Guelph, Ontario
Revel Cider was born out of a love affair with natural fermentation that Tariq Ahmed discovered during a summer internship living on an organic vegetable farm. During his downtime on the farm he played around in the outdoor kitchen and experimented with their old basket press, making naturally fermented pickles, mulberry wine, and in the fall came cider.
Through his own enthusiastic naiveté, the story of Revel Cider began. Falling for characterful native yeast fermentations, there were no rules to abide by – instead, allowing everything to ferment with the organisms indigenous to the fruit and the cidery, impressing a sense of time and place on each harvest.
The fermentations have always been oxidative, more out of necessity than anything else. They couldn’t afford stainless steel at the beginning, so they started with plastic and oak vessels. Learning to guide native yeast and bacteria with exclusively oxidative equipment has been an absorbing journey. Currently, they age the ciders and wines on tannic apple pomace and grape marc, protecting them from oxygen while infusing texture and salinity.
By allowing the microorganisms to breathe in their youth, and to slowly digest plant material as they age, a vibrant expression of life emerges.
These ferments are bursting with life and vitality. They are true expressions of the fermented fruit, herbs, flowers, and their skins used in each cvuveé. The availability will be forever changing. When you order – it’s direct. When we have enough for a full pallet – we will send you the cider.
~TIME & PLACE~
A Farmhouse Cider. Time and Place is the purest expression of the native yeasts from Revel. It’s bright and tart, a blend of apple and wild yeast activity. Long aging on crabapple pomace coaxes out quiet tannins and ripe orchard aromatics. Restrained yet elegant, this is the cider Tariq always wanted to make. 6%.
Time & PLace 24 x 355ml | SKU #388725 |$3.79
~MITHRAS~
Mithras is a cider made with an extravagant amount of Niagara-grown nectarines. Foraged sassafras branches for a soft sweetness, it’s a background character which lifts the fruit. Mithras has loads of nectarine aroma up front, with bright and lively stone fruit acidity. It’s dry and tart, with the Sassafras sweetness lifting the nectarines just enough to push it into the ‘fabulous’.
MITHRAS 24 x 355ml | SKU #499985 |$4.76
~OSTARA~
Bright and refreshing, this cider is aged on golden plums for 8 months before canning. These cans are just bursting with stone fruit aromatics and freshwater minerality. Zippy plum acidity evolves into a plush creamy note,
OSTARA 24 x 355ml | SKU #4741 |$4.76
~SKIN-CONTACT VIDAL~
We wanted to push the aroma over the edge so 10% of the blend is a nectarine cider. It’s wide and rich, a mixture of tropical and temperate fruits.
Honeycombs and stone fruit. Cream and brioche. Apricots and Werther’s original. This vintage is more orange than the last—grippy, tannic, plush orange fruits all the way through with a hint of salinity on the finish.
Skin Contact Vidal 24 x 355ml | SKU #406386 |$7.77
~SOIF~
To make Soif, Revel blended two spontaneously fermented ciders aged on cherries and strawberries and added almost one tonne of red wine skins for an extra month. It’s a red fruit bonanza. Maréchal Foch and Montmorency Cherries meld into plush textural bliss. Strawberry aromas waft over it all. The fruit acids here are bright and lively.
Soif | +474382 | $15.30
~COSMOS~
Cosmos is a blend of Northern Spy (66%) and skin contact Gewürztraminer (34%).
These two fruits combine to create a softly floral aroma: blooms of elderflower, chamomile and rose bushes. On the palate, it’s complex with dandelion and warmed honeycomb, along with petrichor in a wildflower meadow.
Cosmos | +474401 | $15.75
~OUD BLANC~
Oud Blanc is a blend of equal parts skin contact Riesling (2021), perry and cider (2022). It smells like sultanas and pink peppercorns, with underlying notes of peach and pineapple zest.
It has a distinct perceptual sweetness, like a perfectly ripe pear. The orange wine tannins are present, but not over the top; they counterbalance the perceived sweetness with a little kiss on the finish.
oud blanc | +474385 | $15.75
~WHIMSY~
Whimsy is perry with Montmorency cherries, and a couple sneaky strawberries.
