For the first settlers of New York and New England, having a small apple orchard on one’s farm for making hard cider was a given. Distrusting the purity of water prior to the advent of treatment methods, many washed down their meals with a glass of low-alcohol cider. Far more apples were drank than ate.
But gradually, as more immigrants arrived from Central Europe and the grain-growing Midwest was settled, beer supplanted cider as the American alcoholic drink of choice. By the end of prohibition, few were drinking hard cider, and apples were on their way to becoming a symbol of health rather than a backyard source for homemade hooch.
That shift meant many orchards across the northeast were left to go to seed. One often comes across stone walls in the woods that formerly marked property lines on long-vacated farms. If you know where to look, you can find former orchards that way, too.
This is where Hudson Valley-based Abandoned Hard Cider comes in. Founded in 2017, the company scours the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains looking for erstwhile orchards to provide its apples. Its cider draws on over 110 different varieties.
“We wanted to use really cool apple varieties— funky, weird, wild apple varieties that we were surrounded by,” said co-founder Martin Bernstein. “Most of those orchards are totally wild or were planted by settlers way back when.”
Not all the apples come from former orchards in the mountains. Abandoned Cider also partners with two family orchards and it encourages anyone with apple trees to bring them in to trade for cider.
“We’re interested in connecting with people who have backyard orchards and that’s a huge part of what we do,” said Bernstein. “We spend about eight weeks [a year] connecting with landowners and getting apples or teaching them how to harvest or care for their trees. We want to be a mainstay of the locals who are part of the home agrarian community.”
Residents of Sullivan, Ulster, Greene, and Columbia counties are encouraged to make use of any and all varieties by participating in weekly pick-ups or bringing apples directly to the brewers. Abandoned can provide a bag for the goods or even harvest for you. Visit abandonedcider.com to learn more about that.
Abandoned Hard Cider opened its first outpost on Route 28 in Woodstock. Its second tasting room and retail space opened earlier this month at Greig Farm, a family-run pick-your-own market and farm in Red Hook. Inside the room, a large map on the back wall showcases the abandoned orchards the helped provide the apples for the brew, with colorful pins to educate those who are new to the company’s mission. Couches and coolers line the walls along with small photos of the cider-making journey. Trees and wood are focal decorations, a pleasant reminder that the cider is a celebration of New York nature.
“After the success of our Woodstock location, we quickly realized we wanted to open up at least another location, if not more,” Bernstein said of the partnership that took about a year and a half to come to fruition.
The Woodstock location sits on Route 28, adjacent to Santa Fe and Hotel Dylan, and has a small patio out back where guests can relax or share a flight over communal picnic tables. The space was opened in September of last year. Bernstein said the team is hopeful about new patio/entertainment ideas in the future.
Currently, they have seven different ciders on tap. Breaking out from the original flavor, the inspiration for new products varies from wine to kombucha to the 2020 dream vacation that wasn’t meant to be. A well-rounded lineup is the result. Each cider is unique in its own right but, all recognizably dry and crisp.
The baseline “Classic” cider is a light, dry staple made up of over 100 apple varieties. Aptly named, “Vacation,” which debuted this January, is their only cider with any sugar, understandably present given the addition of passionfruit juice and guava puree. “Barrel-Aged” is the rich result of aging the cider in wine barrels, usually chardonnay, and the barrels themselves can be found scattered about both locations, now functioning as high tops to chat over.
“Hopped” is the brainchild of co-founder and kombucha expert Eric Childs. Inspired by hopped kombucha and Bernstein’s homegrown hops, Childs surprised Bernstein with his now go-to brew of choice. “I was skeptical…but he made it and it was amazing,” Bernstein said.
The duo also produce special, limited-run reserve in 22 oz bottles each year. The 2019 special run, “Foragers Reserve,” produced 744 bottles and was dedicated to folks who helped them forage apples. The 2020 reserve will be out soon.
Visitors can partake in flights, take home assorted four-packs, special bottles, and cans of kombucha. Both locations are open Thursday-Sunday from noon to 8 p.m.
Join the family! 
