As Matt’s Meals fans know, I am a BIG cider fan who has been fortunate enough to find favorites far and wide- from Austin Eastciders in TX to Champlain Orchards and Stowe Cider in VT to Angry Orchard, Nine Pin, Hudson North, and Left Bank in upstate NY (not to mention Canada’s Sober Carpenter for when I want the flavor without the fuzzy feeling), I am blessed with an international menu of apple-based awesomeness!
While these brands are all worth reaching out for, living in MA, I am all the more blessed to be able to reach just a bit past my front door to find great ciders as well. While I have long sung the praises of Harpoon’s offerings, I am also a fan of my cider-savvy neighbors at Downeast and Stormalong.
As our area has so many great apple varieties, it is great to see how Downeast avoids filtering their ciders and adds instead of taking away. While I often enjoy their blackberry and strawberry ciders, as someone who still drinks syrup straight, I have been especially enamored with their maple waffle cider, but always look forward to the next addition to their offerings.
As they are just a few towns away in Sherborn, Stormalong is another recurrent go-to- And with good reason! From their Boston Heirloom and Blue Hill unfiltered option to their Mass Appeal and Massive Appeal imperial, the Stormalong team knows how to pay tribute to their Nor-easter roots. And their Berry Perry and Light of the Sun varieties introduce other fruit flavors without stepping on any apples.
So the next time you want locally-sourced refreshment, raise a cider to your Commonwealth and common health and enjoy the local bounty in a can.