More than a decade ago, Michelle and Darren Cartledge, along with Jamie Ashdon, launched Humboldt Cider Co. Back then, they were brewing in 5-gallon fermentation vessels. They are bigger now — several of their fermentation vessels now are 5,500 gallons and they employ 18 people — but they remain wonderfully Humboldt-centered. I was assigned to investigate.
I toured and talked with Tom Hart, who became employee number one way back and soon found a love for apple trees. His favorite is the Wickson Crab. Hart has played a key role in bringing back historically important apple trees destroyed by the Carr Fire that decimated Whiskeytown in 2018. He eventually bought into HCC as another partner.
HCC now distributes throughout Northern California. Hart describes 2026 as the year that they will affirmatively seek to cross state lines and begin selling into Oregon and/or Nevada.
As we toured the new(ish) brewhouse, I noticed a pallet of cans called Cider for People. It is, as you might guess, a collaboration and fundraiser for local nonprofit Food for People, which collects lots of apples through their gleaning program, not all of which get selected for distribution to pantries and those facing food insecurity. HCC creates cider from those and shares the profits with Food for People. The release party this year’s batch occurs from 4 to 10 p.m. on Feb. 27, at HCC’s lovely taproom at 2901 Hubbard Lane, Eureka.
My research interests piqued, I chose to begin the tasting portion of the evening with that Cider for People. It’s light, dry and exhibits a slight, pleasant funk from wild yeasts that tagged along with the apples. We then turned to Gravenstein, one of Hart’s favorites. The apples come from a fifth-generation orchard in Sebastopol. Hart recommends bringing in a wedge of Cypress Grove chèvre to pair with it.
I got one of the few remaining glasses of the seasonal These Nuts, a holiday brew for which HCC teams up with Chrissy Gierek, a talented local pastry chef. Gierek, who now works in an office day job, returns to her culinary roots by baking candied pecans for the collaboration. If HCC is out of this lovely, caramelly choice by the time you read this, plan to hit the taproom around Thanksgiving.
One of the more complex, layered offerings is the Humboldt Blend. The apples are grown locally but their provenance is international, tapping into historic French, English and early American varieties.
Next up were three varieties of another house blend. Gator Boots presents a dry, simply good, unfiltered brew available only on site. Drysdale adds some back sweetening to this mix, making it semi-dry. Friends with Benefits invites Citra and Simcoe hops to the party. These variations prompted me to ask Hart how he sees people choose and what kinds of folks gravitate to which recipes. He replied that sweeter varieties predominate at around 60 percent of sales. As for the 40 percent who choose dryer offerings, wine lovers tend to go for the non-hopped ciders while craft beer types reach for hopped versions.
As we moved into the sweeter choices, I found the Strawberry to work really well, with just enough strawberry flavor to make its presence known. Real strawberries, from the fruit, can be ephemeral in brewing, the flavor fading after a few months. HCC addresses that by brewing this one seasonally in December and letting it run out.
We plowed on, with me struggling to maintain academic objectivity while feeling nicely buzzy. There was the Imperial Blueberry, a lovely ruby color, slightly sweet and, at 10.8 percent ABV, having appreciable alcohol. There was Passion of the Fruit, another of Hart’s favorites, which you can order at Larrupin’ Cafe, a place with a passion for passion fruit. And the Hibiscus Hemp, which thankfully delivers a nicely perceptible flowery flavor and not a ton of hemp. There was the popular Cherry, which deploys two fancy pie-cherry varieties called Montmorency and Morello. That tart cherry flavor proved to be nicely present.
My personal favorite has to be the complicated Chocolate Cherry, which takes the pie cherry brew and “dry cacao’s” it with chocolaty goodnesses from Dick Taylor Chocolate Co. My recommended pairing would be to order this cider and grab one or two of the brownie/cupcake things Humboldt Cider Co. sells to build your own nicely adult death by chocolate experience. Why live in Humboldt if you’re not going to indulge a little?
Throughout, there’s an emphasis on real ingredients. All of the fruit is fruit. None comes from extracts or synthesized flavors. This makes for better-tasting and more authentic products. It also adds variability. This shows up particularly in the Honey Cider, since Collette’s silly local bees just gallivant around producing honey from whatever good stuff blooms, so this cider varies substantially from batch to batch. I promise, it’s all for the best.
Because we’re not complete idiots, Hart and I saved the predictably palate-wrecking Hopañero for last. Word to the wise, either follow my lead or drink only this. If you figured out that Hopañero represents a portmanteau of hops and habanero chiles, the rest became self-explanatory. It is — I say this with respect — a nice punch to the tongue as well as the brain.
A few other investigative notes: You can order nonalcoholic cider at the taproom, and just last month, HCC received FDA approval to distribute their alcohol-free ciders widely. Additionally, whenever the taproom is open, you can expect a good food truck to be parked out front. Cap’s Food Shack and Big Island Kine are two regulars.
While I’m confident that Humboldt Cider Co. has a pour for you, as we always say in our arrogant academic journals, more research is needed.
Michael Kraft (he/him) consults part-time. In his free time, he is involved in the community in various ways and writes about Humboldt’s nonprofits and businesses and its beer/wine/cider scene. You may reach him at michael@kraftconsultants.com.
This article appears in Arcata Rises Up for Fire Victims.