Oregon Cider Week Highlights

Just  a couple weeks after Portland Beer Week, and just before Oregon Beer Month (July) is Oregon Cider Week, which runs June 20-29 2014 this year. That’s right, so it starts tomorrow! Oddly, just like PDX Beer Week, the “week” is actually more like 10 days than an actual 7 day week… more for everyone!

This is the third year that the Northwest Cider Association (NWCA) has promoted this celebration of craft cider with a variety of events, varying from special ciders and cider tap takeovers to cider classes to cider and food pairing dinners. I wanted to highlight a few of the events of Cider Week, similar to what I had done previously for PDX Beer Week during my June 2014 Roundup.

So here are my Oregon Cider Week Highlights. Be sure to visit the Oregon Cider Week website for a full listing of events!

Cider Cocktails and Cider Pastries at St Honoré

Friday, June 20, 2014 – Sunday, June 29, 2014

For the entire Cider Week, St. Honoré Boulangerie, besides their usual eight different draft cider on tap at their SE Division location on 3333 SE Division St, will be offering 5 types of unique cider cocktails, priced at merely $5-6 during their happy hour 4pm-close. Yep, those are the hours. You an also enjoy a cider flight of 4 from those draft ciders for only $6.

I was fortunate enough to get a little preview of these cider cocktails earlier this week at a Media Event the other day. Frenchman Chef Dominique Geulin, owner and head baker and also winner of a prestigious Meilleur Ouvrier de France in the boulangerie category, and mixologist Jacob Grier just happened to be on hand to explain how they deftly maneuver around not having a liquor license to still produce the amazing cocktails with cider, and how they are jumping full into the cider festivities with cider and cider food and even a cider dinner (the Cider Feast, more details below in the post).

Seriously, these cider cocktails are fantastic, if anyone comes to visit me here in Portland, I will definitely take you here. Cider Cocktails is definitely a niche I want to encourage and see explored more.

The five cider cocktails that Jacob Grier has crafted include

• Midnight in Paris: Finnriver Farmstead Cider, Lillet Blanc, sweet orange vinegar, elderflower syrup and orange peel  Aromatic and floral.
  
• Yuzu-Pippin: Reverend Nat’s Revelation Newtown Pippin single varietal cider, Yuzu citrus vinegar, mint and lemon. A citrus-forward drink that is simple, refreshing, and light. You can also see all the pretty cider taps behind the photo of the drink below!
  
• Cider Sangria (Rouge): Finnriver Black Current Cider, raspberries, orange, pineapple and honey
• Cider Sangria (Blanc): 2 Towns Bright Cider, apple, honey and mint
  
• Snake Bite: A fifty-fifty mix of cider and beer, garnished with a lemon wedge
  

At all three of the St. Honoré locations (so also including NW Thurman and Lake Oswego) there will also be pastries, dessert, and bread made with cider! One example of this is this Grillé aux Pommes, a Caramelized Apple Butter Tart with puff pastry, apple butter made with slow roasted apples and apple cider, finished with apricot glaze.

They have a clay firebrick bread oven that is used to make these perfect Tarte Flambées, which are Alsatian-style Flatbread pizzas baked to order. The ones below include one on the regular menu, a Lardon Et L’oignon (Bacon and onion) with Bacon lardon, fresh onions, crème fraiche, and also a special one with cider they had added, a Tarte Flambée with crème fraîche sauce, apples, Fourme d’Ambert bleu cheese, baked and topped with arugula, toasted walnuts and a cider gastrique.

Then there are also Cider and Green apple macaroons, Cider Marcarpone Tarts (Almond cream and caramelized apples, layered with tangy cider-rhubarb gelee, and vanilla bean mascarpone mousse) and Cider Bread with little slivers of apple here or there.

And, if you haven’t been there already, you should know to be prepared to still want to take home some extra baked goods, because they are lovely here. I’ll just point out oh, this Bacon Roll just bread baked with oven roasted bacon, or Pain aux Lardons just croissant dough rolled with bacon bechamel and red pepper sauce then sprinkled with Emmentel cheese and Jacobsen’s sea salt. Because you needed to know these delights exist.

