We make gluten-free apple wine and cyser* in artisanally crafted small batches by fermenting apple juice with wild yeasts that grow on our apple trees, in our orchards and Appalachian biome.  We do not add sulfites, with few and small exceptions, or any preservatives to our products.  Our estate grown apples are organically raised, as are our honey bees.**  

          Most apple varieties we use can’t be found in grocery stores or at farm stands because most varieties there, especially modern ones, were developed for different qualities and purposes than those we want and need.  As with table and wine grapes, many cider apples advisedly are not interchangeable with non-cider varieties, with some exceptions.  Appearance and industrial cold storage ability often are more important in commercial apples than the flavor profiles and complexities we need and require. 

          Our Saint Nicholas of Myra Ciders and one cyser, Ephphatha Cyser, have been made from blending pressings of more than 28 different apple varieties.  Almost all are North American or European heirlooms and/or cider apples.  Our cyser is made with honey from our own bees.  

           Our three kinds of Saint Nicholas Cider are: Felicity, Perpetua, and Tabitha.  Each has different amounts of tannins, sugars, acids (tartness), and effervescence, and each has a related but discernibly different flavor. 

*Cyser is a kind of mead made from apple juice.

**Organic honey is a problematic term since it depends on knowing where a honey bee forages for nectar and food and she may forage several miles from her home.  But honey bees are very efficient feeders and will always gather food closer to their colonies than further away, as long as there is good food near their homes.  We do our best to make sure, throughout our woodlands, orchards and elsewhere, that there is.