Number 6 Hard Cider

A startling lack of tradition

Those who don't know, make up their own rules. And that's a good thing in the case of Number 6 Cider. We're talking an orthodontist with some space next to one of his locations and an interest in spirits, and a couple of friends who've had careers in the tech world with a side of hospitality. An unlikely trio, along with other sweat-equity and financial investors, are putting out some pretty great ciders, mostly infused.

Twenty-five years of friendship and work partnerships keep Tom Todaro and Don Broyles in close contact. Tom's kids have a connection to Dr. Greg Vaughn's kids, an orthodontist (Leone and Vaughn) who owns a complex on Elliott Avenue in Interbay. He started a distillery in an empty part of the complex and has rum and apple brandy aging. At a kid's activity, Tom and Greg talked about the distillery and how it might connect with the craft movement, maybe create a house of different brands. Having done multiple projects with Don, Tom brought him in. Ideas swirled and in about a week, it was more than just talk. "It's a destination property with the lure of being tucked off a busy street, near a trail and rail line. It's awesome when trains go by," says Don. "It's not loud, it's a deep rumble. Bubbles in your cider vibrate, the hanging bulbs sway." Very Jurassic Park.

In their mid-40s and tired of traveling and tech work, a project that kept them local was appealing. A cidery wouldn't use all the available space, hence the taproom. Alongside the rail line, the building was originally used for rail loading with an open back wall and some pretty immoveable objects: a giant sequoia stump, a pre-civil war cannon lathe that weighs over 4000 pounds. A machine shop had moved the lathe into the building, and the stump is from a tree that fell on Queen Anne hill, according to Mike Allenbach, an electrician, builder of restaurants around town, and a sweat-equity partner in the cidery. "We decided to make hard lemonade out of the lemons we were given," laughs Don. "The stump is used as part of the bar and we sliced off upper portions and used them as table tops. The lathe is the base of a stand-up communal table."

They started creating a formula, selecting yeast, developing yeast batches, and branding in June 2014. "Our philosophy is to create an American cold cider, Washington apple driven. We're in the capital of craft brewing and apples-why resist? Cider must be 51% apple derived. Large producers will reconstitute 51% apple juice, add glucose syrup, water and natural flavorings. It lasts forever and withstands shipping; sometimes you'll see it for $1 a bottle. But often it's more caloric than a soft drink. On the high end, you have small batch ciders from heirloom apples, costing $20 a bottle. We wanted to be in-between, using apples available year 'round and in quantity, and charging beer prices. We like Granny Smith because it's high in acid. The peel matters as it provides tannins and pectin. Sometimes we'll get a crop of a single varietal that we use for a special cider. Those are in the taproom only, not in cans or kegs. Our apples come from a group of orchards around Grandview and are pressed there. Within three hours of pressing, the juice is here and we start fermenting immediately."

Appealing to all customers (cider drinkers are close to 50/50 female/male), they've created a social place where people can drink and talk. They added a back wall, had an artist paint a mural on the bar wall-done in one week with a hand brush-and put in a hoodless kitchen. They've gone with a train theme, the Transcontinental Tunnel Number 6 in the Sierra Nevadas took two years to complete, happening with "will power and a startling lack of concern for safety." The cidery happened faster, but with a startling lack of concern for the status quo. "Short of being illegal, we'll try anything," says Don. The tunnel brought people together and they hope the taproom will do the same. "We're in an urban spot, so we don't have the orchards next door or press here. But we're where the people are and only 50 feet separates production and taproom. It's a fast test lab. I love to bring samples of new ciders out to the taproom and get immediate feedback." Canned cider was launched in March and they went into Whole Foods Interbay on April 20, 2015. The taproom opened April 1 with six ciders and six beers on tap, plus a six-glass tasting flight. Currently they offer Tall Grass Bakery pretzels and not much else; the kitchen program is evolving.

Cider-wise, they offer True, their flagship cider, and Honey Ginger consistently, with a quarterly seasonal cider (Pomegranate is this spring's seasonal). The other three taps are always in rotation. You might find Stumptown Cold Brew Coffee Cider, Juniper, Tasmanian Pepper Berry, Watermelon, Hibiscus Lime, Smoked Jalapeño, Earl Grey. "Cider takes infusions well, like tea leaves, peppers, some fruits. Despite our experiments, our ciders are more than a novelty. They're very drinkable."

Tom handles sales/marketing, Don production/operations. They met while working in a food production facility and in 1993 ran a dairy, producing yogurt and cream, giving them a taste for food and beverage. Their work on www.hardware.com brought them back to Seattle in 2000. Don has run a hotel in L.A. and has a hospital operations background. The last ten years have been spent in medical education software in partnership with the UW Medical Center.

"We don't want to grow big and get bought. We want to keep experimenting and make this taproom, which is not really in a neighborhood, become a social place to hang out. It's not a place people will walk to, but we have plenty of parking."

Number 6 Hard Cider
945 Elliott Ave W, #201
Seattle, WA 98119
Tasting room contact: 206-588-2224

www.6cider.com

Connie Adams/May 2015