Couple who couldn’t find the hard cider they craved in Wichita open their own cidery
Six years ago, Denise and Ken Gardner spent the summer living in Bristol, England, and they loved the hard cider they found in local pubs.
But when they got back to the United States, the cider they found was mostly the super-sweet stuff that comes in bottles, and that’s not what they wanted.
So they started making their own in their basement and sharing it with friends. Soon, they realized their hobby could be a business.
“We would just make so much of it,” Ken said. “We would make 100 gallons a year and just give it all away.”
In July, the Gardners opened White Crow Cider Company out of a little warehouse space at 1719 N. Rock Road, Suite 133, just behind Havertys furniture. It’s a production facility that also has a small tasting area where people can sample the many types of cider the couple creates.
Business has been steadily increasing, but once the calendar turned to fall, people really started seeking them out, Denise said. White Crow is the only cidery in Wichita, and it sells six different varieties in 32- and 64-ounce growlers.
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Though the tasting area is charming, with wooden tables and colorful bar stools, the space isn’t zoned in a way that the couple could serve pints of cider. Instead, they offer people a flight of all eight in one-ounce sample sizes so they can taste for free and decide which cider they like best. Some of the ciders are dry, and some are sweet.
But they always offer people who stop by all eight to try, and many have been making visits to the cidery a date-night activity.
“If I let people pick they wouldn’t be as adventurous in trying things,” Denise said. “Cider is kind of like beer or wine: They can all be very different.”
Wine that drinks like beer
Back in the days of the founding fathers, hard cider had a chance to become the official drink of America. It was a favorite beverage of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, among many others.
But during prohibition, many apple orchards were burned, and eventually, beer became the U.S. adult beverage of choice, Ken said.
It’s made, the Gardners say, by mixing apple cider with yeast and letting it ferment. Different yeasts mixed with different juices yield different results, and Denise — the main cider maker — puts her own stamp on the ciders by adding things like cinnamon, ginger, cranberry, oranges and Chai tea.
The result is an array of ciders that range from dry to semi-sweet to sweet, and people can’t really predict what they’ll like until they try them. Some people who drink only dry wine find they prefer the sweet ciders, and vice versa, Ken said.
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The Gardners don’t have an apple orchard, so they buy their apple juice. But all the recipes are theirs, and they switch the offerings up with the season.
Cider is technically a fruit wine, even though it’s usually served carbonated from a tap.
“Cider is wine made from apples or pears,” Ken said. “Some people think it’s beer, but chemically and legally, it’s wine because it’s made from fruit juice, where beer is made from grains.”
Many people are into cider, including craft beer drinkers and people who follow gluten-free diets. Unlike beer, hard cider is naturally gluten-free.
COVID changes the plan
The Gardners initially planned to open the cider business as a food truck they could take to fairs and festivals. But then, COVID-19 hit.
“Since we opened up during a pandemic, there are no events or festivals, and we had to change our plan,” Ken said.
Their space just off of Rock Road, which can be hard to find if you don’t know where you’re going, was originally meant to be just a production facility. But over the course of about a month, the Garnders realized it would have to become a tasting room and growler pick-up spot as well.
It’s worked out well, though, because they’ve been able to meet and spend time with customers and quiz them about what kinds of ciders they prefer.
“We want to get feedback from people and understand what it is that they like,” Ken said. “So this works better than at a festival.”
A taproom where people could linger over pints of cider is not out of the question in the future, Denise said. They’re always keeping their eyes open for spaces that they could turn into a little tap room.
But for now, they said, their business is ripening just fine.
White Crow is open from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. A 32-ounce growler is $10, and a 64-ounce is $20. People who don’t have their own seal-able glass growlers can buy reusable ones at the cidery for $4 or $5.
White Crow cider also is on tap at The Anchor and at The Artichoke, and the Gardners say they hope to get it in more bars and restaurants soon.
The tasting room is in a building full of businesses that sits just behind Havertys furniture. Its entrance is on the west-facing side of that building.
This story was originally published October 22, 2020 at 2:39 PM.
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