An Epic Quest for Island Cider—from Victoria to the Cowichan Valley
Whenever I return to my native Vancouver Island, I’m inescapably struck by the sensation that I’ve re-immersed myself in the Shire in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
I didn’t catch all the nuances when my grade four teacher read us The Hobbit at Victoria’s South Park Elementary School. Yet now, coming from bustling Vancouver, I can feel the slower pace of life as soon as I step off the ferry or Heli-Jet. The emphasis on agriculture, the still-pervasive British politeness, and while I have only slightly hairier toes than at age nine, this time I’ve come back to explore part of the Vancouver Island cider trail.
As I drive northwest with a friend from downtown Victoria on the Pat Bay Highway and turn off on wooded Prospect Lake Road, I’m full of anticipation. Vancouver Island’s reputation for craft beer and wine has grown recently, with close to 40 breweries and roughly the same number of wineries. However, cider is the Island’s newest claim to fame—the mild weather and abundance of arable land create ideal conditions for making great cider—and I’m eager to dive in on this cool, wet day.
Cider, made with fermented apples, is an ultra-hobbit-style beverage. Not only is it most popular in Tolkien’s native England, but its Canadian market share is Bilbo-sized. Recently, Statistics Canada pegged it at just four per cent of total alcohol sales.
But that number is sure to grow. Southern Vancouver Island is slowly expanding its fellowship of cideries. After driving less than half an hour, keeping an eye out for local deer, I reach my first of six tasty and distinctive cider destinations. The quest is on!
Tod Creek Craft Cider
Tod Creek Craft Cider is a rustic, converted dairy farm on three gently sloping acres on BC’s Agricultural Land Reserve. It has some 3,000 dwarf rootstock apple trees. Varieties include Dabinett, Porter’s Perfection, and Kingston Black. “I originally bought the property for my construction company,” explains Chris Schmidt, who founded Tod Creek in 2014. “For farming, I decided to go with cider over mushrooms or grapes, since I like cider, and I’m passionate about it.”
Schmidt, who is also an avid motorcyclist and scuba diver, produces up to 80,000 litres of cider a year in a restored cow barn. He creates his own recipes and cans many of his most popular ciders. Schmidt calls Tod Creek Apple Cider “Canada’s first 100 per cent aged craft cider sold in a can.” Mala-Hop features three organic hops and is back-sweetened with maple syrup. My personal favourite, though, is the fruit-infused Raspberry Shrub. At just 3% ABV, it tastes as light and summery as the synthesizers in Van Halen’s “Jump”.
Grinning with elvish glee, I now hand over the steering wheel to my friend. It’s just a 20-minute drive to our next stop. We meander along West Saanich Road, passing the Victoria Butterfly Gardens, and follow the signs to a long gravel drive rising past a lush orchard.
Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse
Bucolic booze bliss awaits at Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, overlooking the Pat Bay Highway and the Salish Sea. “We have the perfect climate for cider apples,” says host Tammy Roberts. “No harsh frost, lots of air movement from the ocean.” Founded by sixth-generation farmer Kristen Needham Jordan, this 10-acre farm cidery makes 20 different ciders, growing some 150 varieties of apples on site and crowdsourcing heritage apples Victoria-wide.
At a long communal table, I sample ciders while snacking on smoked salmon dip and artisan cheeses. Kings and Spies (8% ABV) is crisp and Prosecco-like. I glean why it’s popular for toasts at the 100-plus weddings Sea Cider hosts annually. The delectable Rumrunner (12% ABV), aged for six months in rum-soaked bourbon barrels, boasts an oaky flavour, augmented with molasses. After a few sips, I feel like sailing away with Frodo to the Undying Lands.
Instead, we head 15 minutes south to the Fireside Grill to lunch on duck tacos and pork belly buns. And then we boldly forge westward to the most Tolkienesque stop on this tour.
Tugwell Creek Honey Farm & Meadery
An hour’s drive along Highway 14—ranging from Langford’s lush fir and spruce trees to Sooke’s cannabis shops and bakeries—brings us to Tugwell Creek Honey Farm & Meadery. It’s picturesquely surrounded by beehives, cider apple trees, geese and sheep.
Overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Otter Point, Western Canada’s first meadery, founded in 2003, is the home of co-proprietors Bob Liptrot and Dana LeComte. They recount the legend of how they embraced this ancient fermented honey beverage, distinct from but often categorized with cider.
Liptrot, who teaches beekeeping at Royal Roads University, explains: “I've been making mead for over 40 years now. I thought if we’re going to live out here on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island, there’s got to be something better than the commute to Victoria. I decided to keep it small and value-added.”
“People make lots of conscious decisions around food and beverages on Vancouver Island.,” Dana adds. “We use our business as a platform for educating people about bees and ecology.”
As Frodo and his companions drink mead in Lothlorien, it’s no surprise that Lord of the Rings fans flock here. I joyfully quaff Solstice Metheglin (13% ABV), a dry and spicy mead, or Mad Marion (18% ABV), a port-like mead with marionberries that pairs well with cheese.
Next, we zoom up the Island on the Trans-Canada Highway, powering over the mountainous Malahat Drive en route to Nanaimo’s Crow & Gate Pub. After dining on steak and kidney pie, I check into Ladysmith’s new Microtel Inn & Suites, and whoosh down the yellow, corkscrew-style waterslide at the pool. I get a snootful of water—possibly the perfect palate-cleanser for tomorrow’s epic imbibing.
Valley Cider
You could call Bruce McKinlay’s cider philosophy a cross between Gimli the dwarf and Gandalf the wizard. “Shrinking back down is the best thing I ever did,” says the former IT company owner, who operates a cheerfully iconoclastic one-man show at Duncan’s Valley Cider, 20 minutes south of Ladysmith. There’s wizardry in the ingredients he uses to concoct his five dry ciders, each at 6.5% ABV: “With modern cider, we think about what’s in the bottle and take a culinary perspective. The skies just open up.”
McKinlay planted his own orchard with apple varieties like Gala, Ambrosia, and Spartan. At his rural, 5,000-square-foot facility, he justifiably talks up his Prosecco-like Bon-Dri (“Tell the wine-drinkers because they like it! Boo-ya!”), hoppy Humulus Lupus (“I use local aromatic hops with no bittering”), and floral-infused Love Potion (“I had a rosewater and lavender dessert in Paris, and I knew this had to have rose petals”).
Marketing his product mainly by word-of-mouth, McKinlay recently welcomed five young Australian WOOFers – volunteers with Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms – who helped with labeling and bottling in exchange for a letter of reference. I appreciate the selfless sentiment. Yet just as Bilbo’s sword glows near orcs, my stomach now glows, knowing it’s time for lunch at nearby Merridale.
Merridale
Just 25 minutes south on the Trans-Canada Highway, Merridale awaits – the Rivendell-like birthplace of Vancouver Island cider. The property, nestled amid swaths of coastal temperate rainforest, was purchased by the husband-wife team of Rick Pipes and Janet Docherty in 1999. Merridale, Canada’s oldest estate cidery, abounds with diversions: self-guided tours, yurts for glamping, an on-site distillery, and scrumptious dining at the on-site restaurant with a heated, glassed-in patio.
With my housemade burger and salad, I enjoy a flight of four sulphite-free, pasteurized ciders, including the barrel-aged, bold, British-style Scrumpy (11% ABV) and the supremely refreshing Merri Berri with black currant, raspberry and sour cherry juice (6% ABV). Bring on the Cracks of Doom! (My chauffeur buddy is missing out.)
Yellow Point Farms
Fantasizing about hobbits makes you feel like a kid again. So does visiting Yellow Point Farms, a 45-minute drive north, with its welcoming ramshackle rural setting. I grab a hot non-alcoholic cider in the barn, and then head outside to meet the Nigerian dwarf goats and hairy Kunekune pigs who roam around Becca and Justin Dault’s 32-acre Ladysmith farm.
The couple harvested more than 1,000 kgs of apples and almost 10,000 kgs of blueberries in 2018. They aspire to set a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest blueberry someday, and they’re fixtures at Island farmers’ markets from Parksville to Nanaimo.
I don’t see myself coming back to participate in “goat yoga”—the little rascals are nipping at my heels enough as it is. Yet I am captivated by the passion that Becca and Justin bring to their land, similar to the Shire’s honest hobbit farmers. The Vancouver Island cider trail certainly leaves you feeling like the Lord of the Drinks.
