New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
‘A NEW ERA’
HOGAN’S CIDER MILL IS BECOMING A SOCIAL MEDIA SENSATION, WITH DRINKS LIKE THE ‘DRUNKEN DONUT’
“Idrove 3 hours for this apple cider and I’d do it again,” read the caption on a TikTok by user @chantillysongs, showing a compilation of scenes from a sunny day at Hogan’s Cider Mill.
The short video from Sept. 12 features highlights at the Burlington destination, including its outdoor display with piles of pumpkins and gourds in front of a vintage red truck, and what’s become its signature drink — a glass of hard cider, topped with an apple cider doughnut. At press time, the video had received more than 1.4 million views.
Hogan’s is seeing more and more out of state visitors in recent seasons, said cider mill manager Margaret Borla, thanks to the power of social media. It’s not uncommon for guests to drive from New York, Boston or even further away if they’ve seen the idyllic fall scenes on Instagram or TikTok, she said, or want to sample the decadent doughnut drink in person. She recently took a call from a woman in Virginia, who wanted to visit and was asking for recommendations for nearby hotels.
Borla was just over a year old when her parents, Chet Dunlop and Theresa Clifford Dunlop, took over the cider mill in 1992 — 80 years after Patrick Hogan, the son of Irish immigrants, started the production of apple cider there in 1912. Chet, a PGA pro and professional golf instructor, and Theresa founded the New England School of Golf on the Burlington property.
“We just fell in love with [the cider mill],” Clifford Dunlop said. Morris Hogan, Patrick Hogan’s son, ran the mill until he died in 1989, and two of his longtime employees, Wendell Gunn and Martin Szczesniak, taught the Dunlops the ropes of cider production, using the original press.
The Dunlops kept the original tradition of sweet cider, but also branched out to craft the hard version, and now offers several flavors of the 12 percent ABV cider. Varieties rotate throughout the year, with recent options like black currant, sour cherry, honey, pumpkin spice and Mackie’s Mulled, with a blend of mulling spices like cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg.
Clifford Dunlop credits her daughter with what she calls “a new era” in the business. Borla grew up on the property and even married her husband, Peter, under an arch on the grounds in 2019. (Peter Borla works alongside his wife and in-laws as Hogans’ logistics manager.) With an artistic eye and knack for marketing, Borla took over Hogans’ social media accounts, showcasing its picturesque setting and helping craft some of the now-signature drinks on the menu.
Weekends have become incredibly busy, Clifford Dunlop and Borla said, and the Hogan’s team manages crowds by manning bars throughout the venue. At the second-floor tap room, upstairs from the mill shop with bottled hard ciders, gourmet snacks and merchandise, guests can try frosty cider slushies, both spiked and booze-free. In the Red Barn Bar behind the mill shop, visitors can buy hard cider by the glass and flights, featuring four flavors.
An outdoor bar offers the now social media-famous Drunken Donut, a blend of fresh-pressed sweet cider and Hogan’s December Frost hard cider, topped with a cider doughnut, whipped cream and candy sprinkles in vibrant fall colors. (The Delightful Donut is available as a non-alcoholic recipe, with just the sweet cider.) Borla came up with the
name of the indulgent drink, along with another creation: the Blueberry Pancake shot, a blend of Hogans’ blueberry and maple ciders with maple syrup and fresh juices, crowned with whipped cream and blueberries.
On Hogans’ grounds, you’ll find picnic tables, fire pits and cornhole boards, and guests are welcome to bring their own food (but must carry out everything they bring in.) There’s plenty of space to sit, relax, sip and chat, but there’s another new offering for visitors: Drinks and Links, which marries the Dunlop families’ two passions: golf and cider. Guests can play 18 holes of minigolf while sipping their cider, with convenient apple boxes at each hole for players to place their drinks while they putt.
Hogans is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (with a limited menu); Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The full tap list is available Friday through Sunday.