More than 10,000 voters from across the state weighed in on 101 things they love about Northern Michigan. Their votes determined over 300 Red Hot Best winners and 700 honorable mentions. Here are the Red Hot Best 2017 winners for local hard cider.
First Place: Tandem Ciders, Smackintosh
The tart and sassy Smackintosh proved the potential for hard ciders Up North, and the fan base grows apace!
Second Place: Left Foot Charley, Cinnamon Girl
A classic combination—apples and cinnamon. Whole cinnamon sticks are steeped in this sweet cider for 4–6 weeks!
Third Place: St. Ambrose Cellars, Xr Cyser
So what’s cyser? Well, it’s a fermented beverage made from apple cider and honey. X.R. Cyser also has maple syrup and cinnamon, so it’s basically apple pie in a glass.
More Red Hot Best local ciders:
- Bee Well Meadery, Bellaire, King’s Cherry
- Black Star Farms, Hard Apple Cider
- Bowers Harbor, Peach Apple Cider
- Nomad Cider
- St. Ambrose, Granny Smith
- Starcut Ciders, Octorock
- Taproot Cider House, The Taproot
Get your copy of the June 2017 issue of Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine for the complete list of over 300 Red Hot Best winners! Subscribe and get the June issue plus 12 months of Traverse Magazine for year-round travel ideas and food recommendations!
Cider events to check out in Northern Michigan!
If you love cider, make sure you check out this year’s Cider Week! Traverse City Cider Week will take place from October 14 – 21st and will feature a variety of different cider-related events. The big event of the week, the 2nd annual Cider and Sausage Salon is planned for Sunday, October 15, from 1 PM – 5 PM. This event will be held at the Timber Ridge Resort in Traverse City, Michigan. This event will feature an evening of music, local sausages, and of course lots of cider!
This year Orchard Tours and Cider Tasting are being introduced as well; this event will be open to the public and a main focus of this year’s TC Cider Week. This event will be held October 21 from 1-4 PM at the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Center (NWMHRC) in Traverse City. The MCA plans to feature wagon tours of the cider blocks at the NWMHRC and end the day with a formal cider tasting in the conference room at the NWMHRC. The event will include orchard tour rides, information on cider fruit, cider apple tastings, and a cider tasting that will feature key styles of cider.