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Cider has been around for at least 5,000 years, but it’s impossible to tell who used it first as a drink or cooking ingredient. The fun myth is that Julius Caesar came upon Britons who were brewing hard cider and brought it back to Rome, although there’s no real evidence.
Consumed the world over, cider is just concentrated juice from apples — but where “apple juice” is strained and refined with added ingredients, cider keeps the pulp with very little processing.
Just to clear up some terms, there’s apple cider (non-alcoholic) and hard cider (alcoholic). But you might also find “dry cider,” “cysers” (a seltzer-like drink), cider slushies, and many more variations depending on region.
And then of course, this time of year you’ll find apple cider donuts — which may be the greatest use of apples in all of known history.
The flavor depends on the type of apple that is used: Modern ciders use table apples such as Gala, Fuji, and Golden Delicious; heirloom cider uses unique apples like Russet or Rhode Island Greening; and then there are specialty ciders that ferment apples and other ingredients together. (Go down the rabbit hole with this cider style guide from the Beer Judge Certification Program. And if you want to learn how to brew your own, the Cider Institute offers online classes to get you started.)
Around Kansas City, you don’t need to go far to find great apples for the picking, ciders for the sipping, and donuts for the eating. Here’s where you should visit this fall.
Orchards and farms
If you want some of the best cider around, then you have to head to the source. Farms and orchards always have a lot to offer in the fall — you can find our full guide to fall festivals around Kansas City here.
Kansas City’s most famous cider spot is the Louisburg Cider Mill, which throws its annual Ciderfest on October 3-4 (14730 K-68 Hwy, Louisburg, Kansas). The event is free.
The cider donuts, coated in cinnamon sugar, are made fresh daily on site — you can even watch through the window as they get fried up. They're cake donuts with a springy texture and a nice tang that lingers in your mouth.
Their country store offers a huge variety of other cider products, including hard cider, cider spices, and apple wine, to name a few. And you can grab a hot cup of hot cider along with your donut, while watching apples get washed and processed at their mill.
Next up are the Johnson Farms Plants and Pumpkins (17701 Holmes Road, Belton, Missouri). Their cider donuts are also cooked fresh daily and coated with cinnamon and sugar, using an old family recipe that makes these cake donuts fluffier than most.
You can wash each donut down with a cider slushie or hot cider. And for those who are also ready for pumpkin spice, they will soon be introducing pumpkin spice corndogs on select weekends.
At the Historic Weston Orchard & Vineyard (18545 Co. Road H, Weston, Missouri), skip the middleman and select your own apples. Apple-picking season is in full effect until October 31. Here is a chart to let you know what apples are available and when.
Now let’s get to the donuts and treats. This is as farm-to-table as you can get, using their own apples to make donuts. You can buy them at the cider and wine barn, along with a great collection of wines and cider by the jug.
Cider Hill Family Orchard (3341 N. 139th St., Kansas City, Kansas) is another great place to pick apples and eat cider donuts. Baked fresh daily, these donuts have a slightly crispy outer shell with an airy center, exactly the way they should be.
That’s not the only thing on the menu. Enjoy pressed apple cider slush, apple crisps, and apple pie nachos. You read that right: Apple pie nachos. Keep up to date with all their events or check their Facebook page for daily information.
Donut shops
We’re big fans of donuts around here — don’t miss our previous Adventure! roundup on great donut shops in the Kansas City region. While many of the spots on that list will have a version of cider donuts for the autumn, there’s a few special contenders you don’t want to miss.
Baxter Coffee and Donuts (1729 E. Langsford Road in Lee's Summit, and 723 N. Main St. in Grain Valley) has a great selection of cider-infused treats. Their cider donut has a dense quality to it, and it really does taste like apple pie. You can also pair that with hot or cold cider, or for the truly adventurous, the caramel apple cider drink.
Owned by Temp Stop, the convenience store and gas stations around town, you can find Baxter’s donuts at any of their locations, but they are all made in-house at Baxter’s Lee’s Summit shop.
Sugar Llamas (8971 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, Kansas) is another coffee and donut spot to check out for cider donuts. A chain out of Oklahoma, the location in Kansas City plans to offer cider donuts in October, so put it on your list when the craving hits.
Hard cider
England remains the biggest consumer of hard cider, but here in Kansas City, there is a vibrant indie brewery scene that has embraced cider as its own.
First up is Boulevard Brewery, which has a great selection of hard ciders at the moment. They have partnered with Louisburg Cider Mill to offer an Old Fashioned Hard Apple Cider. And if you head down to Fringe Brewery in Lee’s Summit and Independence, Boulevard is currently their guest cider brewery with a blackberry cider.
Further on in Lee’s Summit, you’ll find Diametric Brewing Co. (949 NE. Columbus, Lee's Summit). This year, they are offering their Sangria Cyser, a combination of a seltzer and a cider. Crisp and bubbly, it’s made with Concord grapes, tangerines, and apples.
Casual Animal Brewing Co. (1725 McGee St., Kansas City, Missouri) offers its Viper in the Garden Cider. It’s a dry cider, which means there is less sugar than a normal hard cider, making it crisp and light.
If you want cider from Rochester Brewing and Roasting Company (2129 Washington St., Kansas City, Missouri), you better move fast. According to brewmaster David Bullock, every time he makes a small batch, it sells out quickly. They have made a French cider (made with a French saison yeast), an apple pie cider, and a cherry cider. Follow their Facebook page to see when the next small batch is on tap.
Finally, there is Cinder Block Brewery located north of the river (110 E. 18th Ave., North Kansas City, Missouri). They have apple and cherry cider all year long, and then a rotation of ciders for the rest of the year. They also hold a Ciderfest four times a year where you can get a flight of six ciders and try a bit of everything.
