Dave White, or “Old Timey Dave”, started his journey to cider making in 2000 after tasting cider from a small craft cidery on San Juan Island called Westcott Bay Cider. In 2007, he started the Old Time Cider Blog to promote Northwest ciders and the North American Cider Map Project and in 2008 attended one of cider expert Peter Mitchell’s cider making courses at the Washington State University Experimental Ag Station in Mount Vernon. Four years later, Whitewood Cider Co. was founded in Olympia by Dave White and Heather Ringwood, and is the first craft cidery in the South Puget Sound.
Another happy result of Dave’s attending Peter Mitchell’s class at WSU was the formation of the Northwest Cider Association – after meeting Sharon Campbell of Tieton Cider and Lars Ringsrud of Snowdrift Cider Co. through the course, the three were instrumental in founding the NWCA, one of City Fruit’s 5th Annual Cider Taste sponsors!
Whitewood Cider Co. makes cider the traditional way, picking and pressing apples in autumn as they ripen, blending the in late winter and early spring, and bottling in in the late spring. They have released six ciders since 2013, three of which are currently available. They also offer a Community Supported Cider (CSC) subscription, which is currently signing customers up for its third season.
Cider at 2015 City Fruit Cider Taste:
Old Fangled – 100% heirloom variety blend fermented from Washington grown Jonathan, McIntosh, Gravenstein, and Winesap apples.
Northland – European cider apple varieties blended at the press, fermented through the winter, racked, blended again and matured into early Summer. Lightly back-sweetened for balance and bring out fruitiness.
Red Cap – A light, crisp, refreshing everyday drinking cider. Expertly blended with genuine Washington grown heirloom and cider variety apples. French oak aged.
Taste these ciders and more at City Fruit’s 5th Annual Cider Taste Fundraiser on November 12th at the Pike Place Atrium! Buy tickets here.
