DALLAS, Ore. — Carter and Lindy Rickert purchased his parents’ 20-acre farm in 2016 without a plan, but knowing they wanted a value-added product that tapped into agritourism.

That fall, the couple walked through the farm’s orchard of 12 trees and had an epiphany.

“The fruit was falling on the ground and it just clicked,” Carter Rickert said.

Salt Creek Cider House opened in 2019 with its tasting room in a renovated cattle barn.

The Rickerts planted 1,300 heirloom cider apple and pear trees, and this season they harvested 3 tons of fruit.

Trees are still maturing, more will be added and the crop could eventually increase to 250 to 300 tons.

Recent apple harvest coverage

• Queener Farm’s new owners plan to branch out
• Introducing WA 64, a new hybrid apple variety from Washington State University

For the time being, the Rickerts also purchase 5 to 10 tons of fruit each year to combine with 5,000 gallons of juice they buy from Hood River, Ore., and the Yakima Valley in Washington state.

Salt Creek will produce 10,000 gallons of cider this season. “We’re about to take the leap from being a small cidery,” Lindy Rickert said.

And Salt Creek isn’t alone.

An agricultural drink

October, with the apple harvest in full swing, is National Cider Month. The Northwest’s cider industry — fueled in part by higher-alcohol “imperial” ciders — continues to grow, grab market share from national brands and create beneficial ripples as businesses buy a cornucopia of fruits and juices.

The rise in the number of cideries and sales in the past two decades also has prompted orchardists to plant cider-specific apple varieties, though that likely represents only a sliver of total acreage.

A Northwest Cider Association report stated that in 2022, cideries in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia purchased 100 million pounds of apples, or 2.5 million 40-pound boxes.

That’s roughly 1% of the 2022-23 U.S. apple crop, according to USDA statistics.

For 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Corvallis, Ore., the nation’s third-largest cidery, every sip of cider starts with fruit.

The company will purchase the equivalent of roughly 45 million pounds of apples this year in fruit and fresh-pressed juice, said Dave Takush, head cider maker and co-founder.

Then there’s 31,500 gallons of blueberry juice to flavor ciders, as well as cloudy liquid and puree from marionberries, raspberries, peaches, cherries, cranberries and other fruit.

“Almost all of this is coming from the Pacific Northwest. … We can get the best of the best here,” Takush said.

The company employs 100 people and was formed in 2010 — its 13th annual harvest party is Saturday, Oct. 14. Takush hopes production will increase to 3 million gallons of cider this year.

In Washington alone, at least 300 family farms and juice processors sell crops directly to cideries, said Jana Daisy-Ensign, Northwest Cider Association deputy director.

Much of the fruit is “ugly” produce unfit for supermarket displays. But the look isn’t the taste, Daisy-Ensign said.

For Queener Farm near Scio, Ore., dealing with cideries is just a small part of the business, but every bit helps.

The orchard sells scionwood, as well as five to seven 800-pound bins of heirloom and dessert apples to small cider makers, said Christina Fordyce, who owns the farm with her husband, Graham.

“It’s a great way to move the fruit that might be less desirable,” she added.

Return of heirlooms

Dessert apples are most commonly used in cider — Takush said he looks for high acid fruit such as Cosmic Crisp and Granny Smith and typically blends those with other varieties, including Fuji and Gala.

But cider makers, including 2 Towns, also are returning to nearly forgotten heirloom varieties. That fruit was largely abandoned as Americans left the countryside during the Industrial Revolution, when beer became the nation’s drink of choice, and during Prohibition, according to Washington State University.

Growers are including cider apples in orchards to diversify their production and sales market, said Seth Brawner, a WSU graduate research assistant.

Heirloom cider apples typically have higher tannins or acids that add complexity to drinks, and can be more bitter or tart than fruit grown for eating fresh.

Both WSU and Oregon State University are studying growing methods and mechanized harvest techniques for cider apples, but Brawner said heirloom apple acreage isn’t tracked.

Harmony Orchards of Tieton, Wash., has that state’s largest cider apple plot, 55 acres. It produces fruit for Tieton Cider Works.

Snowdrift Cider Co., an East Wenatchee, Wash. cidery and orchard, has about 10 acres of cider apples and an acre of pears used for perry, a cider made from that fruit, said Peter Ringsrud, managing member of the family-owned business.

“We’re getting a quality of cider from these varieties you can’t get from anything else,” he added.

Ringsrud’s family has been growing apples and other fruit in the Wenatchee Valley since the 1940s, but it wasn’t until about 20 years ago that they turned their focus to cider.

The family began grafting trees over with “lost varieties,” including apples from England and France. Much of the scionwood came from WSU.

“We’re fortunate because we grow that fruit, and most cideries don’t have access to it,” Ringsrud said.

In 2009, Snowdrift began producing artisan cider commercially, and the company will produce 10,600 gallons this year.

With the limited supply of fruit, boutique cider orchards may be a source of sought-after apples for numerous businesses.

Smaller cider makers often become farmers, too.

“The easiest way to get your hands on those cider apples is to grow them yourself,” cider maker Carter Rickert said.

According to the Northwest Cider Association, a third of cideries grow heirloom apples, which they often mix with other varieties.

Craft beer influence

Most fruit used in Northwest cider comes from Washington, which produces roughly 60% of the apples in the U.S.

Last year, Washington led regional production with 2.5 million gallons of cider annually, according to Northwest Cider Association data. That’s followed by Oregon with 2 million gallons.

Northwest cideries have focused on premium products, and that’s led to a robust reputation throughout the world — much like their beer and wine counterparts, Daisy-Ensign, of the cider association, said.

