By Joanna Bastian
Sixknot Cider, an organic orchard and cidery in Carlton, was offering a free tasting at Glover Street Market last Saturday. Cold and refreshing, the hard cider had a light crispness and could possibly be, hands down, my new favorite hard cider.
Sixknot Cider is a serious contender in the world of hand-crafted, artisan ciders. The cider is produced at Sinclair Orchards in the lower valley, along the banks of the Methow River. Sweet, organic Honeycrisp apples provide just enough natural sugars that the process does not need any added sulfites, preservatives, or additional sugar. Besides using the apples grown at their orchard, master cider maker John Sinclair also uses local organic apples from the surrounding area.
Assistant cider maker Ellen Brand was on hand at Glover Street Market on Saturday to answer questions and explain the cider-making process to a steady crowd of tasters.
Three ciders were available for pours and purchase, each with a distinct flavor. The High Desert Dry was a pleasing draw, pleasantly dry with a complex aftertaste. On their website, sixknotcider.com, a review from Sip Northwest describes High Desert as “thick with fragrant perfumes of butterscotch, anise, vanilla …”
The Goldilocks was a lighter hard cider that was just perfect. The name was chosen after someone had tasted the cider and pronounced it, “not too sweet, and not too dry.”
As a biased ginger-lover, I have to say, the Gingerella is my favorite hard cider of the Sixknot ciders. Cold-pressed fresh organic ginger root is blended with the Goldlilocks to deliver a distinct punch to an otherwise cool and mellow cider.
Sixknot Cider is conscious about creating a fully sustainable, organic cider that tastes as clean as it is grown. The leaves of apple trees harvest the sun’s energy to grow sweet and crisp apples, and the sun also powers the Sixknot cidery and woodshop through solar panels. The Sixknot tap handles seen in pubs are handmade in their woodshop from older Red Delicious trees that were removed from the orchard to make way for the Honeycrisp trees. On its website, Sixknot Cider put it this way: “You can enjoy Sixknot and think about the sunlight that struck the leaf that made the branch that made the apple that made the cider and powered the lathe that made the tap handle that poured the cider.”
Sixknot ciders can be found on tap at many local restaurants, and in local stores, including the Carlton General Store.
Tracy Looper, Rest Awhile host, models the parking area for cooler scooters.
The Rest Awhile Country Market at the mouth of the Methow Valley has fresh apricots and peaches available. The apricots are astoundingly good. If you are down valley, treat yourself to a smoothie or milkshake that the ladies whip up using fresh fruit grown in the orchards right behind the fruit stand. Also, the pastries are amazing.
Besides being a fruit stand and bakery, Rest Awhile also offers their produce in an array of tasty preserved goods including unique jams, salad dressings, sauces, and pickles. If you are throwing a party and want to feature local tastes, Rest Awhile has a wide variety of foods locally grown and prepared.
A few Paterosians use an alternative form of transportation to get to their favorite fruit stand/wineshop/milkshakery — cooler scooters. The Rest Awhile now proudly offers parking exclusively for cooler scooters, which are cooler than regular scooters.
