The Cider farm run by Deirdre Birmingham and her husband, John, is a Wisconsin treasure. They started the farm in 2003 with a goal of growing specific varieties of apples suited for cider. The varieties they aimed to grow weren’t commercially available in the United States, so Deirdre, who wasn’t raised on a farm, set about creating them herself. Today she has over 13,000 apple trees of various varieties.
The varieties that Deidre grows are packed full of tannins to create the perfect sparkling hard cider. While the apples might look like your typical fruit on the tree, they are anything but that: they are smaller and don’t have the sweet taste. To tell the truth, the fruit picked right off the tree isn’t the greatest at first bite, and some of the varieties taste just plain awful. But these apples are meant for drinking not eating – they’re perfectly suited for making delicious ciders!
The tasting room is where the real magic happens. It boasts a full lineup of products from The Cider Farm as well as other Wisconsin farms. From Cizer (cider with honey) to the sparkling rose cider, each variety tastes different yet delicious.
This is one FarmHer who is living out her dream – and a delicious dream it is indeed!
