Big plans in works at Rogers Orchards
New line of hard ciders launches, with mobile bar on tap
Rogers Orchards in Southington has introduced a line of hard ciders — peach, blueberry and cherry — and an apple wine, made from Roxbury Russet apples grown on-site. They are available for sale now, but they are just the beginning.
Jeff Rogers moved back home in 2021 to become the head cider maker at the orchard that has been owned by eight generations of his family since 1809, the year Abraham Lincoln was born.
“After about 10 years of being an educator in New York City, teaching special ed, then journalism and filmmaking … this is a complete U-turn, coming back to the farm,” Rogers said. “The cider invitation got me to come back. I wanted to do it.”
The peaches, like the apples, are grown at Rogers. The farm has 210 acres of apple trees, growing 20 varieties, and 30 acres of peach trees. The cherries — half sweet, half tart — and blueberries are grown at Belltown Hill Orchards in Glastonbury.
More flavors of ciders are in the works, Rogers said.
“The next two ciders will be a pear-apple blend, barrel aged, and a schisandra berry,” he said. “The third cider will be perilla leaf, which is a version of shiso. … It’s got a very interesting, almost sesame seed-like flavor to it.”
A Bottle Shop opened recently at Long View Ciderhouse at the orchard’s Shuttle Meadow location at 336 Long Bottom Road. It sells 750-ml bottles of peach, cherry and blueberry hard ciders ($15) and apple wine ($18). The beverages have an ABV ranging from 6.5% to 8.9%.
The Bottle Shop is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends.
In July, Rogers plans to open a mobile Orchard Bar, attached to a vintage 1954 International Harvester. His concoctions will be served on tap on a hilltop near the farm’s pick-yourown location close to Shuttle Meadow Reservoir.
A rotation of food trucks will complement the beverages. Visitors can sip, eat and behold the orchard’s panoramic views.
“To the southwest there is a view of Sleeping Giant. To the northeast you can see the Hartford skyline,” Rogers said.
The hard cider project was partially funded by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture’s Farm Transition Grant program.
The orchard also is planning a line of craft apple brandy, moonshine and spirits.
‘All the creativity’
Rogers is the brother of Peter Rogers, and the brother-in-law of Greg Parzych, co-presidents of the farm. They took over the farm from John Rogers in 2012.
Rogers became interested in cider-making after taking a course from Cornell University on making cider and perry, a variety of pear cider.
“In New York City, the only place I could make it was in my apartment. It exploded all over. Then I made it in a juicer on the countertop,” he said.
His wife also was enthusiastic about it. “She’s always been the foodie. She turned me on to the natural wine movement and all the creativity that comes with herbs and botanicals,” he said.
When the opportunity arose to return to the farm and make cider in the place where the fruit is grown, he couldn’t resist.
“Having the farm really allowed me to graduate to larger volumes very quickly. It’s what any cider maker would love to have, this many apples on hand,” he said.
For the hard ciders, he took the whole fruits and steeped them in a finished cider. “I’m trying to keep the character of the fruits,” he said.
He chose the Roxbury Russet for the apple wine because it is a “dual purpose” apple, good for both eating and cider making.
“It’s got a really high sugar content, higher than most standard apples like Macintosh or honey crisp. That will bring a slightly higher percent alcohol by volume,” he said.
He is learning more about cider making every day. He is working with Swapna Subramanian, a UConn student earning her Ph.D in ecology and evolutionary biology, to study wild fermentation.
“Wild yeasts can add complexity and flavor to ciders and to wines,” he said.
Their research is funded by a grant from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education to study wild fermentation.
He is serious about research, but Rogers also is enjoying himself.
“I play around with not only winemaking practices but a lot of these fun experiments you can do with distilling essences of things, concentrates. Just today I am going to play around with extracting essences off of apple peels,” he said. “I am curious to see what flavors I can make. I’m going all over the place.”