ALBANY, N.Y. -- Here’s a novel way to get people to try your products: An Albany hard cider maker is offering “prizes and privileges” to people who stop by its tasting room over the course of the year and try each of 26 different varieties.
Nine Pin Ciderworks of Albany is calling it the “26er” challenge, an obvious allusion to the 46er challenge, in which mountain climbers atempt to summit each of the 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks.
There’s another Adirondack connection: A portion of the 26er sales this year will go to the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK)’s Summit Stewardship Program.
This will be third year Nine Pin has conducted the 26er program. In 2016, more than 385 customers earned 26er status, and 669 drinkers tasted each variety in 2018.
Nine Pin worked with Samascott Orchards of Kinderhook to develop 26 new cider varieties and styles for this year’s challenge.
It starts Jan. 14. On that day, the first of the 26 new ciders will be available in the tasting room, 929 Broadway in Albany. A new cider will be released two weeks later, and every two weeks for the remainder of the year. Those who earned 26er status in 2016 and 2018 are eligible to complete the program again to achieve 26er Silver or Gold status. Sign up.
Participants must purchase a 6-ounce pour of each of the 26 ciders. Prizes have included happy hour discounts, T-shirts and glassware and more.
New this year, participants are encouraged to keep a journal, so they can note the taste, sweetness level, alcohol percentage and other aspects of each cider.
One of the goals of the challenge is to encourage drinkers to try different styles and varieties.
“The 2020 26er program will feature a whole new round of interesting and unique ciders,” Alejandro del Peral, Nine Pin’s co-founder and cider maker said. "There’s nothing like it in the hard cider industry and we are confident that for first-timers and returning 26ers, it’ll be well worth the visits to the cidery throughout the year.”
Kayla White, ADK’s Summit Steward Coordinator, said the 26er challenge helps "support summit stewards in educating approximately 40,000 hikers on the importance of protecting rare alpine plants."
“We cannot do our work without supporters and donors like Nine Pin,” she said.
Nine Pin CiderWorks opened in 2013 as New York’s first farm cidery, sourcing all its apples from the Capital Region and the Hudson Valley. Its products are available throughout New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
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Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
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