07/03/2026
Our take on fine cider stresses its essential connection to the land, a thing in near-opposition to commodification and industry. Yet this tension - perhaps seen as a continuum in cidermaking - also plays an essential role in what is presented in the glass.
That said, huge respect for this amazing article by Charles Kirkwood and for , founder of Aaron Burr Cidery (NY) and famed exemplar of one side of the above-mentioned continuum. Highlights: (For Brennan) "...the cider apple is not only something a tree is born as but something the land makes it into. He does not spray, fertilize, or irrigate; the policy of leaving the trees to fend for themselves is what turns them into cider fruit, since a plant under real stress builds the very things a press wants, the acids and tannins and the dense load of compounds that a coddled, well-fed tree never bothers to make. Some varieties carry more of that by genetics, he allows, but cultivation strips it back out of them. The cider apple, in his hands, is at least as much a condition as a category."
We also love how Kirkwood contrasts Brennan's approach with masters like Eric Bordelet, and with places where cider has been part of the cultural landscape for centuries.
Worth the read, and worth consideration in helping American cider find its way forward - and ideally, toward its greater potential.
The Orchard After the Orchard: Aaron Burr Cidery and the Problem of American Cider Continuity
