All I want is flowers. It's ridiculous. This craving feels like it belongs to springtime and just wandered into my brain by mistake. Nonetheless, what brings me joy right now is Cosmos, Zinnia, Spider Plant, Mums, Coneflowers, Mayweed, and Sunflowers. Please just stick me in a garden with a plate of cheese and a cider; I’ll come back in a few weeks, I promise.
For right now I want to share Peak Light Cider’s Farm School. I got to sip this cider with friends and brunch on the screen porch. What a lovely way to enjoy a cider.
Peak Light Cider comes to us from Sauvie Island in Oregon. The farm is biodynamic and organic. The cidery was founded by Jen and Travis Lovejoy. Here’s how Peak Light Cider introduces the cidery.
This isn’t just cider. This is a farm to bottle experience of organically grown apples hand-picked at peak ripeness. Where honeybees dance and gatherings are queen. Where days are spent outdoors, dirtying hands, laughing, swapping stories, and staying for supper. Because community is more than who you know, what we drink matters, and every glass feels like coming home.
Peak Light Cider has only had one previous review. I checked out the Field Run: http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com/2021/04/cider-review-peak-light-ciders-field.html
I recommend visiting Peak Light Cider’s website to learn more about the cider and its offerings: https://peaklightcider.com/
Here’s the cider’s official description.
This cider is a creation of collaboration and partnership with Wombat Flats Farm on Kiger Island, Oregon. This limited release cider from the 2020 harvest blends traditional bittersweet and bittersharp apples, including Yarlington Mill, Brown Snout, Muscadet de Dieppe, Vilberie, and Porter’s Perfection. Aromas of molasses and tilled loam soil with notes of chestnut and buckwheat honey. This bitter cider pairs well with radicchio salad and fresh baked bread with herbed butter.It honors an Autumn of social distancing from broader communities, while coliving with dear friends, homeschooling and working together on the family farm. How bittersweet it is! Enjoy. Preferably with friends or family and some afterglow.
Appearance: warm apricot, brilliant, bubbly
Farm School poured with a bit of mousse all the way through the bottle. There’s that much bubble to see! The color reminds me of mango, tea, or apricot with a medium intensity and a gentle warmth. The cider’s clarity is brilliant.
Aromas: Overripe mushy apple, caramel, spice.
The farm school smells like fall to me. The predominant note is overripe soft apples. Secondarily I get hints of caramel that make me think of barrels and just a hint of oxidation. There’s also a little baking spice in the grace notes.
Dryness/Sweetness: Dry
This is a dry cider. If you want a great example of a cider that will help you differentiate between acidity and tannins, this is super clear example. Read on for more.
Flavors and drinking experience: very tannic, medium acidity, barrel quality, boozy
I love how the Farm School tastes. This is a mature cider that’s at ease with its dry, very tannic profile. It has medium acidity to my palate, but I’d be curious what folks who primarily drink west coast ciders would say. There are still caramel notes like were present in the aroma, but they rise and swell without sweetness. The cider’s fruity appley mid-palate folds into a slightly boozy barrelly finish. There’s just a bit of funk, but not much.
Overall the Farm school is a cider with big full flavors but with a gentle smooth transition through every moment of the tasting experience. It was a wonderful pairing with coconut spice muffins, late summer vegetable frittata, and vegetarian chorizo. What a treat!