[HOT LIST] Cider mills

Blake Orchards and Cider Mill. All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

For Michiganders, "fall" means apple orchards and cider mills. We all have fond childhood memories of heading out for a day in the country to one of the old-fashioned cider mills where we would drive through the apple orchards and pick our own apples, get our faces covered in sticky caramel as we devour a huge caramel apple, drink cider straight from the gallon and eat warm fried doughnuts while sitting on a picnic table outside watching the brilliant leaves twirl through the air, then afterwards trolling through the pumpkin patches to find that perfect pumpkin to desecrate for Halloween. The urban cider mills are nice because they're convenient, but a cider mill experience is supposed to be a JOURNEY (sorry Franklin Cider Mill, but you just never quite cut it), a full day spent an hour's drive out into the country with the full-blown agricultural experience. If you can't smell horse poop and burning leaves, you're in the wrong spot. THIS is what autumn in Michigan is all about.

#1 Blake Orchards Cider Mill Armada
There are three Blake Farms locations, but this is the ONE. This is a full-blown farm operation with U-pick fruit all summer and fall (as well as cut-your-own Christmas trees in the winter), pumpkin patches, a huge cider mill serving hot and cold cider where you can even watch the cider being made, fresh fried doughnuts in three different flavors, an assortment of different caramel apples and blocks of homemade fudge in a rainbow of colors and flavors, a whole market full of produce and jams and other goodies, a Cafe, a petting zoo, one of those inflatable jumper-things for the kids and the grown-ups who act like kids, nighttime hay rides and bonfires, and more we're probably missing. Having been raised on the original Blake's, a huge property full of childhood adventure and things to explore, every other cider mill since has been a disappointment. This is the real deal.

UPDATE: The 10,000-square-foot Blake's Cider House and Winery is now officially open for business! It is the first cider house and winery in Southeast Michigan and uses their own apples grown on the family farm. They hope to start distributing their hard ciders next year. Blake's Ciders are available in four flavors: original, gentleman's dry, semi-sweet, and autumn apple. The cider house will be open through the holidays.

#2 Spicer Orchards Fenton
We may have a sentimental attachment to Blake's, but Spicer comes in a close second. They also have U-pick fruit all summer and fall, fresh doughnuts and cider you can watch being made as well as other treats and sundries, a particularly beautiful property full of play areas and activities for the tots (like sand art and face painting), inflatables and train rides (in a REALLY cool train) on weekends, a farm animal barn, hot kettlecorn, pig roasts, pumpkin picking, bonfire parties, a corn maze, and if ALL that wasn't enough, they also have a winery. And YOU were gonna go to Franklin. HA! Pfff.

#3 Hy's Cider Mill Romeo
It's a small operation but you can still pick your own apples, and those metro Detroiters most in the know agree that Hy's has the BEST cider, and that's reason enough to visit. The store is also particularly cute and quaint in that country kind of way.

Pumpkin patch at Blake's.

#4 Diehl's Orchard and Cider Mill Holly
Diehl's is yet another adventure destination orchard and cider mill. Take a private tour of the facility during the week, enjoy dinner and an evening hayride followed by a campfire, or take a daytime hayride through the orchard and pumpkin patch (great for groups). There are tons of weekend activities for the kids (hay piles and pony rides; you can even see their turkeys in the birdhouse), and don't miss their annual Ciderfest every year to kick off cider season with a Fun Run and craft show.

#5 Yates Cider Mill Rochester Hills
Yates isn't quite out in the far-flung country, but it's also not a quick stop en route from West Bloomfield to Somerset Mall, either (poor Franklin keeps getting picked on). They have a cider mill, a fudge shop and an ice cream store; there are no orchards to wander or fruit to pick, but there is a cute little river walk with a swinging bridge and there are also pony rides and a petting zoo for the kids. If you have the cider mill itch but can't quite spare a full day to spend out in the country, Yates will scratch 'ya just fine.

UPDATE: Yates celebrates their 150th birthday this year.

UPDATE: Honorable Mention - Paint Creek Cider Mill Oakland Township
Previously not included on this list because they were not in fact really a mill, Paint Creek has since expanded their operations to be open year-round with an expanded food menu including weekend barbecues, and now also produce their own craft sodas AND started pressing their own cider for the first time ever this year.

