Sixteen North Carolina cideries unite to create the first ever NC cider trail at CiderNC.com (https://cidernc.com/) to capitalize on the growing resurgence of hard cider. The website features an interactive map which allows visitors to type in their location and see which cideries are nearby. The digital platform also allows guests to find information about each spot, including offerings like food, pet friendliess, tours, and live music.

“We’ve all been so focused on our craft and serving customers that we never took the time to pull it all together until now,” says Lyndon Smith, President of the North Carolina Cider Association and owner of Botanist & Barrel. “It’s remarkable how many cideries there are across the state and how distinct each cidery is — so this endeavor is long overdue,” Smith adds. “We’ve seen several new cideries open in the last few years but we feel the renaissance is just beginning,” says John Clowney, CEO of Bull City Ciderworks.

North Carolina is the 7th largest apple growing state in the United States. Participating cideries in the trail aim to showcase the incredible diversity of cider as a beverage. Some producers are terroir-driven and use native yeasts while others are fruit-driven and may add other fruits to compliment the apples. Many also focus on the clean, bright, classic apple ciders that are familiar to consumers.

While cider currently makes up 1% of alcoholic beverage sales in the U.S., this percentage is rapidly rising. “I think we will continue to see huge increases in the coming years and decades,” says Rick Benfield, of GoodRoad Ciderworks. “In the United Kingdom, cider sales are 15% percent of beverage sales — and this is our future goal in the U.S.,” Benfield adds.

The growing popularity of hard cider can be attributed to both traditional and experimental producers. “We are seeing producers create both serious and playful ciders with the bounty of locally-grown apples,” says Josie Mielke of Urban Orchard Cider Co. While cider is made like wine, some attribute its revival to its more beer-like experimentations that have become increasingly common in the market. “People love trying new things that have some familiarity in a category,” says Amie Fields — North Carolina’s first certified Pommelier. “You’ll see many beer drinkers seeking fruited ciders, hopped ciders, sour ciders, and barrel-aged ciders,” she adds, noting cider’s appeal to both wine and beer drinkers alike.

The goal of the NC Cider Trail is to educate consumers about North Carolina’s cideries and showcase the diverse range of different ciders within the state via an interactive website. “We are excited to revive one of the state’s most prized beverages in a whole new light,” says Smith.

The sixteen participating cideries are:

● Appalachian Ride Artisan Cidery in Hendersonville
● Barn Door Ciderworks in Fletcher
● Black Mountain Ciderworks in Black Mountain
● Bold Rock Cider in Mills River
● Botanist & Barrel in Asheville/Cedar Grove
● Bull City Ciderworks in Durham/Greensboro/Lexington/Cary
● Chatham Cider in Pittsboro
● Flat Rock Cider in Flat RockJames Creek Ciderhouse in Cameron
● GoodRoad CiderWorks in Charlotte
● McRichie Ciderworks in Thurmond
● Molly Chomper Cider
● Noble Cider in Asheville
● St. Paul Mountain Vineyards in Hendersonville
● Red Clay Ciderworks in Charlotte
● Urban Orchard Cider Company in Asheville

For more information, visit https://cidernc.com. The new site was created by the North Carolina Cider Association.

People unfamiliar with the restaurant industry may not realize how many restaurants regularly donate food, gift cards, volunteer time, and more to a wide variety of causes in their local communities. In addition to their regular donations, restaurants often get 10 requests or more for donations per week. It’s constant thing.

Take members of Asheville’s Independent Restaurant Association (AIR), one of the largest independent restaurant associations in the nation. 

A couple years ago AIR commissioned an in-depth survey of their member restaurants by the Magellan Strategy Group. What they learned, among other things, was that 91% of their members contributed to local charities in 2017. That means food banks, homeless shelters, training programs, fundraisers, and more.

After working with many of these same restaurants over the years, I’d be willing to bet that between the 2017 and 2020 Covid restrictions, the percentage of AIR restaurants donating and the amount they donated either stayed the same – or more likely – increased.

The AIR survey also found that the average financial and in-kind donations for 2017 totaled $19,993 per restaurant, with some giving more than $50,000! Furthermore, that same year, charitable contributions of all AIR members (restaurants and partners) totaled $2.14 million.

“The number is comparable to national figures — the National Restaurant Association estimates that 94 percent of all restaurants (including both independent and chains) donate to charitable groups, with contributions totaling about $3 billion a year. But how do restaurants, which have notoriously slim margins, manage to give so freely of their resources?” Sarah Marshall Marcus, Mountain Xpress

If you’d like a more in-depth answer to that question, read this Mountain Xpress article.

Why am I sharing this information with you? Because when we support restaurants, we are supporting our entire community. With new restrictions all around, and on restaurants in particular, coming this Friday, December 11, 2020 in North Carolina, it’s critical that we ALL support them in whatever way we can. 

Order to-go meals, purchase Gift Cards/Certificates, dine inside (if allowed/offered) or  outside, leave generous tips if you can. If offered, buy bottles of wine to take home or gift to others. If you’re able, donate directly to restaurant owners. They’ll use it to help their employees or save their business, believe me. And if you can think of anything else, let me know in a comment.

Broke out our bread machine after 15+ years of non-use. Not sure if it was because I’m Covid-bored, or caught the bread-baking bug again, but I’m glad it happened.

Why a Bread Machine?

Twenty years ago, one of our three young children started getting intense migraines. Before going the recommended medication route, I decided to look at diet. Everything but wheat flour was eliminated from this child’s diet, with one type of food added at a time as we watched for reactions.

What they look like now: https://www.zojirushi.com/app/category/breadmakers

Why Not Eliminate Wheat Flour?

In those days, if you wanted a wheat flour alternative, you had to make your own by grinding nuts. We had too much going on as a family with three young children involved in everything from scouts to sports to band. If the migraines had continued, I would have committed to nut grinding.

Long story short, that child was allergic to artificial colors and flavors! So as a family, we moved our diet as close to artificial color and flavor free as possible.

Worked Like a Champ!

All those years ago this bread machine was a total workhorse, but how would it work after sitting idle for such a long time? To my surprise, it worked like a champ! This loaf of “Italian” bread turned out great! Even though the crust was nice and crunchy, next time, I’ll put the crust setting on dark rather than medium for looks and see what happens.

Think I’ll keep using the machine, experimenting with other types of bread, but for really, really good specialty breads, I’ll still head over to Underground Baking Company.

Migraine Update

The migraines lessened in frequency and intensity to almost none as that child grew older, adding body mass. He’s pretty careful. Reads ingredients. But they can still happen if he lets his guard down and something with a lot of artificial colors or flavors is consumed.