Lake Chelan Winery, Washington, USA

Who would have thought that a girl from Montana who makes her living as a barista would make the best damn cider in America? I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I went to Manson, Washington to meet up with Kailin Raible, the owner and cider maker at Chelan Cider. Kailin has an amazing warmth about her and a strong love of cider. She is limited in the amount of fruit she can grow as she has no land and has a few trees scattered here and there at neighboring orchards. But this doesn't get in her way of making good cider at all. Chelan cider has several different products, with two different product lines. They have a Chelan Gold line which comes in Sweet and Semi-Sweet, and also an Olde Tyme line also coming in Sweet and Semi-Sweet. I can honestly say that her Old Tyme Semi-Sweet was the best cider I have ever consumed in North America. I think it is not just the apples in there, but the passion that Kailin exudes that makes this product what it is.