Apples to Apples- Cider Edition

One of the samples I had during my visit to Treehorn Cider.

Throughout my last semester of college, I’ve been taking a class on beer culture. I’ve learned so much about beer and styles of beer throughout this class. However, I have gained a newfound love for cider.

In June, I had the opportunity to go on a site visit to a local cidery, called Treehorn. Treehorn got its name from the beloved cult film, The Big Lebowski, which the cidery has references to this classic hung around the tasting room. Treehorn is one of the first cideries in Georgia and has the most outstanding ciders that I’ve ever tried.

Treehorn Cidery was the first to market in Georgia and was picked up by United Distributors. In Georgia, we have a three-tier system of distribution. The three-tier system is made up of producers, distributors, and retailers. Brewers, winemakers, and distillers are among those who fall into the category of producers. In Georgia, cider is classified as a wine even though it’s more like a beer/wine hybrid.

Treehorn doesn’t grow their own apples but sources them from a farm located in North Georgia. The owners spoke about how they came about their specific formula of delicious cider and the hundreds of different strains of yeast they tried before settling on white wine yeast. Most ciders are fermented with champagne yeast, to give a bit of reference on traditional ciders.

During our visit, I was able to try multiple styles of cider from Treehorn. This cidery is not a traditional cidery, they create modern ciders with all kinds of flavors. When I say that Treehorn is modern cider, I mean the crew over at Treehorn are experimenting with infused flavors. Below I’ve listed my top ciders from Treehorn with my take on them.

• Miyabi- This cider tastes like Botan rice candy in my opinion (which I love). This cider is blended with shiso, citrusy yuzu, was extremely light and most of all refreshing for a hot summer day. I couldn’t get enough of this cider and ended up going back to the cidery on Sunday to purchase a growler of it.

• Forest Moon of Endor- The crew over at Treehorn are huge fans of Star Wars and this is a tribute to the movie franchise. This cider is blended with basil and pomegranate, can be used to mix in cocktails, and was extremely cleansing to the palate.

• Hoppy Little Trees- This was closer to a beer than the other ciders I tried. It is infused hops and fermented in a lager-style way. The cider almost tasted sour, was refreshing, and the smell of hops is one of the first characteristics picked up from this cider.

• Black Currant & Coruscant- I really only have one word to begin describing this cider…Wow! They have infused this cider with black currant juice, habanero, and poblano chiles, and is needless to say, spicy. Oddly enough, this cider smelled like Doritos but left my whole mouth on fire (in a good way).

• Amarillo by Morning- This was a great cider. It is infused with IPA, grapefruit, apple juice, and Amarillo hops. This smells slightly similar to an IPA, was very refreshing and crisp.

This cider was so good, that I took my father back to it the following Sunday to drink more! If you are ever in the Marietta area and looking for a fun experience, then I would suggest heading over to Treehorn Cidery.

The menu from our visit. This menu has already made a few seasonal changes since I was there.