Consumed by everyone from wealthy landowners to day laborers, cider was the most common beverage in early America. Much of it was made simply to be drunk, but a few Americans, like Washington and Jefferson, tried to create something truly special. We will explore the range of American cider culture from earliest settlement to the 1790s and see how cider was so ingrained in American culture that even the early Temperance movement thought it was safe.

Co-sponsored by the Hopewell Museum, the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, and the Hopewell Public Library.

About the Speaker

For over twenty years Mark A. Turdo, historian and museum professional, has been researching and recreating historic alcoholic cider. He is especially interested in early American cider and cider culture. In 2013 he began the Pommel Cyder blog, where he shares his adventures in cider research and his experiments in cidermaking. Turdo has shared his cider research at several cider events, cideries, and museums, including the Pennsylvania Cider Fest, Pour the Core Philadelphia, Philadelphia Cider Week, Pennsbury Manor, the Sigal Museum, Manoff Cidery, and Ploughman Ciders.