041: Emily Ritchie | Northwest Cider Association

041: Emily Ritchie | Northwest Cider Association

Author: Ria Windcaller: Award-winning Cidermaker, Podcaster | Craft Beer Columnist August 10, 2016 Duration: 44:45

Emily Ritchie is the Executive Director of the Northwest Cider Association a region covering Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia.  This region's cider scene is on fire and growing!

041 Emily Ritchie of Northwest Cider Association
Emily Ritchie

The Northwest Cider Association was formed in 2010. The following Washington State cideries listed below initially kick started the Association.

Soon after Oregon cideries began joining and now the current list of cideries is around 300 members and growing!

041 Northwest Cider Association logo
Logo created by Dave White of Whitewood Cider

Emily's Background

  • Emily has deep roots to the UK via her father who is from England. After a trip to Herefordshire she returned to the US with an even greater drive to get involved in her region's cider scene. She was most recently the Program Manager at the Association for a year and a half and then moved into the Executive Director position when the Sherrye Wyatt, stepped down. 

What is the goal of the association?

  • To educate and keep helping move the cider revival forward

What is apple cider per the Northwest Cider Association?

  • Cider is a fermented apple juice

3 Events mentioned in this chat

Washington Cider Week takes place in September every year from the 8 to the 18th

  • There are so many events, that this event is actually more than seven days
  • Washington Cider Week is launched in conjunction with the Seattle Cider Summit –

BC Cider Week 2016 is October 15-22

  • The British Columbia week of cider kicks off at Seed Cider, near Victoria with events throughout the region

Cider Rite of Spring – large cider fest in Portland

  •  

Contact info for Emily Ritchie

Mentions in this Cider Chat:

  • Cider Chat's upcoming trip to podcast with Eric Bordelet
  • Kurant Cider is part of the Cider Chat's #CiderGoingUp Campaign. As such I happily share news and updates for the Pennsylvania cidery. Go to the link and listen to Joe Getz of Kurant share his story of the cidery. Find a link to their website and join their new cider club The Scratters ( a swap, meet up and learn about cider group).

Are you a commercial cidermaker? For the cost of 2-bottles per month you can join the CiderGoing Up Campaign too. Join in via the Cider Chat Patreon Page and Help Keep This Chat Thriving!


There’s a whole world in a glass of cider, and Cider Chat is your invitation to explore it. Hosted by award-winning cidermaker and writer Ria Windcaller, this podcast travels far beyond the bottle to meet the people who make the global cider culture so vibrant. Each conversation is a journey-you might find yourself in a heritage orchard learning the history of forgotten apple varieties, in a bustling taproom with an importer explaining regional traditions, or in a kitchen with a chef pairing cider with unexpected foods. The discussions get into the delightful nuances, too, whether that’s the semantics of what we even call this drink or how the concept of terroir translates from soil to sip. It’s not just about production; it’s about the community, the travel, and the stories that fermentation unlocks. This is for anyone curious about the craft, history, and sheer enjoyment of fermented apple juice in all its forms. So, pour a glass and settle in for a series that feels like a wide-ranging, informative, and genuinely good-humored chat with friends who happen to be obsessed with cider. You’ll come away with a deeper appreciation for every effervescent, tart, or sweet sip, hearing directly from the growers, makers, and enthusiasts who are shaping this drink’s exciting present and future.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 501

Cider Chat
Podcast Episodes
080: Teddy Weber | Tin Hat Cider, Vermont [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:14
Tin Hat cidermaker Teddy Weber is stewarding a 25 year old orchard in Waitsfield Vermont. This musician by trade got his taste for cider in the UK during his music gigs while there. He teamed up with Sue and Gib Geiger w…
079: Dan Young | Tandem Ciders, Michigan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:19
Tandem Ciders is the result of two hearts coming together in one spot of Ciderville (the east coast) and finding their way to Michigan. In the late 1990's Dan Young who was the co-owner and brewer at The People's Pint in…
078: Oscar Garcia Busto | Mayador, Asturias [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:57
The Mayador cider brand came about from a lot hard work and ingenuity. Manuel Busto Amandi born in 1906 founded his cider business originally as M.Busto in 1939. Between that time and 1966, Manuel's ingenuity kept the bu…
077: US Cider Trends 2017 | Nielsen Data of Cider Market [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:47
The US cider market share in 2017 is growing. This episode on Cider Trends in the US and abroad is a replay of a webinar from April 5, 2017 presented by Danny Brager and Matthew Crompton of the Nielsen Company. The webin…
076: Lou and Sue Chadwick | Grafting at Second Chance Farm, MA [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:22
Lou and Sue Chadwick of Second Chance Farm in Greenfield Massachusetts are what I consider the "Apple Pied Pipers". For nearly as long as CiderDays (the oldest cider event in the US) has been running I have seen the Chad…
075: Alan Shapiro | Cider Summit, USA [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:27
Alan Shapiro wasn't looking to get involved in cider, being a craft beer enthusiast, one sip at the right time changed his mind and he isn't looking back. He is founder of the widely popular Cider Summits that takes plac…
074: Nicole and Rafe Ward | Forgotten Ciders, Michigan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:13
Nicole and Rafe Ward of Forgotten Ciders are celebrating 3 years of cidermaking this April of 2017. This Michigan cidery has over 1000 variety of apples growing on 16 acres, many of which are cider varieties and red fles…
073: Shea A.J. Comfort | The Yeast Whisper [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:20
The Yeast Whisper's Back Story Having read extensively the books of the day he is, suffice to say, a self taught technical yeast expert. "You realize you have to get some type of competency in science…basic formulas, con…
072: Lost Apples of the Quabbin | Massachusetts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:21
Lost Apples of the Quabbin is a presentation by Al Sax and Matt Kaminsky documenting their 2016 research and quest for mapping out the apple trees in this historical reservoir region. The Quabbin Reservoir was created to…
071: Jeppe Gents | Fejø Cider, Denmark [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:15
Jeppe Gents opened Fejø Cider in 1999. He calls himself a "cider farmer" having founded his cidery on an island 200 kilometers south of Copenhagen. You can take a 15-minute ride on a ferry to the island and visit this ce…