A is for Apples, Story shared on September 28th, 2018

“This is kind of like apple juice and kind of like Pepsi,” my six-year-old son says to me, cheerfully. He has just tasted apple cider from Kings Mill Cider, a new cidery not far off of Stirling-Marmora Road in south Hastings County.

It seems unjust to start the story of Margaret Van Helvoort and Kees Morsink’s proud new business with a reference to the non-alcohol, safe-for kids apple cider they offer when kids visit their tasting room. After all, they worked for eight years and put together 400 recipes before setting on a list of 10 ciders they would sell – each with an alcohol content ranging from 8.1 per cent to 10 per cent. But, this declaration has put my mind at ease. Knowing my oldest son – and presumably his toddler younger brother — will be happy means my wife Amy and I will be free to relax and taste what the cidery has to offer.

We quickly learned that Margaret and Kees aren’t just the owners of this interesting home-based Hastings County business; they’re great people too. As soon as we pulled into their driveway at 596 King Mills Rd., and Kees saw the four of us, he said “bring the kids in, we have kids’ cider.” As we sat down at a log-style bar they gave our kids apple chips to munch on, then got out shot classes for us to taste the adult-only drinks.