EP-143 Louisa Spencer and Steve Wood of Farnum Hill Cider

This week, I chat with a couple that makes phenomenal cider in New
Hampshire at Farnum Hill. It’s all orchard-based from their own land at
Poverty Lane Orchards. In fact, it’s all made right there on-site in a
repurposed barn.

Steve Wood and Louisa Spencer have made a life with their cider, but in
recent years as the sort of pseudo-craft-cider boom has created both
momentum and vulnerability in the cider category, things have gotten a bit
out of whack. After all, what is craft cider if it’s not up to par with
orchard-based traditional cider? It’s a bit like starting up a craft beer
craze when you already have Hill Farmstead and Jester King around.

But that’s what’s happened in cider as these traditional orchardists have
had to start competing alongside some fairly mundane cider in canned six
packs. It’s a blessing and a curse. The size of the pie increases, but the
consumer is more confused than ever before.

Despite that quandary, Farnum Hill is growing. They’re building an entirely
new cider house next to the old barn, and hoping the future is as bright as
it seems.

I stopped by on a whim. I was simply in the area for a wedding this summer
and wasn’t going to miss my chance to visit one of my favorite cider
producers in the world. So this interview starts a bit spontaneously as
Steve expected a chat, and I quickly realized that he and his partner
Louisa needed to sit down and talk some things out. It starts abruptly and
ends abruptly, but that’s what oral history sounds like. And I treasure
this conversation.