Drink Up LOCAL CIDER DELIVERS NUTRITION, TASTE AND HISTORY
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rom an acidic kick to the warm taste of pears and apples, each sip of cider reveals the history and bounty of local agriculture. Hemly Cider offers organic, unfiltered, flash-pasteurized nourishment in every can. No concentrates or additives. Sarah Hemly, founder and president, adds fresh juices of cherry, kiwi, Meyer lemon and mandarin orange after pasteurization. When she finishes, flavors of each fruit step forward. Pear trees take up to eight years to produce. Hemly uses fruit from Courtland pear and apple trees dating from 1860. The land was bought by a relative of Sarah’s husband Michael Hemly for $600 in 1850. The cider company began in 2015. The family has farmed and nurtured this delta land for six generations.
GM By Gabrielle Myers Photography by Aniko Kiezel Farm To Fork
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Bosc and Bartlett pear and Pink Lady and Granny Smith apple trees twist their trunks out of land 5 feet above the water table on wintry days. Proximity to water and access to fertile soil deliver luscious and distinctive fruit. On my visit to the orchard, Sarah Hemly tells me her approach to cider making: “Let the quality of the fruit speak for itself. Don’t mess with it. Don’t lie to people. Put good things in the bottle. It’s the right path to take for the customer and the product. Make it as simple as you can.” Hemly uses as much local fruit as possible to provide a wide range of cider varieties. When local farmers have excess fruit, Hemly creates new cider combinations by adding fresh juice. One beautiful aspect of cider is you can use imperfect fruit that many grocery store or farmers market customers might reject. These fruit seconds have the flavor and health benefits of perfect fruit. Using them in cider helps local farmers maintain their operations and turn deliciousness into a beverage we can all enjoy. Hemly has been the largest organic apple grower in California for decades. The farm partnered with UC Davis to create organic orchards maintained with integrated pest management. Cow manure fertilizes
Sarah Hemly