The Best Cider in the Southern Tier

It used to be you could only pick up cider at an apple orchard or farm market.  Now they press cider all over the country and you can pick it up at any grocery store.

While the taste of cider varies depending on the apples used, with tart apples like a Granny Smith would produce a more sour flavor vs. a sweet Mac, Red Delicious, Cortland, Macoun (a cross between a McIntosh and Jersey Black) or my favorite, Empire, producing a more sweet cider.  I know most great tasting ciders use a variety of apples to produce the perfect flavor.

While many are partial to their cider being made from New York State apples, there are still many in the Southern Tier who like certain ciders from certain places.  Who do you think has the best tasting cider in the Southern Tier?  I actually put that question out to our listeners and Facebook friends last month and I received a gallon of responses.

The overall "best cider award" from my unofficial survey goes to Apple Hills in Binghamton, closely followed by The Cider Mill in Endicott.  Runner ups include Hollenbeck Cider Mill in Cortland, Keystone Cider Mill in Sayre, Pennsylvania and Fly Creek Cider in Fly Creek, New York.  It's interesting to note that not one grocery store cider made our survey of "Best Tasting Cider in the Southern Tier."