Brix Cider
Artisanal cider, locally grown
Marie & Matt Raboin
Marie Raboin and her husband Matt co-own Brix Cider in Mount Horeb, WI. Marie and Matt, who met in graduate school and have earned a master’s degree in agroecology, both had an interest in fermenting even while dating.
The Raboin’s planted their first trees in 2014 and continue to add - they are now over 1000 trees! They are trying out over 100 varieties of cider apples to see which ones they prefer. In addition to apples, they are growing cherries, pears, plums, apricots, and black raspberries which will likely find their way into a cider one day.
How did Brix Cider get its name?
In 2016, Matt & Marie tested 40 single varietal ciders, recording their brix, acidity, and tannin levels and completing tasting evaluations of each to see what each apple variety might bring to a cider blend. As Matt states in his blog; “one day the name “Brix” popped up, and we liked it. It was short, simple, and fun. Not only did it contain the letter “B,” but it also contained the elusive but super cool letter “X. Another thing that’s nice about the word Brix is that it’s a scientific term, and yes, we believe in science!” Brix is the measure of the concentration of sucrose by percent mass in a liquid. A high brix juice makes a strong, boozy cider. A low brix juice makes a thin, wimpy cider. Brix Cider look for apples with juice on the high end of the brix scale.
Brix Cider makes their cider using 100% Wisconsin-grown apples PLUS other Wisconsin grown ingredients such as raspberries, black currants, blackcaps, and honey. In fact, over two-thirds of the ingredients used in Brix Cider is grown in Wisconsin!
Basics currently carries Troll Juice, Pluto, and Cosmic Queen Brix Cider.
