North Okanagan's newest cidery opens today
After two years of growing, picking, fermenting and sipping, the North Okanagan's newest cidery is getting ready to open its doors.
Tony's Craft Cider Company opens its tasting room doors Nov. 16, allowing the public to sample its ciders for the first time.
Owned and operated by father and daughter duo Tony and Tanya Nijjar, the Lavington area cidery is two years in the making and a combination of Tony's experience as a lifetime orchardist and Tanya's passion and expertise in cider making.
"It feels really good, I'm excited, my dad's pretty excited too,” Tanya told iNFOnews.ca 24 hours before they were due to open.
Tony, a lifelong apple grower and orchardist teamed up with his daughter two years ago to launch the cider business. Now after building the cidery building and tasting room from scratch, growing all the apples and cherries for the ciders on their 50-acre orchard, the pair are ready for the soft opening of their business.
Tanya said over the last two years she's studied cider making in Ontario, and then experimented with countless batches of the brew to make the perfect recipes.
"It's pretty involved because we do everything... from juicing to fermenting, bottling, packaging, everything's done on-site,” Tanya said. "To make the same cider twice is the difficult part, there's a lot involved in it."
Experimenting with carbonation levels, pH balances, and apple varieties, Tanya said she produced countless small batches to taste.
"That's the fun part about it," she said. "My friends don't mind."
Finally, the cider company settled on three ciders to produce — a dry, a sweet, and a cherry cider. Tanya said when the company have their grand opening next spring, there'll be more varieties to choose from and cider fans will be able to purchase flights and sit on the large tasting room patio. There are currently some heritage cider varieties growing in the orchard in preparation for next year's brews.
Tony's Craft Cider Company is located in Lavington at 6167 Highway 6, Lavington. The soft launch event takes place Nov. 16 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tasting are free and bottled cider can be purchased. The tasting room then plans to open Wednesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information go here.
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