FLX cider has character. While each Finger Lakes cidery has its own style and creativity, there is a common purpose here, to make honest cider.
FLX cider starts in the orchard. In the Finger Lakes, cider starts in local orchards, with special apples grown with care. There is a long tradition of orchard-keeping and cider mills here dating back to the early days of the nation.
FLX cider is made from cider apples. Just like you can’t make great wine from any old grape, you can’t make great cider from the same culinary apples you buy in the supermarket. Great cider requires unique apple varieties, with names you may have never heard before: sharps like Ashmead’s Kernel or Wickson Crab, bittersharps like Kingston Black or Porters Perfection, bittersweets like Ellis Bitter or Chisel Jersey, local New York heirlooms like Northern Spy or Golden Russet. These varieties provide the tannins, acidity, structure, and complexity needed to make great cider.
FLX cider has community. Great cider goes beyond the science of climate, soil, and agriculture, into what the French elusively call “terroir.” There’s a cultural factor, a human element, that involves the vibrant community of cidermakers that live and work in the Finger Lakes.
“The Finger Lakes, particularly the isthmus between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake, is the most important cider region in the US, with a burgeoning trail of small artisan producers whose focus is on growing cider apples.”
- The Finger Lakes Is to Cider What Napa Is to Wine