Haykin Family Cider Starts Pouring in Aurora | Eater Denver

"A new cider tasting room in Aurora at 12001 East 33rd Avenue is run by owners Talia and Dan Haykin; they’ve opened a small 15-seat bar with an on-site production facility where they press, ferment, and bottle in a process that closely resembles sparkling wine production — “Once we started to treat it like making wine, that’s when the product started getting good,” Dan says. The ciders are made in small batches and often as single-varietal expressions using apples from growers such as Masonville Orchards (Fort Collins) and Ela Family Farms (Hotchkiss); examples include the Masonville Orchards Fuji with a “cotton candy-like” sweetness and clean finish, the Ela Family Farms Ashmead’s Kernel, an old English varietal that drinks bold, complex, and astringent, and the American heirloom Esopus Spitzenberg (one of Thomas Jefferson’s favorites) which yields a spicy, rich cider with hints of melon. A handful of ciders are on tap in glasses and flights in the tasting room, while more than a dozen are sold on-site in two sizes of corked-and-caged bottles; the Haykins also sell a small selection at The Proper Pour, Pearl Wine Company, and Joy Wine & Spirits. The tasting room — a few miles from Stanley Marketplace and the Eastbridge development — opens initially Thursdays and Saturdays from 5:30 to 9 p.m.; food is not sold but can be brought in or delivered." - Josie Sexton