Whimsy smells like strawberries and pear skins. Cherrys lay under our perception, peeking from behind the other fruits. Gentle acids, and the natural sweetness of the pears keep us coming back for more. It’s uncomplicated, and that’s a good thing.
whimsy | +tbd | $15.75
~BITTERSWEET FREEDOM~
Some apples are better than others.
7 years ago, we had the immense good fortune to stumble onto what has become our favourite apple. Hyslop is a crabapple variety that originated in North America in the 19th century (around Boston likely). We only know of 3 trees in Ontario, and they’re extremely biennial: meaning they bear fruit every other year.
Bittersweet Freedom starts with unique chalky tannins, which give way to eye popping tangerine juice, slowly followed by the farmyard funk brought forth by Revel’s native microflora.
Time & PLace 24 x 355ml | SKU #388725 |$3.79
~COAT JERSEY~
The Coat Jersey apple originated in the U.K almost 200 years ago. It’s one of those characterful old world apples that has just as much personality as any wine grape.
This cider has a specific petrichor aroma—like the morning air lifted from a campfire where you used old cider barrels as kindling. The apple tannins are chewy and plush, like an orange wine made from Chenin Blanc. Think honeysuckle, hazelnuts and bruised apples.
MITHRAS 24 x 355ml | SKU #499985 |$4.76
~SOMA APPLE PET-NAT~
Soma is a Pét Nat apple wine, made using cryo-concentration. By allowing the juice to freeze outside during the winter of 2021, they could then let it spontaneously ferment outside as spring temperatures rose. It was soon bottled early, in order to allow fermentation to complete in the bottle.
It starts with aromas of oregano, brioche, oregano and white flowers. Citrus-like acidity and bright candy apple notes shine in the flavour. Tart with just a flash of perceptual sweetness.
OSTARA 24 x 355ml | SKU #4741 |$4.76
~PIROUETTE~
Pirouette is a collaboration from Revel Cider and Cidre Sauvageon from Montreal. From Quebec: asian pears, elderberries, currants and apples. From Ontario: dark plums, gewürztraminer, hibiscus and violets. It’s a multi-species co-ferment, grown and bottled in 2 provinces.
Pirouette drinks like dancing through a dream of raspberry leaves, peach candy and pomegranate seeds, before falling into a soft summer flowerbed. High acid, and high energy.
Skin Contact Vidal 24 x 355ml | SKU #406386 |$7.77
~NO STONE UNTURNED~
No Stone Unturned is a semi-sweet, white vermouth built around quince, an uncommon fruit that tastes similar to guava. No Stone Unturned lives in the same world as Lillet Blanc, if the fruit was dialled way up and with half the sugar of the French aperitif.
Ingredients include quince, gewürztraminer, pears, apples, plums, golden glums, marigold, lemon balm, burdock root, and dandelion leaves.
Time & PLace 24 x 355ml | SKU #388725 |$3.79
~APOLLO~
Apollo is a rosé Rotburger we could drink all day. Wild fermented and aged on fine lees for 8 months. Apollo is uncomplicated and approachable; the definition of picnic rosé.
Violets meet Swedish berries in the aroma. Malic acidity lends a crispness, while subtle honeyed notes add width. The fruit is punchy raspberry mineral water meets plump honeydew, with a dash of dark plum flesh
MITHRAS 24 x 355ml | SKU #499985 |$4.76
~OSTARA: LILAC~
Ostara Lilac takes 3 years to make, starting with apples from 2021, golden plums from 2022, and finally, foraged lilac from the spring of 2023 was added before bottling,
The blend presents itself with a punchy lilac nose, crisp plum acidity and soft stemmy tannins.
OSTARA 24 x 355ml | SKU #4741 |$4.76
~OSTARA: CHAMOMILE~
Ostara Chamomile began as a wild fermented cider on golden plums. Revel’s native microflora chewed on the plums over 8 months, slowly releasing all of their texture and acidity. Then, they added organic chamomile flowers (grown themselves) picked one flower at a time over the summer months, for a richer petal infusion.
The chamomile has imparted a really lovely sweet set of aromas. Lightly floral with notes of tonka bean, amaretto, white cherry and peach pits.