OUR CIDER
Cider has a very rich history in the United States, by the eighteenth century Americans in New England were fermenting 300,000 gallons of cider a year but by the end of Prohibition, hard cider had almost vanished.
Cider is the missing link between wine and beer. It's fizzy and refreshing like beer so you can put down a six-pack while fishing with your buddies, but with an aroma and mouth feel sophisticated enough to bring to your in-laws' swanky dinner party.
We make our cider from apples grown in the Northwest. All our cider is made with real apples with other pure fruit juices, no artificial flavors or essences.
Meriwether cider isn’t sweet enough to give you flashbacks from freshmen year of college, but just sweet enough to transport you to hot summer days or to champagne powder on your favorite slope.
We’re making up many different kinds of ciders, including traditional apple-only ciders, fruit cider, barrel-aged cider, spiced cider, hopped cider, and botanical ciders! There is something for everyone!
Do you like beer? Great! You should try our hopped cider; it’s a delightful blend of cider and the same hops you taste in your favorite IPA and it's won many awards including Best in Show in the Hopped category at GLINTCAP (the largest cider competition in the world!). Feeling a bit under the weather? We're pretty sure our ginger cider will cure anything that ails you (not verified by any medical professional). We have enough fruit ciders to satisfy even the most fanatic fruit lover. Don’t like fruity beverages? We have something for you too, try our semi-dry cider. It's dry like wine with only a hint of sweetness and a satisfying fizz.
No matter what drinks you prefer you should give cider a try, it’s really delicious, trust us, we've guzzled enough of it to call ourselves experts.
THE LEADBETTER FAMILY
We found ourselves at a crossroads, all of us: Gig, Ann, Kate, and Molly, the Leadbetters. Gig and Ann were firefighters, nomads, and adventurers who climbed, skied, rafted, and hiked in landscapes all over the globe. Eventually they became college professors and had two beautiful daughters who they raised in Colorado. Kate and Molly wandered their way to Idaho attending The College of Idaho becoming ‘yotes for life. After graduation, they followed in their parents’ footsteps to become wildland firefighters, lovers of nature, nomads, and adventurers.
Eventually, the firefighter daughters and the college professor parents were at a crossroads at the same time. Gig the homebrewer, Ann the English professor bored-of-grading-papers, Kate the artist/entrepreneur, and Molly searching for a muse, each realized they could use a new direction. Where the inspiration to start a cidery came from is unclear: maybe from the undifferentiated cosmos, maybe from pure desire, maybe an unbounded love of good drinks, or maybe from aimless web-surfing. Whatever the source, it became an idea that caught fire. And fire is something they all understood. The Leadbetters took it up with passion and Meriwether Cider was born.
We make our cider with the same zeal we brought to scampering around the wilderness. Every bottle, every pint, and every keg is handmade, hand bottled, and hand labeled, so be assured that every one of our products has been handled by one of us, like, at least, a ton of times.
OUR LOGO
Our logo is more than just neat looking! It's actually got some pretty cool meanings behind it (Design Credit: Glenn Rummler @ Brand Creative).
Why the name Meriwether Cider?
Meriwether is named after explorer Meriwether Lewis of the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The Leadbetter Family is distantly related to Meriwether Lewis on Ann's side as well as Lewis being the first explorer to cross the continental divide into Idaho, so the name pays homage to both a connection to place and family.
Crossed Hatchet and Peace Pipe
This design is modeled after the 1801 "Indian Peace Medals" that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark carried with them as offerings of friendship and peace to Native American Chiefs they met on their famous expedition of the newly acquired Lousiana Purchase territory.
Lead Hammer
The middle piece of our logo is a lead hammer. This represents the origins of our last name "Leadbetter". Back in England, our distant relatives were "Lead Beaters" the folks who worked with lead. One of the most common tools for these workers was the Lead Hammer. So to celebrate our namesakes we've proudly added it to our logo.
Stars
The stars have long been used as navigation tools for adventurers of all types. We as a family have always and will always be adventurers so these stars represent our enthusiasm for discovering new places, getting outside, and following our hearts.