While repping Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits in Arizona, Jordan Zehner made cider in his laundry room. His father, Chris, would take vacations from managing winery sales to visit his son. Backyard discussions lead to a cider production business plan. I was fortuitous with Schilling Cider CEO Chris Schilling, which led to a production contract deal and the launch of Incline Cider Company in 2015. The Auburn-based cidery uses 100 percent fresh pressed apples, no added sugar, and no carbonated water, and the result is balanced ciders that are not too sweet and super flavorful. In 2019, they opened the Incline Cider House in Tacoma’s Historic Brewery District. The traditional-style bar allows a true cider experience by offering 16 tap handles of eight to 10 Incline ciders and additional rotating Washington and Northwest ciders. As Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week 2025 finale and a palate cleanser, Peaks & Pints presents a mini–Incline Cider tap takeover with a flight called Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week Flight: Incline Cider. Read the history of Incline Cider here.
Peaks & Pints Tacoma Beer Week Flight: Incline Cider
Incline Little Hazy Honeycrisp
5% ABV
Incline Little Hazy Honeycrisp, formerly Beare’s Original Haze, is fermented with Pacific Northwest apples, showcasing the prized Honeycrisp. The result is a light, hazy, refreshing, and full-flavored cider with subtle sweetness and citrus notes.
Incline Marionberry
6.5% ABV
It’s a cross between the Chehalem and Olallie blackberries. It has a dark red to black color, medium-sized seeds, and an average weight of 5 grams. The flavor is more decadent than a regular blackberry, so it has been dubbed “the Cabernet of blackberries.” It’s the marionberry. Incline Cider’s most popular cider, Marionberry, pours a dark purple with an inviting dark fruit nose. The fruit-forward cider has a tart finish that keeps it balanced.
Incline Blood Orange
6.5% ABV
“If you haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing a blood orange, I highly recommend it,” says Peaks and Pints bartender Nicole Allen. “As the name suggests, blood oranges are red, sometimes in splotches on the outside but definitely on the inside. The concentration of the red inside depends on the orange and growing conditions. Squeezing them is when you truly understand where the “blood” reference comes from: the juice resembles the ruby red of cranberry instead of the yellowish tone of orange juice. I’m a fan of Incline Cider. Their Blood Orange cider tastes like juicy blood orange plus citrus notes with a touch of tart.”
Incline White Peach
6.9% ABV
From the outside, yellow and white peaches are distinguished by their skin color — deep yellow with a red or pink blush for the former versus pale and pink for the latter. Inside, the golden flesh of the yellow peach is more acidic, with a tartness that mellows as the peach ripens and softens. White-fleshed peaches are lower in acid and taste sweet, whether firm or soft. White peaches were also more delicate and easily bruised, which kept them from being sold in most stores until the 1980s when hardier varieties were developed. According to Russ Parsons in How to Pick a Peach, older varieties of white peaches (and nectarines) had a bit of tang to balance the sugar, but the ones sold today are more uniformly sweet. Incline’s White Peach is sweet, indeed, but not too sweet. The peach flavor does shine, though.
Incline Cider Basecamp Proctor
6.9% ABV
Introducing Basecamp Proctor — the new Peaks & Pints house cider crafted by local cidery Incline Cider. We tapped Basecamp Proctor at our 8th Anniversary Party on Nov. 1, and it will remain on Tap #7 for an entire year. Made with an iconic blend of their favorite Pacific Northwest-grown apples — Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp, Red Delicious, and Braeburn — Basecamp Proctor packs layers of bold, juicy apple flavor into every pint. It’s dry, bright, and refreshing.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