Or want more apple with your cider? How about this Chausson aux Pommes (French style turnover with apple sauce filling) or Normandy Apple Toast with Viennoserie pastry pieces baked in a rum and vanilla custard and fresh apples on top. Yum… They have many other things, varying from quiches to spaetzle and salads and sandwiches like my favorite, a decadent Croque Madame… if you haven’t been before, I highly highly recommend that you must visit!

 

The new cider cocktails will be available at St Honore all summer long!

Cider Tastings at Bushwhacker Cider

Sunday, June 22, 2014 – Sunday, June 29, 2014

All Tastings are complimentary, most are scheduled for 6:00-9:00 PM unless otherwise noted at Bushwhacker Cider located at 1212-D SE Powell.

• June 22nd: Oregon Cider Week Event – Red Tank Meet the Maker & Portland Juice Co. 2-5pm
• June 23rd: Oregon Cider Week Event – EZ Orchards & Steve Jones from Cheese Bar 6-9pm
• June 24th: Oregon Cider Week Event – Finnriver & Salt & Straw 6-9pm
• June 25th: Oregon Cider Week Event – Woodchuck Cider & Smitten Truffles 6-9pm
• June 26th: Oregon Cider Week Event – Bull Run Cider & Brooklyn House 6-9pm
• June 27th: Oregon Cider Week Event – Schilling with Olympic Provisionspm
• June 28th: Oregon Cider Week Event – Cider Riot & PNW Kale Chips 2-5pm

Cider Appreciation Class with Reverend Nat’s

Thursday, June 19, 2014 8:00pm – 10:00pm

Reverend Nat’s Cidery & Public Taproom at 1813 NE 2nd Ave is holding an event where Rev Nat walks participants through 25+ all apple ciders from around the world so you can taste the wide range of apples and cider styles, including ciders from England, France, Spain (Basque and Asturias), New Zealand, Germany, Eastern US and Western US. Tickets are $40, either by buying online at Brown Paper Tickets or at the cidery (503-567-2221).

Cider Summit PDX in the Pearl District

Saturday June 21 – Sunday June 22 2014

This year the  Cider Summit PDX is celebrating its 4th year in Portland at the northern Pearl District at Fields Neighborhood Park at 1099 NW Overton Street. It will be held Friday, June 20 from 2 – 8 PM and Saturday, June 21 from 12 – 6 PM. As before, cidery owners and cidermakers will be on hand to inform and guide guests through the samplings which will be available in 4-ounce tasting portions in a souvenir festival glass. 

In addition to the range of ciders, the event will feature the DoveLewis / Unleashed by Petco dog lounge, expanded food selections from World Foods & St. Honore Boulangerie, special dessert pairings from Smitten Truffles and cider ice cream from Fifty Licks.

Transportation wise Brewvana Brewery Tours shuttle will run a continuous loop from SE Portland to the Park because of its location you can easily also ride the Portland Streetcar to the event.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 (cash only) at the door and are available online via Stranger tickets, Umpqua Bank Pearl District branch, and at many of the area’s leading bottle shops.  Admission includes a tasting glass and 8 tasting tickets.  Additional tasting tickets will be available for sale onsite at $2 per ticket. There is also a special VIP ticket available for $35 that includes 4 additional tasting tickets and early admission on Friday from 2p-3p, only 200 of these tickets are available – exclusively online via the event website.

Dogs are allowed at the event, but no minors. Re-admission will be allowed at any time with event wristband and tasting glass.  The Cider Summit event will benefit Northwest Cider Association, Cascade Blues Association, DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital, and The Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research.

Cider and a Movie at Reverend Nat’s

Saturday, June 21, 2014 8:00pm – 11:00pm

Reverend Nat’s Cidery & Public Taproom is also having a more casual event called Spaceballs, Sizzle Pie and Cider. For $10, you can visit the Cidery & Taproom to drink Rev Nat’s cider, eat pizza from Sizzle Pie (“Death to False Pizza”) and watch the 1987 classic spoof movie Spaceballs. Fun! The $10 entry at the door gets you all the pizza you can eat and a folding chair in front of the projector, though you are on your own for the cider. The movie starts promptly at 9 pm.

