Photo via Facebook / Cache Cider
For years, musician Ethan Keller has entertained audiences in Milwaukee and nationwide. His latest venture, Cache Cider (2612 S. Greely St.), specializing in single varietal hard ciders, is born from an interest in the history behind heritage apples, along with a liking of experimental craft beverages. Keller is striving to have Cache Cider open around Thanksgiving.
Keller’s interest in antique apples was sparked by a PBS documentary, “The Botany of Desire,” based off Michael Pollan’s book of the same name. “They talked about heritage and antique apples, and how our country has a lot of apple history. Everybody used to drink hard cider,” he says, adding that Wisconsin also has a rich apple history. During the Temperance Movement, Prohibitionists advocated for destroying orchards, resulting in the loss of thousands of apple varieties. “That lost history really drove me.”
As a craft beer drinker, Keller tried Furthermore Beer’s Fallen Apple, a fresh pressed cider blended with cream ale. He later become a fan of New Glarus Brewing’s Apple Ale. He started liking apple beers and began trying ciders, but he couldn’t find one he liked, which set the wheels in motion to start his own cidery.
Keller says that his technique differs from most cider makers that fully ferment the cider and add sugar later to achieve desired sweetness. “I just do the ferment and let it be.” He notes that well-rounded cider contains lots of different ciders from different apples for a balance of sweet, bitter, sour and acidic notes. “But because of this lost apple history in U.S., people have no idea how many different kinds of apples are out there. I have nothing against blending to get well-rounded flavor, but when you blend them all together, you just obliterate all their identities,” he explains. “I would prefer to let people know what the apple is, let them know the flavor and let them like what they like before mixing it all up.”
Keller plans to offer four to six flagship single varietal ciders, as well as some blended ciders, honey wine and pyment—honey wine with added grapes or grape juice. “I’ve got some really interesting things coming out.”
Varieties Keller has experimented with include winter banana, which he says tastes exactly like a banana. He acquired the 20-Ounce Pippin apple from Barthel Fruit Farm, in Mequon, and northwestern greening apples from an orchard in Gays Mills. While on a road trip in New York, he picked apples there.
He plans to make a red delicious cider. “Not just because it’s the most hated apple out there and I want to show people it can be a good thing, but because it will be a very regularly available apple. If I can make a killer cider with red delicious, I can get red delicious any time of the year,” he says.
He sources apples from all over and experiments with apples he happens to come across. It’s an approach that may not always lead to consistent product, but Keller’s not too concerned. Throughout history, farmers have been affected by the weather. “That’s why I want to do single varietals, because every year you make the single varietals, it’s going to be different,” he explains. “It will have a different character every year because of the weather, the conditions and what’s available. It’s about what kind of apples I can get and what I’m going to make with them. People can drink it and if you like it, cool. If you don’t, then here’s the next batch coming up.”
In addition to the tap room, Keller hopes to get Cache Cider into select grocery and liquor stores such as Discount Liquor. As a musician, he’s made many connections in the restaurant industry, so look for Cache Cider on tap at local bars and restaurants.
For more information, visit cachecider.com.
