My latest article for The Bulletin hit the stands a week and a half ago, and I wrote about the seasonal ciders from Bend Cider Company, specifically the company’s Guava Hibiscus Cider which was released for summer.

Bend Cider opened in 2019, with a cidery and taproom located in Tumalo. The company focuses on botanical elements in its ciders, and its year-round lineup includes Huckleberry Ginger, Mandarin Juniper and Acai Berry Spearmint.

This spring, it introduced a new seasonal variety, Guava Hibiscus, a combination with tropical characteristics.

“The guava idea originally came from a regular customer that is from Hawaii. He would always talk about how guava would bring back memories of growing up and kept requesting it every time he came in,” said co-founder Tammy Roark via email.

“Kelly (Roark), the cider maker had picked up some hibiscus around this time to play around with, thinking it could add a great burst of tart and a beautiful color to any cider. It seemed to be the perfect pairing with guava being a light flavor and color and the hibiscus complementing.”

Of course, with the changing of the seasons, it’s also a changing of the seasonals, so I included a bit about the fall/winter seasonal cider, Blackberry Ancho. It’s available on tap at the Bend Cider taphouse and should be in cans soon as well (if it’s not already).