North Country Hard Cider - New Hampshire

Breweries are great and I am happy to say they are popping up everywhere.  I mean, we have over 40 breweries in the small state of Connecticut and more every year.  But Cideries?  Cideries are rare, unique, and so so delicious.  Where can you find a specialty brewhouse making cider, only cider, and six different kinds of cider?   Locally sourced apples, unpasteurized, unfiltered, without additives or preservatives.  If you are in New Hampshire, you can find this at North Country Hard Cider Company. 

North Country Hard Cider is New Hampshire's 100% All Natural Craft Cider. North Country Cider Company is conveniently located on the Salmon Falls Mills in Rollinsford, New Hampshire.  You can stop in for tastings of their six ciders currently on tap (and rotating seasonally!), the perfect amount for a cider tasting on a fall afternoon. After your tasting, you can pick your favorite and take some home.  You can fill a growler, take home some bottles and apparently, even buy a keg. We decided to sample some ciders and figure out which we wanted to take home with us. 

The building is an old brick mill right on the water.  There is indoor seating (various tables and chairs) as well as a bar top.  There is seating outside via picnic tables, Adirondack chairs and even a bar railing.  On a nice day, you can sit outside with your ciders and your lunch, and enjoy the views.  As far as location goes, this spot was ranked high on my list with indoor and outdoor seating right on the river. 

While the location is great, what makes them unique is their devotion to a high-quality cider via their unique processes and their awesome seasonal ciders. As North Country says, "Great cider starts with the apples, and since we are passionate about apples, we only source from local orchards we know and trust. We press our apples at peak ripeness to obtain the highest quality, freshest juice possible. We don't filter or pasteurize our cider. Instead, we use a unique process that requires nothing but apples, yeast, and time to make our delicious cider'. Small scale cidery with local apples and none of the junk, yes please.

Their mission is to create the best tasting and purest hard cider, made from locally sourced apples, unpasteurized, unfiltered, and without additives or preservatives of any kind. No junk, just apples. Oh, and other delicious stuff to make their seasonal brews, like squash. Their ciders varied from the dry bourbon barrel to a habanero cider. If you like your cider straight, they have their classic take on the cider, and a single barrel cider. If you like the fun, funky and seasonal, then they have their take on fruit punch called bug juice, and my favorite, squashed, a cinnamon squash cider. The diversity and uniqueness of the ciders was great as ciders usually come in one (or two) flavors.

The Bitter Brothers was dry, without the sweetness of normal ciders.  The Branch Breaker was made from a single batch (one harvest) of apples.  The original press is their original cider, an amazing cider that wasn't insanely sweet like Angry Orchard - just the right amount.  Squashed was my favorite of the six, where the squash used in the cider was roasted in pizza ovens with cinnamon, making the most-perfect fall cider.  Bug Juice was their take on camp juice, a mix of other fruit juices with cider for a delicious blend.  And lastly (and my second favorite) was fire starter cider mixed with habanero (a sweet and spicy pepper) delicious but not spicy enough for my taste. 

You are allowed to bring your own food in, and we brought salads and sandwiches from a great deli in downtown Portsmouth. You can eat inside, or outside on the patio with a view of the river. Great food, delicious cider and wonderful company in beautiful New Hampshire. Why can't all Saturdays be like this?

*** The original location featured in this post is now permanently closed. 

Their new tasting room is located in Dover New Hampshire. Their new location is dog-friendly, offers indoor and patio seating, and food trucks. 

Address: 38 Littleworth Rd, Dover, NH 03820

Phone: (603) 343-2422

Hours:  Wednesday - Sunday  12 pm - 7 pm

Site: http://northcountrycider.com

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