UPDATE: Honorable Mention - Miller's Big Red Orchards Washington Township
In addition to selling fresh baked goods made from scratch daily in their expanded bakery and fresh cider made from their own apples, Miller's also offers U-pick apple and pumpkin picking, a petting zoo, and a corn maze. Miller's is also getting licensed to open a brewery and winery next year and will even produce spirits. Their farm store sells a variety of organic produce and produce from area farms year-round.

Bubbling under Franklin Cider Mill (Franklin), Westview Orchards and Adventure Farm (Washington), Plymouth Orchards and Cider Mill (Plymouth), Parmenter's Northville Cider Mill (Northville), Dexter Cider Mill (Dexter)

This post originally ran on October 18, 2011. It was updated on October 11, 2013.

Want to see more? Check out the Flickr set here.

[EID Feature] Dexter Cider Mill: Reaping the Fruits of Their Labor

All photos by Nicole Rupersburg.

The Dexter Cider Mill in Dexter (just west of Ann Arbor) is the oldest continuously operating cider mill in the state of Michigan. They've been written up in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Good Housekeeping. They've been named the best cider mill in Washtenaw County and even one of the top 10 cider mills in the country. But Richard Koziski and his wife Katherine bought the old cider mill 25 years ago simply as a way to keep busy and stay active after retirement.

"This was a long desire," he says. "Once I retired I knew I would need to keep busy. I was raised back east where we had a lot of cider mills and I always thought this would be a lot of fun. And it has been!"

The Koziski family has been running the Dexter Cider Mill for the past 25 years, and it is very much a family operation. Daughter Nancy Steinhauer works alongside mom and dad - who themselves at 75 years old put in 11 hour days on the weekends - and Nancy's husband and sons also help out, along with some family friends.

The inside of the cider mill itself is small, but has a very obvious warm family feel as Nancy, Richard and Katherine shout back and forth from the cider press to the bakery to the front store operations with what they need and what they're working on. The barn in which the store itself is located was actually built only 15 years ago, but the floor was made with reclaimed wood which gives it that old, historic feeling. Attached to this barn is the original barn built in 1886, which is used for storage (it's all open to the main storefront so be sure to poke your head in there and check it out).

The cider press is the same one that was used back in 1886. The only thing that has changed is the power source (from steam power to electricity), but otherwise the equipment is the same. The only other place in Michigan that has similar equipment is the Henry Ford Museum, where it sits on display. (They do offer tours of the cider-making process where you can see the century-old equipment up close.) The cider they make is unpasteurized (which many agree makes for a richer, more flavorful cider) and is made with a blend of 3-5 apple varieties to achieve a unique balance of sweetness, tartness and aroma. "We know the properties of each of the apples that we use and are able to pick from the apples that are available to produce a unique, clean cider with a nice aroma, spice and a balance of tartness and sweetness," explains Richard.

The Koziski family does own a small off-site orchard where they get some of their apples, and the rest they get from a variety of small farmers who each focus on different apple varieties so that they get a good mix of apples with different flavor characteristics. They also get some apples from "the Ridge," a rich agricultural region on the western side of the state known for having the best possible fruit growing conditions in Michigan. Michigan is the third largest producer of apples in the country, and most of them actually come from the west side of the state.

In addition to making cider, they also have their own on-site bakery where all the doughnuts and pies are made from scratch every single day. Katherine worked previously as a food technician and worked very hard at developing the perfect doughnut recipe so that they would be light and fluffy. "We're very proud of our doughnuts," Richard says. "We get a lot of compliments on them." The doughnuts have that cakey density with the crispy fried edges, the perfect doughnut to be washed down with some strong apple cider. They also hand-peel their own apples for their apple pies and made all the dough from scratch. Katherine actually wrote a cookbook (which was featured on The Food Network along with the Mill in 2009) called The Dexter Cider Mill Apple Cookbook, which is going for up to $115 on Amazon but is available at the Mill for only $18.

They also carry a variety of Michigan-made products in the store, everything from Michigan honeycomb and maple syrup to more unique items like boiled cider. The store itself has that country general store feel, which is really the ultimate appeal of the Dexter Cider Mill - seated next to the rushing Huron River in an old barn just outside of the charming small country town of Dexter, the Dexter Cider Mill offers the kind of old world countryside, quaint small-town Americana experience that really is very much a regional thing, and for many of Richard's customers it's an experience they've never had before in their lives.

