We Love a Good Collab

Driftwood Cider from Spoiled Dog Winery

Even before we had purchased the property that would become Orchard Kitchen, I knew that I wanted to have an apple orchard so that I could make hard cider. There is something very grounding to me about orchards; their longevity provides a sense of permanence to a farm. Indeed, in the West the establishment of an orchard was one of the ways that homesteaders proved they were there to stay, fulfilling the terms of their land grants. I started planting our orchard as soon as we bought our farm in 2011. I planted many of the culinary varieties I wanted to eat and cook with, but I also planted cultivars like Brown Snout and Ashmead’s Kernal specifically for cider.

Crisp, dry, aromatic and refreshing. A perfect summer beverage to pair with a meal at OK.

In 2025 we had the great privilege of working with Jake Krug from Spoiled Dog Winery to make hard cider from our harvest of apples and pears. Spoiled Dog is already our go-to winery for Whidbey Island Estate Pinot Noir; it is unimaginably good, and in our opinion the best red wine made from fruit grown in the Puget Sound AVA. Their Driftwood Hard Cider is another treat they produce from the heritage apple orchard on their Clinton property. Jake took juice that our former farm manager, Matt Ellison had painstakingly hand crushed and turned it into an absolutely delicious Orchard Kitchen Estate hard apple and pear cider. Having an Estate hard cider to share is the culmination of a dream that began 15 years ago. We will be featuring it on our wine list, bottled in 750 ml bottles, while supplies last.

Head to Toast to book you Summer Experience with us. Reservations available Thursday through Sunday. July 9 through the first week of September.

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