Cider Spotlight!

Winchester Ciderworks Malice

$12.99 for the 16oz can four-pack
East English Style Hard Apple Cider

There are many lessons to be learned from the story of Winchester Ciderworks and their cider.

Stephen Schuurman grew up in the market town of Beccles, in Suffolk, right off of England’s southeastern coast. Though Suffolk did suffer several Danish invasions, the evil beast of Prohibition never raised its fervent, ugly head. So, there and throughout the British Isles, cider making was able to steadily plug along and flourish. Today, any decent Suffolk pub offers a number of off-dry ciders on tap. (Or so we’ve been told. If anyone wants to fund a fact-finding mission …)

That’s the world where Schuurman grew up, apple picking and apple scrumping (stealing apples). It was a world that felt far away from Schuurman’s adult life in the wild former colony of Northern Virginia. Like many immigrants, he reacted by bringing a little bit of home to the barbarians.

Schuurman scrumped apples from a nearby orchard and started making the kind of cider he loved. ‘Cause “ ‘Cha-ching’ or it don’t mean a thing,” people tasting his ciders encouraged Schuurman to go pro. By chance, at a Bluegrass festival, he met the owner of the orchard he had been plundering, and rather than one having the other hauled off in apple chains, the two struck up a business partnership. Winchester Ciderworks was born.

The Malice is Winchester Ciderworks’ flagship cider. It’s made from five different varieties of Frederick County apples that are slowly fermented until you have a sparkling off-dry cider in the eastern English style. The Malice is then aged for at least a year before being packaged and given the strangest name. Seriously. There’s nothing malicious about this cider. It’s smooth. It’s delicious. The hint of sweetness allows you to enjoy the depth in the apple flavor. It’s appealing both cold and just cool. Why the label sports a dagger menacingly piercing an apple is just beyond us.

We guess the lesson here is don’t judge a cider by its packaging. Also, prosecution may be the least beneficial response to fruit theft. Also, also, maybe home is where your startup is. Finally, sometimes crime does pay.