by Cassidy Nunn –
Nestled just up from the ocean in Central Saanich is the beautiful 10-acre Sea Cider Farm where Kristen Needham, founder/owner/cider master, is living out her dream of producing certified organic apple cider for both the local market and further abroad. I had the chance to go behind the scenes at Sea Cider to see all the work that goes into making a delicious bottle of cider!
With farming in her family, and a keen interest in the food and beverage culture that was sparked during her years spent living in Europe as a teenager, Kristen sought out a career change after having her kids and landed on starting a cidery. She inherited a family apple orchard in the Shuswap region and after attending cider school and learning more about the business side of running a cidery, she sought to purchase more land for growing apples.
The Sea Cider farmland has been transformed since it was purchased in 2004; at that time it was a sheep pasture and small, older orchard of culinary apples. The land had the right soil conditions to support the cider variety of apples and is in a micro-climate from being close to the ocean. 1,000 apple trees were planted in 2004 – “an exercise in patience” says Kristen. They had to wait a few years for the trees to grow before they could be harvested; if you allow the tree to fruit too soon, it stunts its growth.
Kristen sourced out the traditional cider varieties of apples through the BC Fruit Testers Association. There are over 60 varieties of apples grown on the property, with one to two rows of each variety such as the Kingston Black, which Kristen describes as being a “bitter sharp” and very acidic, which gives the cider a lot of character and aromatics. “Here we grow prominently old varietals,” she says, and most are inedible as eating apples. Other varietals include Dabinett, Chisel Jersey and Yarlington Mill.
In the spring, the blossoms begin to appear on the apple trees and at that point the team is focused on making sure the honey and mason bees are active for pollination. There are several beehives on the property, in partnership with Country Bee Honey Farm. Managing the orchard grass, weeds and watering is important during this time as well and all is done organically.
Apples begin to form in June and are usually ready to pick by mid-August through to the end of October. So begins the picking and pressing schedule! The team will pick pounds and pounds of apples, then let them sit for a week or so, which makes for a better cider because “you don’t want your apples being all pumped full of water,” according to Kristen.
The apples that are put into the press are all of high quality. “You wouldn’t want to put anything into the press that you wouldn’t be willing to eat,” says Kristen.
After the apples have been pressed, the juice is then stored in the tanks for fermenting. Fermentation can take anywhere from a month to a few months while the sugars are converted into alcohol. Some ciders will be aged for longer while others will need to be bottled right away. The cider is blended, then chilled, followed by being bottled, capped, labelled and cased. All of this occurs on the Sea Cider property and during the busy summer season, they employ approximately four dozen staff members between the events, tasting room and cider production. In a day around 700 litres of cider is bottled, which translates to approximately 100 cases of cider.
The business began by selling strictly on Vancouver Island but there was “such demand and we were never able to make enough,” says Kristen. They continued to grow at a steady pace and Sea Cider ciders are now sold as far north as Anchorage, Alaska and as far east as Chicago. Around 15,000 cases of 18 different types of cider are produced yearly by the farm.
The tasting room is open daily year-round (other than Christmas Day) and the business is continuing to expand, with a new pavillion space being added next to the cider house that should be finished by the end of this year.
There’s a lot of hard work that goes into creating the perfect glass of crisp apple cider, but Kristen and her team don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. Be sure to stop by and enjoy a tasting this fall!
Photos by Nunn Other Photography
