Halcyon Days Cider Company is an enterprise born out of love – the love shared between owners Larry and Martha Kriestemeyer and their passion for cider making. Indeed, Halcyon Days is full of intimate touches, from its convivial log cabin tasting room to the apple orchard maze to the Dream Catcher private seating area, created from the ruins of an old barn silo. Located in Natural Bridge, Virginia on the former site of a dairy farm, Halcyon Days has an eye-popping 20 hard ciders available for tasting, which is pretty incredible for a cidery that just celebrated its 6th anniversary. With so many to choose from, our cider-tasting task appeared formidable but nevertheless, we accepted the challenge.
The most difficult aspect of our tasting was finding a cider we DIDN’T like. We failed miserably. Both Mark and I enjoyed every single cider we tasted. Halcyon Days’ ciders are naturally sweetened with no sugar added, which suited my palate to a “T.” My favorites included Harmony (one of the best pear/apple combo ciders I’ve ever encountered), the honey and pineapple-infused Bee-Wilder, and the cherry and blackberry-infused Fruition, with its flawless combination of tart and sweetness. But the cider that really rocked my world was the Tango, a sneaky delight that starts off sweet and finishes with a slight sting of habanero. While Mark’s drier palate found joy in the Midas Touch, Beguile, and Jubilance ciders, his overall pick was the Willy Nilli, a semi-sweet infused with vanilla. And since the holidays are upon us, I will also recommend the caramel apple butter-infused Toasty Toes, it’s Christmas in a bottle!
Halcyon Days is dog-friendly, allows guests to bring their own food, and has a stocked game room as well as the aforementioned orchard maze. Most of all, it is a place to have simply have fun while enjoying excellent hard cider – what more could anyone want?