The region, with plentiful fruit and a foodie culture, has offered cider a place to flourish. Northwest craft beer principles of experimenting with high-quality ingredients have been transferred to cider since the 2000s.

Portland became the best cider market per capita in the country, said Michelle McGrath, CEO of the American Cider Association.

In January, Portland will host CiderCon 2024, a convention that will bring 1,000 attendees for tours, tastings, educational workshops, networking opportunities and a trade show.

While cider has deep historical roots in the United States, there are a variety of styles in the Northwest.

“Makers are willing to try new things as well as look back on more traditional styles,” Daisy-Ensign said.

“Nobody is in a box here,” Takush said.

Experimentation of Ten Towers

For John Kruger of Ten Towers Cider Co., that maverick spirit is the point of making cider.

“It’s always fun to experiment,” he said.

Ten Towers of Rickreall, Ore., has traditional ciders, but Kruger also created ciders blended with peach tea and chai. He’s working on an Earl Grey with lemon drink, as well as a cider with elements of an old-fashioned cocktail.

Kruger started homebrewing in the 1980s, dreaming of opening a brewpub. But he felt the craft brewing market became too saturated, so he turned to cider.

His family had pressed apple juice since the 1970s at their farm, and Kruger applied his fermentation know-how — and got advice from a nearby winemaker.

Ten Towers started operations in 2017, renting space at Eola Hills Wine Cellars. This season, the company will make about 6,000 gallons of cider. Next year, that should be 10,000 gallons.

The name of the company comes from the towers at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, where Kruger and his business partner, Troy Collins, work.

“One of the next steps in our evolution is to have our own taphouse,” Collins said.

Kruger also mused that he might start brewing beer to sell there.

While Ten Towers mainly purchases juice, the company also presses some apples. A friend recently found an unusual apple with red flesh at a local farm. Kruger and Collins are hoping to get it identified, clone it and use the variety in rosé ciders.

Cosmic power

Takush acquired a few apples from a lonely tree in a neighbor’s field, and while he doesn’t know what type they are, they’re delicious. So he’ll try making cider.

“Who knows? Maybe this is going to be the next big thing,” he said, as he held up a golden apple with a slight pink blush.

In 2021, 2 Towns struck gold with its Cosmic Crisp imperial cider, launched shortly after the WSU-developed apple was released.

Takush “pulled a few strings” to test apples before their official availability.

The sweet and tart fruit was high in acid and sugar and “delivered when it came to crunchy depth of flavor that’s unique. From that moment forward it was, ‘When can we get these? When can we get these?’” Takush recalled.

Takush said the apple and cider — often featured together in supermarket produce displays — help drive sales to each other.

In 2010, 2 Towns coined the term imperial cider for beverages with an alcohol content of 8% or higher. The descriptor is borrowed from beer, and 2 Towns struggled to get the label language approved for cider.

Cosmic Crisp evolved into an entire lineup of drinks, and 2 Towns now controls a third of imperial cider sales nationally. U.S. sales in the imperial cider category increased 102% last year, according to company data.

Room for growth?

Takush said imperial ciders’ success shows there’s room for the industry to grow, especially as new innovations emerge.

And perhaps the next big thing will start small.

Cideries continue to open in the Northwest. Daisy-Ensign knew of nearly 20 cideries preparing to start operations in Oregon alone.

Some cideries have failed, but that’s expected in business, industry experts said.

Regardless, the number of cideries plateaued after two decades of robust growth, according to American Cider Association data. There are now 1,310 cideries, up 10 from 2022. In 2013 there were 550 and in 2003, just 205.

The association lists 98 cideries in Washington, 67 in Oregon, eight in Idaho and 111 in California.

Most Northwest cideries are smaller, family-run businesses, often started while owners hold a day job or transition from other careers, Daisy-Ensign said.

About two-thirds of Northwest Cider Association members make less than 10,000 gallons of cider annually, she said.

Local stars, big impacts

The Northwest also has major players, though.

A September 52-week analysis of distribution data by 2 Towns listed its total sales at $28.1 million, up 17% over the previous year.

The company has only partial distribution throughout the United States, primarily on the West Coast, but it ranked No. 31 overall in the combined cider and craft beer category, according to the report.

The nation’s No. 4 cider brand, Schilling Hard Cider of Seattle, had $21.5 million in sales for the year, up 30.1%.

Incline Cider Company, based in Tacoma, Wash., was No. 8 in the country at $13.6 million, up 14%.

National losses, regional gains

U.S. cider sales grew 2% to $446 million, though national brands were down last year.

New York state-based Angry Orchard, the nation’s top cider producer, dipped 5.1% to $178.9 million.

Regional producers — which includes every Northwest cidery — grew 8.6% on average, the 2 Towns report stated.

In Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California, regionally produced ciders make up roughly 80% of cider sales.

Besides imperial ciders, dealcoholized cider is also a trend, and 2 Towns has released its Sidekick line of drinks at less than 0.5% alcohol by volume.

“We’re not talking about sparkling juice,” Takush said.

He added that it was fun to see cideries dabbling with both higher alcohol and no-alcohol varieties to meet consumer tastes.

Among the other findings in the 2 Towns report: craft beer sales slid slightly, seltzer absolutely sank, flavored malt beverages rose thanks to hard teas, and Mexican lagers pushed import beer sales higher.

Daisy-Ensign said 2 Towns distribution data doesn’t accurately capture sales from small cidery tap rooms, which have high margins and are the lifeblood of those businesses.