Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2016)
2C THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016 Hard cider makes an easy connection between urban and rural Cushman said there is “huge interest” in cider and demand is strong. “We need ODELL — About 3,200 more staff to really serve the people packed the Hard- market that’s out there for us.” Pressed Cider Fest here in Cushman teamed with April, which itself isn’t that high school classmate Steve unusual. In terms of consumer Bickford, an orchardist and tastes and response, hard cider vineyard owner, to form Hood is following in the successful River Ciderworks in 2013. Paciic Northwest footsteps of Valley residents, long familiar regional beer and wine. with traditional, fresh-mar- The news may lie in who ket pear and apple production, attended. Anecdotally, at appear to have embraced wine, least, the crowd’s demograph- cider and other new forms of ics leaned heavily to young value-added agriculture. and urban. Cider makers say “They now recognize that the same kind of people who diversity in business is a good like microbrews and ine wine thing to have here, rather than also like hard focus solely on cider. one business ‘People And rural segment like producers, gen- lumber or some- keep erally, are glad thing,” Cush- they do. In some drinking man said. “Some cases, especially other counties, it, so with niche mar- that was their kets, winning ball of we keep entire the favor of city wax and they’re buyers can lead making it. still struggling.” to success. Attendance “ S e a t - It’s a good data for the tle and Port- cider fest is lim- land are really agricultural ited, but inter- good about try- Of the product. esting. ing new things,” 384 tickets said Bob Fox, sold online, 41 I think it percent were who manages Fox-tail Cider bought by peo- helped in the Hood ple residing out with in Portland or River Valley, where the festi- suburbs; the apple its val was held. He another 12 per- said many of the were from market.’ cent people stopping the Vancouver, at his tasting sta- Wa s h i n g t o n , Bob Fox tion were from manager of Fox-tail Cider area. A smatter- those cities, and in the Hood River Valley ing were from from Bend and Seattle; peo- the Tri-Cities area as well. ple living in or near Hood Fox is a ifth-genera- River bought 22 percent of tion orchardist, an oper- the online tickets, according ation that began with his to the Hood River Chamber g r e a t - g r e a t - g r a n d f a t h e r, of Commerce. August Paasch. He said he grows “pears and cher- Alcoholic cousin ries, apples, peaches and of sweet cider what-not.” Industry observers say Looking to diversify oper- production of hard cider — ations, the family branched the alcoholic cousin of sweet off a new business and began apple cider — is growing rap- making Fox-tail Cider in idly, especially in the West. 2012. Cider’s rapid acceptance “So far, so good,” Fox by consumers comes even as said. “People keep drinking some producers are hastily pur- it, so we keep making it. It’s suing and planting old English a good agricultural product. and French variety cider apples. I think it helped out with the Most hard cider made today apple market.” is from repurposed dessert apples, lavored in some cases Cornucopia of fruit with berries, rhubarb, tangerine Hood River vineyard and more. Fox and Cushman owner and winemaker Rich aren’t convinced it’s necessary Cushman said hard cider is a good it for the valley. With the cornucopia of fruit grown nearby, much of which can be used to make or lavor cider, the valley ought to lay claim to the title of the U.S. “cider capital,” he said. “I think we should be all over that in Hood River,” he said. By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press ? 9-1-WHAT? THE BEST OF THE WORST CALLS TO ASTORIA 911 DISPATCH Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Patrick Martin of Bull Run Cider in Forest Grove pours a tasting glass during the Hard-Pressed Cider Fest in April in Hood River. More than a dozen Northwest cideries brought samples of their products. to use traditional cider apples; Fox believes boutique cider- ies will spring up to claim that niche. A retired Cornell Uni- versity apple researcher, cider maker and professor, Ian Mer- win, described the Northwest cider scene as “a total free-for- all, no rules.” He estimated that people in Oregon, Washington state and California drink 80 per- cent of the hard cider con- sumed in the U.S. Speakers at the U.S. Cider Associa- tion’s annual convention, held in Portland in February, said cider accounts for 1.7 percent of alcohol sales nationally, but about 4 percent in Portland and Seattle. The February convention attracted about 1,200 cider makers, apple growers, dis- tributors and others from 44 states and eight countries. In related news, the North- west Cider Association announced Emily Ritchie will become the group’s execu- tive director effective Monday. Ritchie, now the association’s pro- gram manager, pre- viously was a mar- keting and sales associate for Tru- itt Family Food in Salem and directed the Oregon FoodCorps pro- gram at the state Depart- ment of Agriculture. Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Pacific Northwest hard cider makers were pouring tastes in April at the Hard-Pressed Cider Fest in Hood River. Safety irst S ometimes, it’s all about safety. Like the guy in Svensen shooting at the water from his vehicle. Or the shooter in Seaside scaring a neighbor’s dog. Or the kid in Warrenton wear- ing all black climbing a gazebo ... Follow reporter Kyle Spurr on his 9-1-What? Twitter watch, where a few of the sometimes head-scratching calls to area dispatch take center stage. The full feed is at www.twitter.com/9_1_WHAT. 3 W AY S TO GE T Y O U R CO PY TOD AY ! OR DER ON LIN E w w w .DiscoverO urCoast.com /order S TOP BY ON E OF OU R 3 LOCATION S A storia • 949 Exchange St. Seaside • 1555 N . Roosevelt Dr. Long Beach • 205 Bolstad A ve. E. #2 o r CALL HOLLY LAR K IN S at 503-325-3211, x227 Em ail: hlarkins@ dailyastorian.com