Open: Year-round

History:

Cider's French home is Normandy, where it has been made since the Middle Ages. French ciders are known for their champagne-like quality: dry, refreshing, and crisp. Less sweet than their British counterparts, French ciders are often served with food, and are an ideal pairing with everything from cheeses to main dishes to dessert. Produced in our Cider House in Ellison Bay, Wisconsin, Island Orchard's ciders are dry with a subtle fruit flavor, making them a dramatic contrast to the mass-produced American ciders found in bars and grocery stores.

Hard cider was also once the quintessential American beverage. Colonials drank cider made from apple cultivars brought with them from England, and the legendary Johnny Appleseed continued this trend westward as he sowed apple trees suited to cider making. The arrival of beer-making German immigrants shifted emphasis away from cider, but most American farms still made their own hard cider throughout the 19th century. The death knell for American cider was Prohibition: Many farmers burned or destroyed their apple orchards and replanted their land with sweet eating apples or other crops. The recent resurgence of craft-style cider has made hard cider the fastest growing segment of the American adult beverage market. Here at Island Orchard Cider, we are proud to bring French style ciders to the U.S. We invite you to try our ciders and taste for yourself what makes Island Orchard Cider unique.