West Avenue Cider House Visit
Ballpark Food & Cider Pairings
April 19, 2019
Tieton Cider & Dry Fly Distilling Collaboration
May 4, 2019
Last month I dropped by West Avenue Cider House on a nice , cold Canadian day for a tasting. West Avenue is located in Freelton, Ontario out in the country. The cider house is nice and secluded, and is a great place to visit with friends, family or a date! Outside of a beautiful location, they also have some awards to their name!
These include:
- 2018 Awarded ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ for Flamborough Chamber of Commerce
- 2018 Awarded ‘Hamilton’s Fast 40’ Award for Hamilton’s Fastest Growing Companies
- 18 Great Lakes and International Cider and Perry Competition (GLINTCAP):
- Gold, Autumn
- Bronze, C10
- Bronze, Gold Dust
- Bronze, Heritage Dry
- Bronze, Strawberry Trifection
When I walked in I was captured by the stylish decoration of the tiny farm-house. The room was bordered wall to wall with different flavours of cider (for purchase) and both a bar area, and wooden tables to sit at. Obviously I had a seat at the bar where I took forever deciding which ciders to try in a flight. Eventually, I picked one and then said the dangerous words, “surprise me”. If you’re interested in some food pairings, they have snacks as well. In the spring/summer months, they also have a market selling fresh foods!
These are the ciders I ended up tasting:
- Red Prince – semi-dry
- Plum Scrumpy – dry
- Firecracker (8.5% ABV) – condensed by maple syrup evaporator prior to fermentation.
Here are some of the ciders they have on tap:
I ended up taking home one of their popular ciders, Cherriosity – a 6.5% ABV Niagara Montmorency cherry cider. I also would like to give them credit for some of their fantastic cider names. For example, they offer “Bohemian Raspberry” and “Legend of the Fall”. Even with all the fun names, they make good, generally-dry cider.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend West Avenue for all you Canadian cider lovers and those who want to cross the border to pop in. I cannot wait to step in-cider West Avenue again in the summer!
