Laurie’s parents gave us a bottle of hard cider for Christmas. It’s made on Sauvie Island, near Portland, OR, and it’s the best hard cider I’ve ever tasted: truly dry, complex, loaded with apple flavor. A real adult beverage, unlike the many oversweetened ciders on the market. And the company has a sense of humor: their web site boasts that the cider is made from many varieties of “ugly little apples.” The top of the bottle is dipped in wax. Too cool.

Yes, it’s fair to say I like everything about this cider except the fact that it’s only sold in Oregon–and the name.