With the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor being so close, Richard will see curious students coming in from China, Finland, Russia and Africa, who have never in their lives had this kind of old-fashioned Midwestern Americana experience. He loves being able to give them this experience, and show them the process of making cider and connect different cultures to local farming traditions. "It’s a way for me to connect with people and experience other cultures and have other cultures see this way of life," he says. "I think that’s really cool."

Because of their proximity to U-M, Dexter Cider Mill has an opportunity to connect with other cultures and educate people from all over the world that other cider mills just don't have. And while they aren't sitting on sprawling orchards, their riverside location also provides a unique, serene setting. (For the full experience, drive along Huron River Rd. back to Ann Arbor to catch the freeways - it's a beautiful drive down a curving road that winds through the country alongside the Huron River. The trees, only just now starting to lose their leaves, provide a canopy of color. You'll also pass two Metroparks along the way, which provide great opportunities for hiking, kayaking, and scenic picture-taking.)

The Dexter Cider Mill will be open through Thanksgiving weekend. Their season is 12 weeks long, and right now they are starting the "late season," which means the sweeter cider most people like best (the later in the season, the sweeter the apples).

Because the cider mill experience is something that's only available once a year for a very short time, people around here tend to have a tremendous emotional attachment to its nostalgic value. For Richard, it was a matter of taking that nostalgia and transforming it into the realization of a life-long dream, and a way to truly enjoy "retirement." "It's a lot of fun," he says. "There's never a dull moment!"

Want to see more? View the Flickr set here.

Yates Cider Mill

It's November, which means...I probably should have posted this a month ago. Ooops. BUT! The weather is not quite entirely vile yet, so you still have a few good weeks of valuable cider season goodness left!

Usually I like to make a day of it. Get all bundled up in cozy sweaters and head out to Armada with family members or a significant other to the original Blake's Orchard & Cider Mill and spend the whole day sipping cider, wandering through the U-Pick orchards, petting the farm animals. Many pleasant childhood and young adult memories were had here (NOT at the second-rate Blake's Big Red, nonononono). But alas, time did not permit this year, and I had to make do with a quick stop to a much closer locale.

For those of your reading out by the A2 way, you've got it made: the historic Dexter Cider Mill is but a hop and skip away. The oldest continuously operating cider mill in Michigan, they still make cider the way they did 120 with an oak rack (which is itself over 100 years old). This place is a taste of history to go with your apple pie, and a real agricultural and historical treat.

Alas, Dexter also proved to be too far away.

For those of you hailing from the counties Oakland and Macomb, you have a couple of nearby options. The Franklin Cider Mill is a favorite of locals, mostly because it is so closeby. Tucked away on this little inexplicably remote corner of 14 Mile Rd. and Franklin (just west of Telegraph) smack-dab between the Bloomfields and Birmingham, for many Westsiders it's only a few minutes' drive. I was introduced to this place when I lived out in West Bloomfield, and never did I imagine a genuine cider mill could be so close to home. I felt almost like it was a violation of my principles, standing in direct contrast to all that which a cider mill should be (far away, in the country, surrounded by farmland, north of 32 Mile Rd.). Plus, they don't have their own orchard, which to me was an abomination--what kind of cider mill doesn't even have their own orchard??? Suffice it to say, Franklin never really grew on me. I can't help it; my maternal side is from Almont. You can take the girl out of the country...

Which brings me to Yates Cider Mill. Yates is located in Rochester Hills at Avon Rd. and Dequindre, about a 20 minute drive from most of Macomb Country and the Troy/Birmingham area. It has been in the community since 1863 (though I don't believe continously operating), and here you will find all of the edible treasures you've come to expect from a proper cider mill: caramel apples, fudge, apple pies, apple turnovers, apple crisp, apple butter, apple syrup, apple jelly, dutch-apple jam, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich*, and doughnuts--all the fresh-made fried doughnuts you can eat, with their grease soaking right through the paper bag.

*Forrest Gump guys, come on.

They also don't have their own orchards, but they make up for it with a prime spot on the Clinton River and a lovely nature trail. They also have pony rides, a petting zoo, and other cider mill-y attractions to make up for it, so it almost feels just about right. It will do in a pinch, at least.

With the fiery fall foliage in full technicolor bloom, now is the perfect time to visit one of Michigan's many historic cider mills. While the benefits of making that half-day trip out to the country is well worth it (the U-pick orchards, the hay rides, the pumpkin patches), if it's cider you crave and time is your enemy, at least you have a few other options. For scenic value and greasy doughnuts, I recommend Yates.