out with 50% less yield. The timing of harvest and pressing can be difficult to gauge with some pears bletting on the tree making it almost impossible to shake with out turning to mush and some pears never blett, dropping massive tannin gels that make racking difficult. And yet, despite the challenges, we can’t stop being fascinated by making Perry. How magical that these hard-won and nearly inedible tannin bombs transform during fermentation into the most delicate and lovely of pomme beverages?

It feels so nice to see results of this elaborate effort appreciated on the pages of the New York Times.

-posted by Autumn

Dark mood, dark days, dark cider labels…Many, most, of the cider labels that have graced our bottles over the more recen...
11/13/2024

Dark mood, dark days, dark cider labels…
Many, most, of the cider labels that have graced our bottles over the more recent years are the work of our children, Leila and Zuri. When our orchards began producing enough fruit to begin making single varietal ciders, a collaborative idea emerged to put characters on the labels as a way to convey that the apple varieties themselves are almost like personalities. And also because characters (whether monsters, creatures, or people) have always been a focus in Leila and Zuri’s art.
Observant customers might notice a dark and mysterious streak to the labels. In these works, I see early influences like Maurice Sendak’s Juniper Tree, a non-sanitized telling of some of the lesser known Grimms fairy tales with intricate illustrations, EC Horror Comic artist Graham Ingalls, later Yosh*taka Amano, and more recently sigilism.
The first photo of Ezra and I is just us goofing off (not because we are psychopaths). We couldn’t help but notice though, that our likeness could be seen in these new labels…

Posted by Autumn

Address

308 Beckhorn Hollow Road
Van Etten, NY
14889

Opening Hours

1pm - 3pm

Telephone

+16072290230

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A significant feature of the land that we live and farm on is Cayuta Creek which runs north-south just around 150 yards from the edge of our Valley Orchard. The Valley is filled with hundreds of feet of gravel, submerged in an underground river. I imagine the level of the creek showing the level of the water table. On top the soil dries out fast — hard on newly planted trees — but always there when the roots make it down to the water table. On the opposite side of Cayuta Creek is beaver habitat, with a dammed waterway and lodge. The lands there flood a bit during wet periods, with the beaver’s work modulating flooding downstream. Check out the book “Beaver Land” by Leila Philip. -Ezra

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