Honey, ginger, berries, hops, coffee—the cideries of the Northwest are often thought of as the Wild West for cider experimentation and the avant garde buck doesn’t stop there. Enter Locust Cider, the four-month-old producer that is the latest on Washington’s bill of cideries and a new tasting room to Woodinville’s beverage tourism scene (see: 100+ wineries, 10+ breweries, quality culinary stops). Kegging, bottling and canning “real cider” for “real people,” Locust is a two-man operation consisting of Texan brothers Jason and Patrick Spears. The cidery title is a sentimental connection for the two—Jason Spears suffered a near-death experience at age 13 when the sound of locusts chirping brought him back to life and reality.
A personal mantra for the cidery grew from this memorable incident and the Spears brothers decided life is too short to waste on anything but the best, including cider. “Great quality should be accessible to all people,” cider maker Jason Spears says of his ciders. “My driving force has been to avoid mediocrity. I want to make ciders people can drink and like to drink.”
In doing so, Locust has recently released, well, everything for their inaugural line-up, including the Green Tea Infused cider. For this amalgamation, Locust steeps Chinese decaffeinated green tea before fermentation, then blends in the hot brew to the apple blend (all Washington-grown Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious) and steeps after fermentation is complete as well. “It’s a better flavor marriage than hops because it’s more slight on the tongue bitterness,” Spears says.
The result is a texturally-pleasing and modestly bitter flavor, with green and savory components pulling from the tea without overpowering the delicate green apple aromas and flavors. Bone-dry but with just a touch of tannin, this cider is certainly sessionable and bottled in 12-ounce 4-packs so that it looks like it too.
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