(Photo courtesy of Tumalo Cider Co.)
Small-Batch Cider Made in Central Oregon
Tumalo Cider Co. was founded back in 2014 when owner Jeff Bennett and some friends felt inspired to do things a bit differently, “Me and a couple guys came together and all had a love for cider,” Bennett said. “We also thought the current offerings were usually overly sweet.”
Bennett and friends set out to create a local, small-batch formula that helped acquaint the Central Oregon palate to a drier cider. After some garage experimentation with simple, quality ingredients like fresh-pressed apple juice, the team got the formula down. Once the product was down, the creation of Tumalo Cider Co. followed suit.
With more than 26 breweries, a handful of cideries, distillers across the region and a surging number of wineries, the Central Oregon libation scene is a bustling, if not a bit saturated, market. Tumalo Cider Co. stands out among this scene for a number of reasons.
First, they are 100 percent local with plans to keep it that way. “We’ve all raised families here and become part of the community,” Bennett said. “Producing here just makes sense. Tumalo Cider has to be from Tumalo, it’s that simple. It’s important to be true to your word, and true to your brand.”
Second, Tumalo Cider’s options are high quality and straightforward. Their artisan cider focuses on flavors that are dry and complex, and include offerings like perfectly balanced dry and semi-sweet blends, along with unique specialties inspired by the Central Oregon landscape.
Their seasonal offerings are award-winning. Alpenglow, a cranberry and cardamom-infused cider, won the People’s Choice award at the 2016 Central Oregon Winter Beer Festival, beating out all the beers. The following year, another seasonal called Winter Perry took the same award.
From the cider down to the labeling, Tumalo Cider keeps it simple and approachable. “You won’t have to scour the packaging just to figure out what this tastes like,” Bennett said. “When so much other packaging can feel over-the-top, we think it’s good to keep ours simple and direct, so people can identify our flavors right away.”
Over the years, Tumalo Cider has grown and expanded into new areas like Washington and Colorado, for a brief time, but they’ve kept the bulk of their business here in Central Oregon. Their plans to grow are not inspired by the need to expand or sell out, but instead to simply meet the growing demand as more people know about their product.
However, Bennett said that the company has also reached a natural stopping point, in terms of increasing production any further. “We’d have to invest in a new, much larger facility,” he said.
That not only poses issues with keeping things local to Tumalo, but it would also jeopardize their status as a small batch operation. “People respect the fact that we’re small batch, local, and don’t mass produce anything. It helps us keep things authentic to us and our community,” Bennett said. “There’s something about staying small and local.”
