TELL US YOUR NAME, YOUR CIDERY NAME, AND A BRIEF INTRODUCTION.
Sapsucker Farms Yellow Belly Cidery is owned by Jim & Debbie Morrison. We own and operate a diverse certified organic farm and cidery located in Quamba, Minnesota (yes, there really is a Quamba Minnesota) which is 70 miles north of the Twin Cities near Mora.
WHAT DO YOU FIND TO BE THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT CIDER?
Cider is such a refreshing beverage in general, but what is fun about making cider is the versatility. All of our ciders flavors are made from ingredients that are grown on our farm (ginger, lemon basil, cayenne peppers, wildflowers) and it’s fun experimenting with different crops to infuse into the cider. If we don’t grow it ourselves, then we work with a local farmer who does grow it, such as cranberries, which we source from a Wisconsin farmer.
“ All of our ciders flavors are made from ingredients that are grown on our farm (ginger, lemon basil, cayenne peppers, wildflowers).”
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WISH EVERYONE IN MINNESOTA KNEW ABOUT CIDER?
Cider is not beer. Nor is it “cider beer.” Cider is actually a wine, since it is a beverage that is made from fermented fruit juice. In this case, the fruit is apples, not grapes.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR CIDERY’S HISTORY. WHEN WERE YOU FOUNDED? WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO MAKE CIDER?
We admit that starting a cidery was never in our long term plans. In fact, being farmers was also never anything we planned. But in 1997 while living in the cities, we bought a 172-acre piece of land. We camped on the weekends for 3 years and eventually decided to build a house and move to Quamba in 2000.
Over the course of the past 20 years we fell in love with the land, and just started doing different farm things: making maple syrup, (thus the name Sapsucker Farms), native prairie restoration, honey bees, growing vegetables and herbs and running a CSA, adding a flock of laying hens, starting an apple orchard and pressing apples for fresh juice. Back in about 2012 when we starting pressing apples, we met Steve Hance and Colin Post (founders of Number 12 Cider) who introduced us to making hard cider, and inspired us to give it a try. Then in 2015 we launched Yellow Belly cider which is now distributed in six states: Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah.
In 2018 we built the 80’ x 80’ cider barn, where we now have a tasting room, performance stage, and lots of room for family fun.
SPREAD THE LOVE… WHAT CIDER WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FROM ANOTHER MN CIDERY?
I suggest getting yourself an Adventure Card and go on the road to visit as many Minnesota cideries as possible. Personally, I think all of the cideries make some really wonderful ciders. But what really makes the ciders special are the stories behind them all.
WHERE CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU ONLINE?
@SapsuckerFarms is the social media handle for all of our channels: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, as well as our website sapsuckerfarms.com