Ria Windcaller: Award-winning Cidermaker, Podcaster | Craft Beer Columnist
500 episodes listed below
PRESS PLAY
Interviewing cidermakers, importers, orchardists, foodies, farmers and cider enthusiasts around the world. Let's delve into the semantics of cider…or is it hard cider, cidre, sidra or fermented apple juice? The truth is out there in Ciderville and we are going to find it. We toast in celebration of cider; As a libation, a gift from the gods, a taste of terroir, and a hard pressed good time. Ready to quench your thirst? Grab a glass and join this chat! See you in Ciderville!
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Cider Chat makes cider legible as craft, history, agriculture, and community through detailed conversations with the people who produce and appreciate it.
Cider Chat treats cider as a way into agricultural history, regional tradition, and the social life around a shared drink. Ria Windcaller moves between interviews, recorded festival conversations, presentations, and practical guidance, giving makers and enthusiasts room to…
An 1866 Iowa cider clipping could make your next pour feel like it needs a bibliography.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A Chilean cider talk that ties 400 years of history to an edible-forest approach.
At CiderCon 2025, Carlos Flores gives this episode a clear center: Chilean cider as a 400-year story with more than 50 cider houses, tunnel barrels, mills, and a regional economy behind it.
A patient cider history that makes the Midwest feel central.
Cider Chat uses Patrick McCauley's research to pose a blunt question: if Prohibition ran from 1920 to 1933, why did cider never fully return? The episode is at its best when it widens beyond a simple national timeline and into the Midwest, where orchards, cider mills, migration,…
A cider-and-cheese tasting that feels lived-in rather than lectured.
Cider Chat uses a New York City Cider Fest cheese tasting to show how cider, cheese, and makers can meet at the table without feeling staged. Rachel Furman and four Finger Lakes cider makers move through the pairings in a way that keeps the focus on details, from Northern Spy…
A barrel-room chat that makes perry's stubbornness feel part of the charm.
Cider Chat follows a visit to Oliver's Cider and Perry in Herefordshire with a calm, unhurried look at why perry can be so hard to make. Rio Windcaller and Tom Oliver move from lunch and barrel-room hospitality into the practical side of pears, harvest, fermentation, and the…
A loose, people-first cider-fest walkabout that stays strongest when it lets the crowd speak.
Cider Chat follows New York Cider Fest as a loose walk through a crowd that seems happy to keep talking. Rio Windcaller moves from person to person and lets the voices carry the episode, which gives it a plainspoken, on-the-ground feel.
A warm, practical take on cider and Thanksgiving hospitality.
Thanksgiving comes through here less as a menu than as a shared ritual, with cider setting the tone before the meal. Ria Windcaller moves from holiday banter into concrete pairing advice, and the strength is how grounded it stays: clear glassware, dry sparkling cider, bright…
Bourbon talk, barrel stories, messy good pours.
Bourbon reviews with memory, candor, and community.
Everyday life, thought through together.
This episode segment discusses the unique experience of tasting Cidra Natural in the Basque Country, highlighting its volatile acidity and featuring a seminar on natural cider production with experts Harit Rodriguez, Richard Yee, and Jasper Smith.
This episode discusses the legal restrictions preventing cider makers from labeling bottles with harvest years, impacting both producers and consumers in the cider industry.
This segment introduces a replay from episode 100 of Cider Chat, featuring Ryan Monkman discussing barrel blending and batonnage in cider production, as part of a series leading up to episode 500.
This episode segment introduces Liberty Ciderworks in Spokane, Washington, highlighting its wild fermentation process, tasting room experiences, and the upcoming interview with founders Jamie and Ben Pratt on Cider Chat.
This episode segment introduces a pre-recorded presentation from CiderCon 2025 featuring Jose Antonio Alcalde discussing the 450-year history, culture, and future of cider and chicha in Chile, including apple varieties and regional differences.
This segment introduces an episode about Humboldt Cider Company discussing Albert Etter's historic orchard and the prized Wixson Crab Apple in California's Redwood Curtain region.
The host introduces a solo episode exploring how the cider industry perceives itself and announces upcoming cider events in Chicago and Ontario.
This segment discusses Absalom Cider Company in Maine, focusing on their unique cask-serving cider method and co-fermentation with grapes.
This episode revisits a 2016 conversation with Randall Grahm, exploring his transition from wine to cider and early discussions on topics like indigenous yeast that later became influential in the cider industry.
This episode explores Asturian cider culture in Spain, where cider is treated as a sport, with a history dating back over 2,000 years.
This episode segment discusses the Sorbus domestica tree, its chocolate-like fruit, and related podcast episodes featuring experts Arnold and Ben Kunis.
This segment discusses creative naming challenges for Pommeau-style beverages in the U.S., including pronunciation practice and trademark considerations.
This segment discusses misconceptions about TTB label approvals not fully protecting alcoholic beverage brands from legal actions, introduces attorney Lindsay Zahn, and previews a focus on the French drink Pommeau.
A podcast interviewing cidermakers and enthusiasts about cider production, culture, and stories from around the world.
Carlos Flores brings Chile's cider story down to the orchard floor.
Prohibition is only the doorway.
This special winter edition of Cider Chat features a whimsical story told by Ria Windcaller and the Talking Palms, about a magical holiday party in the cider house where apples, pears, and friends celebrate with dancing, laughter, and cider.
Rachel brings cheese into Cider Chat.
Peri pears make trouble.
A festival mic comes back out.
November weather sets the table.
This episode covers the secondary fermentation stage of cider making, including techniques like racking and using clothespins.
A playful introduction to an episode about perry and cider, featuring a visit to the National Perry Pair Center and an interview with Phil Kester of 99 Pines.
An interview with Matilda Temperley of Somerset Cider and Brandy Company about the romance and generational planning of cider making and distilling.
The host discusses the phenomenon of animals getting drunk from fermented fruit as a lead-in to a conversation about cider fermentation.
The host introduces a cider dinner epiphany and teases upcoming episodes from a French cider tour.
A Michelin star chef from Normandy discusses the role of cider in fine dining, from poaching foie gras to creative pairings.
Ria Windcaller interviews Lisa Laird Dunn about making the Lisa cocktail and discusses the history of Laird's & Company distillery.
Interview with a Normandy cidermaker about red-fleshed apples and the cider-making process.
An interview discussing marketing and branding strategies specifically for the cider industry.