Aurora Cider Company

About the Aurora Cider Co.

The Aurora Cider Company has its roots 5,000 miles away in Garrison, Co. Fermanagh, Ireland, where I grew up on the shores of Lough Melvin. Autumn days were spent climbing long abandoned apple trees with a friend, gathering the fruit and hand-pressing it into five gallon buckets, where wild yeasts fermented the juice to dryness. It was rudimentary, it was hard work and it was fantastic fun. The resultant cider was terrible, but the basics were there.

Leaving Ireland for the Willamette Valley, I made my way to the historical city of Aurora, Oregon and made some damn fine cider from the bountiful crab apple tree in our yard, which reawakened the cider-making bug. Many hundreds of ‘research’ gallons later, I'm still climbing trees, still making small batches of cider from high quality fruit, still having fantastic fun. I really hope you enjoy the fruits of my labor.

My Ciders

Forage - Wild Apple Cider

The apples that went into this excellent concoction were gleaned from parks, hedgerows and gardens. Several varieties of crab apple combine with Ashmeads Kernel, Baldwin and Fameuse to produce a perfect one-off blend. I handpicked and hand pressed the apples , then fermented the juice to absolute dryness. A little yeast and nine months aging and I present this perfect small batch sparkling cider. Enjoy.

Taste profile – Dry and crisp with a long, long finish.

Ingredients: Apple juice, yeast. Contains sulfates.

1851 - Oregon GoldRush

Oregon GoldRush apples are noted for their bittersweet taste and spicy finish. I handpicked and hand pressed the apples and fermented the juice to absolute dryness. A little yeast and nine months aging and I present this perfect small batch cider. Enjoy this tribute to the men and women who came to Oregon looking for gold in 1851.

GoldRush apples grown by Oakhill Organics in Yamhill Co, OR.

Taste profile – Dry and crisp with a spicy finish.

Ingredients: Apple juice, yeast. Contains sulfates.

Borealis - Manchurian Cider

The Manchurian crab apple (Latin: Malus) is the David of the apple world. Don’t be fooled by its tiny size, it can slay giants with its high acid and sugar that results in a rich, complex cider. I fermented the juice to absolute dryness. A little yeast and nine months aging and I present this perfect small batch sparkling cider. Enjoy.

Taste profile – Dry, mild on the palette with soft tannins and a crisp acidity.

Ingredients: Apple juice, yeast. Contains sulfates.