Science and Cider with OMSI After Dark

Wednesday, June 25, 2014 7:00pm – 10:00pm

This month, the OMSI After Dark theme is Archaeology and Cider! Besides demonstrations where you can cast velociraptor claws or dig through owl pellets, you can taste ciders (requires a tasting glass and tokens) from participating cideries such as 2 Towns Ciderhouse, Bull Run Cider, finnriver cidery, Original Sin Craft Ciders, Portland Cider Co, Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, Schilling Cider, Tieton Cider Works and Wandering Aengus Ciderworks. And you are in the OMSI museum browsing the exhibits in a 21 and over audience!

Cider Feast dinner with cider pairings at St Honoré

Thursday, June 26, 2014 6:30pm -8:30pm

Another way to taste those cider cocktails I mentioned earlier is at a special Cider Feast event St. Honoré Boulangerie is having on Thursday, June 26, 2014 6:30-8:30pm, a special five-course dinner where each course is created with different cider and paired with cider or cider cocktail. 

The event will be at their SE Division location and is by reservation only and costs $45.00 per person, the cost includes gratuity. Make Reservations by calling the SE Division store (971) 279-4433 or infodiv@sthonorebakery.com. You can look at the intriguing cider menu here.

Crushin’ It! Finnriver at BeerMongers

Thursday, June 26, 2014 6:00pm -9:00pm

BeerMongers will be hosting Finnriver Farm & Cidery for a night of specialty cider including special limited release, draft only offerings of Finnriver Autumn’s Blush Cider and Finnriver Belgian Style Cider as well as complementary tastes of hand selected bottles. I’m a big fan of Finnriver, and of Beermongers so was happy to see both of them working together at this tasting event.

For instance, I have to warn you that the Finnriver Spirited Apple Wine is dangerous, tasting light with a bit of apple spice but kicking in at 18.5% and absolutely delicious, and I also like their tart Black Currant and spicy Habanero Cider with balanced sweet with a bit of fiery burn – all of these which I have enjoyed tasting at Pike Chocofest, which is where my below photo is from.

English and French Ciders and Cheese with Bushwhacker & Reverend Nat’s

Friday, June 27, 2014 6:00pm – 10:00pm

This event  is a collaboration with Bushwhacker Cider and Reverend Nat’s Cidery & Public Taproom in which they present an English and French Cider Experience. The Brewvana bus picks up participants at Bushwhacker at 6 pm sharp, and during the bus ride guests enjoy a can of Cascadia en route to Rev Nat’s Public Taproom where Nat guides them through five dank, dark, barnyardy English ciders.

Then, hop back on the Brewvana bus and back to Bushwhacker where Jeff guides guests through five fruity, sweet, funky French ciders. Everyone will be able to buy buy bottles to go or pints of favorites at Bushwhacker, and there will also be cheese at each stop curated by Steve Jones of Cheese Bar. $25 advance purchase only, buy online via Brown Paper Tickets or call Bushwhacker or call Reverend Nat’s.

Cider Farm to Table Dinner with Phantom Rabbit Farm and Reverend Nat’s

Sunday, June 29, 2014 5:00pm – 10:00pm

Farmer Melissa Joubert, Chef Mark Wooten and Reverend Nat team up for a cider paired dine on the Phantom Rabbitl Farm in Portland’s West Hills. This farm to table dinner event includes a multi-course pairing with items harvested on the Phantom Rabbit Farm that day, their milled grains, locally sourced beef, and fish, hand churned butter, Oregon hand harvested sea salt and many other details, then paired with Reverend Nat’s Cidery & Public Taproom Cider.

Make reservations $85 advance, buy online here at the Phantom Rabbit website.

 

Do you like ciders? Do you think you will attend any of these events?

Disclosure: The preview of the St Honoré cocktails was complimentary, but I was going to include them in this Oregon Cider Week highlight anyway so it was a happy coincidence and I have already been loving them since their original NW Thurman location a couple years ago. I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.