Cider, like all alcoholic beverages, is experiencing a boom right now, with many makers across the country hastening to put their stamp on the alcoholic apple beverage.

Austin is home to a few of them � and two of these local cideries have made it onto Food & Wine�s �Best Places to Drink Ciders� list. Argus Cidery, on the road to Dripping Springs, and Texas Keeper Cider, south of Austin in Manchaca, have both received a worthy mention.

Of Argus, Food & Wine�s Joe Stanek writes that the cidery had trouble finding an identity at first but quickly found fans of quirky, well-made fruited beverages.

�When Wes Mickel applied for the first cider license in Texas, the question of whether his dry ciders were more like wine or beer came up a lot,� Stanek writes. �Sourcing a majority of apples from Texas and Arkansas � with other varietals brought in for use in special fermentation lines that produce as few as just 300 bottles � allows Mickel to press fresh juice year round.�

The cidery has grown its fan base with six-packs of Ciderkin and Ginger Perry, two of its most bestselling products. These originally came as 750 ml bottles but are now in cans.

Texas Keeper Cider is similarly doing small-batch ciders in its picturesque cidery and tasting room, as it�s been doing since 2013, Stanek writes.

These include a recent collaboration with the ABGB, as well as a cider and wine blend, Grafter Ros�, that is quite frankly one of the best drinks I�ve enjoyed all year. For a taste of something new that Texas Keeper is producing � this time, a honey and apple blend called a cyser � check out the Honey Festival at the cidery on Saturday.

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