7 Refreshing Local Hard Seltzer & Ciders For Warm Weather
When it's kissing 80 degrees and the sun is shining bright, nothing sounds more thirst-quenching than a cool, refreshing adult beverage. If beer and wine aren't really your style, or you're looking to try something new, hard cider and seltzer are wonderful alternatives that are a totally different sipping experience. Seltzer and ciders are also a great option for those that are gluten-free!
As with beer, there's a huge spectrum of cider flavors ranging from dry and hoppy to sweet and mellow. And as far as seltzer goes, there's a range of carbonation levels and depth of flavor.
Whether you're heading out of town for the weekend or enjoying a little staycation, here are 7 of our favorite cider and seltzers to sip on all summer long.
2 Towns Cider
Based out of Corvallis, Oregon, 2 Towns Ciderhouse is dedicated to crafting whole fruit ciders that are made from Northwest ingredients.
They make traditional apple-based ciders as well as seasonal ciders that are crafted out of whole ingredients to reflect what's in season here in the Pacific Northwest.
We carry a variety of flavors throughout the year, including some of their year-round flavors like The Bad Apple and Pearadise.
For Summer 2020, we're carrying 2 Towns Good Limes Roll, an agave lime cider that's fresh and tangy and totally reminiscent of summer.
Incline Cider Company
Based in Seattle, Incline Cider crafts unique fruit ciders that are bursting with fresh fruit flavor. Family-owned and founded in just 2015, their ciders have become a fixture in our beer and wine department.Incline utilizes 100% freshly pressed apples from Yakima and there is no added sugar in any of the varieties.
With flavors like marionberry, lemongrass, blood orange, and Rosé Hibiscus, you're bound to find a flavor that fits your preference. We also carry 20oz cans of White Peach and Prickly Pear that are the perfect size for a warm evening.
Locust Cider
Founded in 2015, Locust Cider is based out of Woodinville, Washington, and specializes in smooth, crisp, modern ciders.
With ciders like Hibiscus, Watermelon, Rosemary Plum, and Vanilla Bean, Locust is not your average hard apple cider.
When it comes to the apples, Locust is mindful to utilize apples that are usually turned away for retail sales, such as those that are too small, misshapen, or otherwise undesirable. This eliminates a lot of food waste and results in a cider that's flavorful all the same!
Seattle Cider Company
Based out of you guessed it, Seattle, Seattle Cider Company offers a variety of dry, semi-sweet, and uniquely flavored ciders that are perfectly crisp and ideal for easy sipping. Seattle Cider only uses pure cane sugar and a blend of a variety of Washington state apples, resulting in a flavor that's far from fake.
If you're just getting into cider but aren't a fan of super sweet beverages, consider trying out either their dry or semi-sweet cider. And if you're the type that loves all things sweet, consider trying their seasonal marionberry or berry rosé.
Seattle Cider recently released a line of sparkling hard ciders that are subtly sweet and the perfect cider/seltzer hybrid of sorts. We currently carry both the blood orange and Meyer lemon flavor.
Tieton Cider Works
Based in Yakima, Tieton Cider Works utilizes fruit from their 3rd generation farm in Tieton, WA to create a cider flavor that's unique to the Yakima Valley.
Tieton cider started out as an experiment back in 2008 when orchard owners Craig and Sharon Campbell were looking for a way to utilize wild apple varieties. What started out as a test block of just 2 acres eventually turned into 55 acres of orchards dedicated specifically to cider!
We carry both bottles and cans of Tieton Cider, and they have traditional apple ciders as well as more unique seasonal offerings like lavender honey in the spring and hazy strawberry in the summer.
Seek Out Hard Seltzer
If you've scrolled through this list looking for local seltzer, stop here! Coming from the same people behind 2 Towns Cider, Seek Out is based in Corvallis, OR, and offers 4 different unique seltzer flavor combinations. Choose from pineapple + passionfruit, cucumber + juniper, raspberry + Meyer lemon, key lime + mint, and clementine + grapefruit.
Made out of simply fruit and water, Seek Out has a subtle real fruit flavor rather than that cringy malt liquor taste you might get from other big name brands. Seek Out doesn't utilize processed sugar, and all that sweetness comes directly from the fruit itself.
San Juan Seltzer
Woman-Owned and locally based, San Juan Seltzer is a fairly new seltzer company that has quickly made its mark in the local beer/cider/seltzer scene.
The idea of San Juan Seltzer came about when founder Katy and her friends were having a girl's weekend in San Juan and found themselves chatting about the perfect way to create simple and delicious sparkling cocktails that were low calorie, too.
Featuring Northwest-inspired flavors like rainier cherry, fuji apple, and huckleberry, San Juan Setlzer truly is the seltzer of the Pacific Northwest. Each can has just 85 calories and is both sugar and carb-free.