Blake's releasing hard cider made with plums mistakenly found on Michigan farm

Limited edition Santa Rosa cider debuts in January

Santa Rosa hard cider is fermented on plum skins.

ARMADA, Mich. – The first release in the new Foraged Series from Blake's Hard Cider is a cider fermented on Santa Rosa plum skins that were mistakenly found on the company's Armada farm.

The semi-sweet cider is the first of six ciders in the series to be announced. 

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Cider maker Robert Lauer said the inspiration for Santa Rosa came from tasting an orange wine from Italy.

“It wasn’t until I stumbled upon our Mirabelle plums in our storage cooler that I acted on the plum-skin ferment idea. In addition to the prized yellow plums, we also grow quite a few acres of Santa Rosa plums and the skins of those plums gave a richer hue to the cider.”

The new cider was fermented for more than a month.

Santa Rosa will be released in limited quantities in January. Click here to see where to find Blake's cider.