Since the Seahawks weren’t in yesterday’s NFL Championship Games, did you hike, ski or snowboard instead? Cherries significantly improved recovery time after workouts. Researchers suggest that the powerful antioxidant compounds in cherry juice likely decreased oxidative damage to the athletes’ muscles — the damage that normally occurs when muscles are worked to their max — allowing the muscles to recover more quickly. Great. Sounds delish. Well, apparently cherry juice is great for slackers too, having shown benefits for those of us with diets lacking in fruit and vegetables (which is, let’s face it, is most of us). A single glass of cherry juice contained the nutrient equivalent of 23 servings of fruit and vegetables. Still with us? Let’s drink cherry-flavored ciders to make us believe our muscles will heal and our hangovers will disappear. Hobble over to our Proctor District lodge for Peaks and Pints Monday Cider Flight: Cherry.

Peaks and Pints Monday Cider Flight: Cherry

Superstition Super Station

5.5% ABV

In 2009, husband and wife Jeff and Jen Herbert were planning a Thanksgiving dinner in their Prescott, home when Jeff decided to create a beverage that paid homage to Jen’s family’s roots in Vermont. He busted open a home brewing kit she gifted him to make an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey with water and adding maple — mead. By 2012, the couple turned their hobby into Superstition Meadery, a mead and hard cider company. We currently carry Superstition Super Station, a delicious cherry, ginger, and lime hard cider.

Winsome Pomegranate Cherry

6.1% ABV

Leroy Radford earned his winemaking chops at Mark Ryan and Baer wineries before launching Flying Dreams Winery in 2008. The winemaker began experimenting with cider, and in 2014, he opened Woodinville Ciderworks, which recently became Winsome Ciderworks. Using only Washington apples, he now produces seven different cider flavor profiles, from Asian Pear and Oaked Chipotle to Pomegranate Cherry and Peach Ginger, which leads off today’s cider flight. Winsome Pomegranate Cherry offers nuanced pomegranate and cherry flavors on the palate, balanced and refreshing.

Tieton Bourbon Barrel Cherry

6.9% ABV

In 2008, Craig Campbell and his wife, Sharon, began experimenting with making cider from dessert apples grown in their 400-acre commercial fruit orchards in Yakima. Today, they blend American heritage, English, and French cider varietals with dessert apples to capture the best of what each variety brings to the bottle: sweetness, acidity, tannin and aroma. They call their cidery, Tieton Cider Works, and their Bourbon Barrel Cherry includes juice from hand-picked Washington State cherries and receives its deep vanilla and plum character from aging in bourbon barrels.

LINK: Peaks & Pints cooler inventory