Tim Wells (right) of Deep Roots Hard Cider accepts a first-place ribbon in the Spiced Cider category from PA Department of Agriculture deputy secretary Cheryl Cook. The cidery’s Apple Crisp is one of four awards the Sugar Run business has garnered at the PA Farm Show since 2019.
Story by Rick Hiduk / Photo courtesy of PA Farm Show
(Originally published in the Rocket-Courier)
Returning to the Pennsylvania Farm Show after a two year hiatus, the owners of Deep Roots Hard Cider in Sugar Run entered four ciders and two dessert wines this year, and left the event on Saturday evening with first- and third-place ribbons. They are a nice addition to approximately 60 other ribbons and awards for their products that are prominently displayed on the walls of their tasting room.
Tim Wells and his wife, Lynda, started Deep Roots as a hobby in 2015. Tim had a big interest in fermenting and blending fruits. Business picked up so quickly that Tim left his job of seven years at DuPont in 2017 to run the business full time. In 2018, the first tasting room opened, and the Wells found a dedicated business partner in Oliver Young. Lynda manages the books and looks after the couple’s three children.
“She does a lot of the background stuff, like payroll and social media,” Jim related, adding that Oliver is constantly on the move, seeking new outlets for their products.
Some people might be surprised to learn that Pennsylvania ranks sixth among 48 states and the District of Columbia with 47 hard cider producers – about half as many as first-place New York but well ahead of seventh-ranked Massachusetts. On average, the business grows about six percent per year, and industry analysts project more than $16-million in sales globally in 2023. Hard Cider was added to the PA Farm Show in 2018 to reflect the trend.
This is the third time that Deep Roots has been represented at the Farm Show. In 2019, their entries scored highly, but competition was especially stiff that year, and the big awards eluded them. Tim wasn’t sure if the judges from the Pennsylvania Cider Guild (PCG) were looking for more carbonation, or they just hadn’t found the right category for them yet. In 2020, they garnered second-place ribbons with both their Honey Pommeau and a fortified cider called Apple Port.
There was no Farm Show in 2021 due to the pandemic, and the Wells opted to skip 2022 while they continued to build the business. This year, the products that appealed most to the PCG judges was their Apple Crisp, which took the gold in the spiced cider category, and Honey Pommeau, which garnered a third-place ribbon in the fortified cider. Ciders and wines are judged well in advance of the Farm Show, and participants were informed by mail of their wins about a week ago. The Winners Circle event is truly a celebration, Jim remarked, and he decided to take 10-year daughter, Alice, with him.
“She’s never been to the farm show, so I wanted to give her that experience,” said Tim.
Deep Roots participates in as many as 80 festivals per year, mostly in Eastern Pennsylvania but also as far away as Gettysburg and Altoona. “We get online orders from those areas all the time,” Tim remarked. “We’ve definitely made a good impression.”
It’s been a good year for Deep Roots, as they picked up Best of Class awards with their Honey Pommeau, a peach hard cider, and other unique offerings at major competitions hosted by the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association and Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Association. Perry, Tim explained, is like cider but made with pears.
“We just made our first perry this year, but haven’t entered any yet. Their expanding line now includes two semi-dry perries made from Asian pears: “Nashi” – Japanese for Asian pear and “Aka” – Japanese for red – that involves an infusion of hibiscus near the end of the process.
“A company down near Allentown called and offered us a few bins of pears,” Jim related. “Being the fruit person that I am, I couldn’t say ‘no.’”
Tim is continuously experimenting to come up with new blends. Most of the apples are Pacific Rose apples, a uniquely sweet and low-acid variety derived from Gala and Splendour apples. Tim estimates that more than 90 percent of his apples are grown in Pennsylvania.
“Like grapes, every apple has a different flavor profile,” Tim noted. Blending them with other fruits results in “a wonderful finished product.” He doesn’t use grapes in production but is considering aging a batch of cider and a used red wine barrel to see what flavors develop.
The Winners Circle event was delayed a bit by an unusually long chocolate cake contest, perhaps indicative of a higher post-pandemic participation rate and attendance. But Tim and Alice had a great time. “She really enjoyed the rabbits and horses and the calf wrangling and horse racing later that night,” Tim related, adding that fudge and the carousel in the Main Exhibit Hall were also a hit with his daughter.
Deep Roots Hard Cider, located at 348 Back Road in Wilmot Township, has become a destination for not only its popular beverages but also for monthly parties in the summer and fall. “We’re sort of tucked into the hills up here, but we have a steady traffic flow when it gets warm,” Tim remarked. The parties offer free music and food and ice cream vendors and, of course, cider and wine tasting. Regular hours are Friday through Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm and noon to 6 pm after Daylight Savings Time returns.