While Georgia’s climate and humidity can be a challenge for growing wine grapes, those conditions are ideal for apples, and several Georgia orchards have increased their offerings by making and selling hard cider.
We recently tried products from three cideries, two in North Georgia and one located across the street from Marietta’s Big Chicken landmark. All of them make a wide variety of ciders.
We preferred the ones that focused on apple, finding the addition of other fruits — such as peach or blackberry — a bit sweet for our tastes. They all ranged from 6.5% to 6.9% alcohol by volume, similar to a strong beer, and are good alternatives if you want a gluten-free drink.
Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge, the oldest cidery in Georgia, began operating in 1943 and still is family-owned after four generations. In 2011, the family started hard cider production and all their cider is grown, pressed and canned on the property. They also carry wines from North Georgia wineries in their farmstead market.
We tried the orchard’s Adele’s Choice, a pure expression of apple, and it was hard to believe there was alcohol in it. Grumpy Granny, named for the apple variety, had a nice balance between tart, acidic and sweet apple flavors.
8660 Blue Ridge Drive, Blue Ridge. 706-632-3411, mercier-orchards.com.
Reece’s Cider Co. in Ellijay is a little closer to Atlanta. The orchard, around since the 1960s, is well-known to folks who come to the mountains to view fall foliage and pick apples.
The cidery, which opened across the street in 2021, is the brainchild of fourth-generation farmer Taner Reece and his wife, Sarah. Every weekend, including Sundays, the cidery plays host to food trucks and live music, and you can try its large selection of ciders on tap.
The canned expression we tasted was their flagship Ellijay apple, and it was reminiscent of the Old World ciders of France: dry, rustic and with a balanced sweetness.
9110 Ga. 52, Ellijay. 706-635-2775, reecescidercompany.com.
Atlanta Hard Cider Co., just off Cobb Parkway, was founded in 2017. It has expanded into distilling as well, and its applejack and apple brandies are distilled from the company’s cider, with no additional sugar or grain-neutral spirit.
We were familiar with the company’s crisp apple cider — Georgia’s bestselling cider — and decided to try some of its latest cider offerings. Two standouts were the Honey Bee and Rosé craft ciders.
Honey Bee blends the company’s apple cider with organic wildflower honey. It was surprisingly less sweet than we had imagined, and it had a delightfully funky aroma from the raw honey. Rosé is a blend of apple and grape juices fermented together and would make your wine-drinking friends happy, with half the alcohol.
1010 Roswell St. NE, Marietta. 470-412-0501, atlantahardcider.com.
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