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Hey, wanna grab a cider?
It doesn’t quite roll off the tongue the way “beer” or “glass of wine” does, especially in the Bay Area, where cider has yet to take off the way it has in Portland, Chicago or D.C. Despite our obsession with food and craft beverages and our proximity to Washington state, the country’s largest apple-growing region, there’s rarely more than one craft cider on most restaurant and bar menus.
Olivia Maki and Mike Reis are on a mission to change that. The Berkeley couple recently opened Redfield Cider Bar & Bottle Shop in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood. It’s a bright, welcoming, kid-friendly spot with trendy minimalist decor and an impressive craft cider program: 10 on tap, eight by-the-glass and a whopping 130 by the bottle.
Maki says it is the largest selection in California — maybe even in the country. “Our intention is to be a fun and educational environment for exploring cider,” she says. “We encourage people who’ve never had cider before to come sit with us and find something they like.”
And they promise not to geek out too hard, whether you prefer the juicy, off-dry fruitiness of Tilted Shed’s Graviva ($8/10 ounces) or the austere, brut-like acidity of Sundström’s Liminal ($12.50/6 ounces).
There are certainly other spots in the Bay Area to sip cider — UpCider in San Francisco’s lower Nob Hill, for example, and The Cider Junction in San Jose’s Willow Glen area — but they don’t have quite the scope or vision of Redfield, which hosts cider tastings, visiting cider makers and soon, a cider club.
Maki and Reis bring considerable expertise: She farmed in Vermont and California, and spent six years working with apple farmers; he’s an advanced cicerone and former co-director of the beverage programs for the Monk’s Kettle and Abbot’s Cellar restaurants in San Francisco. And they bring both their voices and nerdy cider deep-dives to the 9-month-old Redfield Radio podcast.
Add to that their central, BART-accessible location in an East Bay dining hub, and Redfield could be just the boost cider needs in NorCal. And it’s coming at just the right time.
“There’s been an influx of producers and rise in quality that has helped inject a bit of energy into the local cider-growing scene,” Reis says. “I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Among the dozens of cideries that have opened from Santa Cruz to Sonoma counties are Sebastopol’s Ethic Ciders, Richmond’s Far West Cider Co. and Soquel Cider. They’ll be among the Northern California producers pouring at Cider Summit SF, the annual California cider festival, on April 13 at the Presidio Civil War Parade Ground in San Francisco.
What sets some of these cideries apart is that they dabble in small batch and orchard-based ciders, which are hand-crafted with apple varieties meant for cider-making.
These apples, like the shop’s namesake Redfield, differ from your lunchbox Gala. They’re not sweet but rather astringent and gland-gripping in tartness; with age in the tank, barrel or bottle, their juice can evolve into boldly flavored ciders with zippy acidity and complex aromas.
“With these, the cider maker is trying to showcase where the apple was grown — the terroir, if you will — and what the apple can do in the glass,” Maki says.
Much like artisanal winemaking, apples are picked in the fall, ferment slowly over the winter and use the apple’s native yeast or a commercial yeast to allow the product to age and mature up to a few years, Reis adds.
Those refined flavors and aromas make some of these craft ciders a natural pairing for cheese and charcuterie, which Redfield offers on its menu. Not quite ready to take the cider plunge? They have local wine and beer, too.
If You Go
Redfield Cider Bar & Bottle Shop opens at noon daily at 5815 College Ave., Oakland. For cider maker events, exclusive tastings, the podcast and cider club information, visit www.redfieldcider.com.
Other Bay Area cider spots:
Cider Summit SF: This annual California craft cider festival features more than 50 cider makers, including many from the Bay Area, pouring nearly 200 premium ciders. Tickets: $35-$50. 1 to 5 p.m. (from noon for VIP) on April 13 at the Presidio War Memorial Grounds in San Francisco; www.cidersummit.com
The Cider Junction: This bistro and bottle shop in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose features 26 ciders on tap and more than 30 cans and bottles, plus beer, wine and a menu of small plates. Hours vary. 820 Willow St., San Jose; www.theciderjunction.com
UpCider: This cider house and gastropub in the lower Nob Hill neighborhood of San Francisco offers a rotating list of about 35 ciders, in addition to a full menu of salads, sliders, flat breads, fries and more. Open from 5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 1160 Polk St., 2nd Floor. San Francisco; www.upcidersf.com
Crooked City Cider: This tap house features 30 rotating ciders and 10 beers. Open from 4 p.m. weekdays and noon on weekends at 206 Broadway, Oakland; www.crookedcitycidertaphouse.com
