Mondays, frankly, need saving, and nothing rescues a day from the cubicle abyss quite like the pear in all its fermented glory — whether in the guise of a pear cider or its more aristocratic cousin, the perry. Here’s the gist: Perry is the old soul, born centuries ago in the orchards of England and France, made solely from fermented pear juice, often using heritage varieties so tannic and stubborn they’d rather rot than be eaten fresh. Pear cider, on the other hand, is the modern shapeshifter — essentially apple cider sweetened, blended, or infused with pear juice — brighter, more easygoing, and less bound by tradition’s stern rules. The former carries the weight of Roman legions and medieval monks; the latter, the spark of craft innovation and a wink toward accessibility. Today, we pour both — from English orchard ghosts to Pacific Northwest pear poetry — proof that pears, in the right hands, are far more than just the apple’s bashful cousin.
Peaks & Pints Monday Pear Cider Flight
Samuel Smith Organic Perry
5% ABV
England in a glass — not the stiff-upper-lip kind, but the barefoot-in-the-orchard, sun-drunk, pear-perfumed afternoon kind. Samuel Smith’s Organic Perry arrives pale gold and sparkling, all crisp orchard air and the gentle sigh of ripe pears collapsing into sweetness. Certified organic, gluten-free, vegan — yes, it wears its halo, but it also knows how to flirt, slipping across the tongue with clean, dry elegance and just enough lush fruit to make you forget whatever tedious Monday nonsense you left at the door. Polite, poised, and quietly plotting your escape.
Finnriver Pear Cider
6.5% ABV
The liquid embodiment of that one golden hour in late summer when the air smells equal parts orchard and daydream. Built on bright, organic Washington apples, then draped in the gentle sweetness of ripe pear, Finrivver Farm & Cidery’s Pear Cider sparkles with effortless charm that doesn’t need to shout. Semi-sweet, clean, and just tart enough to keep you coming back, it sidles up, offers you a slice of pie, and convinces you that maybe — just maybe — this Monday thing isn’t so terrible after all.
Alpenfire Estate Perry
6.6% ABV
From a windswept bluff in Port Townsend comes Alpenfire’s Estate Perry — a hazy, golden hymn to the pear in all its guises: European, Asian, heirloom, with a sly 2% of bitter-sharp apple for ballast. It smells like the orchard’s quiet hour — pears still warm from the sun, woodsmoke curling somewhere in the distance — and drinks with a soft, conspiratorial grace. The haze is no flaw but a love letter to pectin and tannin, giving the sip a plush, lingering weight. Delicate, sessionable, and self-assured enough to make you wonder why you ever drank anything that didn’t come from an orchard with a view of the sea.
Yonder Mazama
6.9% ABV
Yonder Cider Mazama doesn’t simply pour into your glass — it drifts in like a wildflower witch from the high desert, pockets brimming with citrus zest and herbal incantations. Built on a backbone of sharp, sunlit apples, then laced with orange peel, lemon verbena, and the faint, teasing whisper of fennel seed, it finishes in a soft sigh of pear. Dry but not austere, fragrant without veering into potpourri, and strong enough at 6.9% to make you wonder if maybe Monday wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
