Jessica Shortcake | Esters Blog

I made it back out to Raw Cider’s beautiful taproom today, located in the middle of Oregon’s wine country, the Willamette Valley. Raw Cider will forever be one of my favorites due to the care and quality that goes into every cider.

2026 friends trip? 👀

A green bottle half-full of Chilean cider sits in a basin of ice. The cider label says “Chilwe, Sidra de Manzana Chilota.”

My biggest takeaway from CiderCon is that I need to plan a trip to Chile asap. 🏃‍♀️ Their delicious cider has a rich history and the people I met were so dope. I really wish I make their inaugural Pomum Cup in July!

#chile #cider #cidercon #cidercon2025 #chileancider #chichas #pommelier

Jessica sits at a table holding a tasting glass of cider pointing at a sign that says Chicago.

That’s a wrap! So fun to connect with you all in person. See you in Providence next year

#cidersummit #cidercon2025 #ciderweekchi #cider #pommelier

In general I usually see ciders between 5 and 9 percent, though there are outliers. The US has weird laws so cider under 7% has different labeling requirements than above 7%. I’d say most big commercial operations stay around 6% or so

Having the time of my life at CiderCon. Hit me up if we haven’t connected in person yet!

#cider #cidercon #cidercon2025 #drinkapples #pommelier

Hope we run into each other!

Getting soo excited for CiderCon and Chicago Cider Week. See you all soon, friends! 🍎

They’ve got em on Vinoshipper! 😉

A glass of deep red cider sits on a table next to a bottle of Liberty Ciderworks’ Wakota single varietal. There are pine cones in the background and a colorful Mexican woven placemat underneath.

Wow, that deep red is all apple, baby!

Wakota is an American red flesh with decent tannin. I expected the red berries but did not expect the tropical fruits like banana and pineapple. Rounded out with slight funk. This is why Liberty is always a fav 🖤

Wakota SV from @libertycider.bsky.social

Store bought sourdough could never live up to homemade. 🥖

#sourdough #bread

Oh, that was definitely one of the first things I followed! Thank you for your service, my friend 🫡

We’ve been trying to take advantage of the nice weather too. It makes me worried for fires this summer though! (I have no idea if that’s correlated at all tho lol)

It’s refreshing to see more content from friends, instead of ads and brain rot 😵‍💫

You were def who I was thinking of haha!

Oh how cool is that! I just saw my buddies at Press then Press got your KB SV recently. I’m gonna have to get one to do a side-by-side analysis 🤤

Love leather and tobacco notes in wine and cider! I def do get those in Kingston Black often

Let me know if you taste it too!

For me, they often taste like flowers, vanilla, pear and tropical fruit. Tho I had one before I would have sworn was straight up grapefruit juice. 🤷‍♀️

Pears (esp perry pears) have a lot of sorbitol, an unfermentable sugar. Thus even when fermented “dry,” they taste sweet

Kingston Black always tastes like bubble gum to me, but I have a friend who says it’s root beer for her. What does Kingston Black taste like to you?

Featuring: Big Red Apples by Bauman’s Cider. Notes of spice, red apple skin, vanilla, red berries, and bubble gum 😉

#cider #drinkapples #pommelier

I had intended to be productive today but my plans have been thwarted and I’m now trapped.

#tortie #blackcat

Homemade ciabatta bread on a wood cutting board. It has been sliced to show the crumb inside.

Hadn’t made ciabatta bread in years and I’m pretty please with how it turned out. (Even though I know it’s one of the easiest to make!)

It’s sooo good (and you know how I feel about quince!)

IT'S WILD THAT PROJECT 2025 IS BEING IMPLEMENTED WHEN I WAS TOLD THAT WAS A HOAX FROM TRUMP VOTERS.

Crazy isn't it?

A tortoiseshell cat and a black cat lay on folded laundry on a bed.

It’s so nice to have help folding laundry. 🐈‍⬛

A hand with black nail polish and many silver rings holds a can of Dwinell Cider’s 2023 Russet against a white wall.

I thought this was going to be Golden Russet for some reason, but it turned out to be a blend of Winesap, Jonathan, and Roxbury Russet. Still really enjoyed it!

Russet ‘23 from Dwinell

a man talking on a cell phone while a woman watches Alt: SZA dumps a bucket of blue Gatorade on Kendrick Lamar as he talks on the phone.

Very stoked that SZA is joining Kendrick for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Gonna be so rad

I’m still getting used to this platform but it feels more like old social media with friends and less ads/brain rot haha

Hell yeah, dude!

a man in a military uniform is holding a stuffed animal and says these are my awards mother from army ALT: a man in a military uniform is holding a stuffed animal and says these are my awards mother from army

I legit snorted.