Tieton Cider Works is not merely another cidery with a scenic Yakima Valley address and a polished orchard story. This is generational fruit country translated into liquid form. Craig and Sharon Campbell are third-generation growers whose family roots in Tieton stretch back to the 1920s, when Craig’s grandfather first planted apples into Central Washington soil that would eventually shape decades of harvests. Long before cider became fashionable enough for sleek branding campaigns and mascots, the Campbells were learning the slower language of agriculture — pruning schedules, irrigation worries, frost threats, harvest timing, patience, and the quietly exhausting reality that exceptional fruit comes from labor far more than romance. From orchard to glass has never been a slogan here. It’s simply the family business continuing to ferment forward.
Calling Tieton “the grandfather of Washington cider” might oversimplify a broader movement, but there’s no question they stand among the foundational names that helped modern Northwest cider find its footing. Tieton Cider Works officially launched in 2009 after the Campbells began planting cider apples the year before, and Sharon Campbell went on to help co-found the Northwest Cider Association in 2010, back when regional cider still felt more like an ambitious side road than a fully paved industry lane. They weren’t chasing a trend so much as helping build the orchard path everyone else would eventually walk down. Today the operation remains proudly farmer-grown and farmer-made, still anchored in Yakima Valley fruit while continuing to stretch outward into lavender, honey, peach, strawberry, basil, barrels, herbs, and all the playful little side quests apples seem capable of inspiring once the harvest bins empty into imagination.
So today’s Peaks & Pints Monday Tieton Hard Cider Flight lands somewhere between orchard tour and late-summer fever dream. Hazy Strawberry opens with berry-stained ease and soft fruit glow. Lavender Honey drifts into floral territory without losing its footing. Bourbon Barrel Peach leans richer and darker, all oak warmth and sunset dessert energy. Watermelon Basil closes the loop with cool garden freshness and a flash of lime-bright clarity. Four pours, one farming backbone, and ample evidence that serious orchard people can still have a wonderfully mischievous side.
Peaks & Pints Monday Tieton Hard Cider Flight
Tieton Hazy Strawberry
6.9% ABV | Hazy Strawberry Cider | Tieton, Washington
Sun-ripened strawberry spills through this hazy little orchard dream with juicy abandon, the fruit soft and fragrant while tart apple keeps everything lively beneath the rosy glow.
Tieton Lavender Honey
6.9% ABV | Lavender Honey Cider
Wildflower honey hums gently across the palate as lavender drifts through in soft herbal waves, the apple base holding everything steady and clean rather than overly perfumed.
Tieton Bourbon Barrel Peach
6.9% ABV | Bourbon Barrel-Aged Peach Cider
Ripe peach unfurls slowly beside bourbon barrel warmth, notes of vanilla, oak, and faint stone-fruit depth moving beneath, while bright apple acidity keeps the whole thing balanced and composed.
Tieton Watermelon Basil
6.9% ABV | Watermelon Basil Cider
Cool watermelon arrives first with easy summer confidence before basil threads a green garden brightness through the crisp apple backbone, a flicker of lime sharpening the finish just enough to keep the whole thing agile, refreshing, and wonderfully patio-ready.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
