While giving my Japanese friend a tour of Toronto on New Year’s Day, we stopped at the Banknote Bar at the corner of King West and Bathurst to give him a taste of local beers. When I checked the drink list for ciders (I wasn’t going to drink a beer — blech!), I was pleasantly surprised to find one from Brickworks Ciderhouse, which hails from the northern edge of the city in North York.
Founded in 2013 by longtime friends, Chris Noll and Adam Gerrits, Brickworks prizes itself in its sustainability, sourcing apples from the Georgian Bay and Niagara regions nearby. The company also supports urban green initiatives through its Not Far from the Tree charity. It sounds like a truly local establishment with lots of heart.
I’d never heard of Brickworks Ciderhouse, so I was eager to try something new in their Batch: 1904 Premium Dry Cider, which memorialises the devastating fire that ravaged Toronto at the turn of the last century. I was a bit taken aback by the cider’s dry tartness, probably because I’d spent the Christmas holiday downing sweet, fruity ciders from Sweden. While I enjoyed the effervescent feeling of the pale, yellow liquid on my tongue, I didn’t find the taste of apple to be very strong. Nevertheless, the drink was refreshing, and with only 5% alcohol, it wasn’t too hard a hit for a weary traveller such as myself.
Although they weren’t available at the Banknote, I’d be interested to try Brickworks’ Queen Street 501 premium apple cider and the upcoming Stadium Island Peach cider. Both are purportedly semi-sweet and celebrate Toronto’s heritage, with the apple cider named after one of the city’s busiest streetcar routes and the peach commemorating a long-forgotten moment in the city’s sporting history. Single cans of the Batch: 1904 and Queen Street 501 are available at the LCBO for $3.15 and $3.00, respectively.
Given my role as tour guide to my visitor from Tokyo, I was proud to be able to add to my list of Toronto’s culinary landmarks. Brickworks Ciderhouse is a great local find which I’ll definitely be keeping on my radar.