After we arrived to Victoria on Friday, our first stop was to the gorgeous Saanich Peninsula Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse. The ciderhouse is nestled back into a lovely 10 acre farm, 3 acres of which are planted with a variety of apple trees, tended to with organic farming techniques, some very rare, and 7 acres of which are dedicated to existing forest land (with some herbs purposefully cultivated therein). The ciderhouse has a gorgeous view of the bay.
We began our tour with Kristen Jordan, who started Sea Cider with her husband Bruce in 2004. Kristen grew up with a family orchard, and Bruce with a passion for cider making. Together they decided to start their own orchard and ciderhouse, dedicated to preserving the heritage of many varieties of apples as well as taking this ‘humble’ beverage to new heights. We toured the cider making facilities, even watching them prepare some apples for the press.
Cider is simply a fermented drink made from apples, not from grapes, but the varieties you can make seem endless. I had no idea! It’s not just about the apples you use (and the endless combinations therein), but also the yeasts you use (or don’t use) and how the cider is then aged. Sea Cider believes in organic farming, and in embracing the local farming community. Their Kings & Spies cider, for example, makes use of apples gathered from local heritage trees in the area.
The tasting menu included 9 ciders, ranging from dry to sweet:
- Flagship – German-style, ultra-dry, fermented with champagne yeast. Ianiv’s review: This one and the Wild English drier are very similar to a dry white wine. I’m not a big fan of white wine so they were not my favorites.
- Wild English - using English bittersweet cider apples.
- Kings & Spies - made with a blend of local heritage apples. Ianiv’s review: A bit sweeter than the first two, with floral and pear notes.
- Perry – made with Perry Pears from North Saanich.
- Pippins - made with the Newton Pippin apple blended with Island-grown apples. Ianiv’s review: I think this is a lot closer to what most people are used to when talking about cider. It has a higher alcohol content but not enough to distract you from the sweeter fruit flavors. We bought 2 bottles of this cider for our upcoming baby shower!
- Rumrunner - This was a favorite of many in the review. It’s made from heritage apples, slowly fermented, and aged in rum barrels. Interestingly, the barrels are used for various other alcohols before they are used for rum, so they come well-seasoned! Ianiv’s review: Wow, this was different! The barrels give this cider very nice rum and brown sugar notes. This one will warm your throat on the way down.
- Cyser – This cider is blended with organic honey, making it more of an apertif-cider. Ianiv’s review: I expected this to be sweeter and to have a bit more honey notes. Not my favorite.
- Pommeau – This cider has the highest alcohol level (18%) and uses Snow apples, which date back to the 1600s. Ianiv’s review: Very similar to a brandy or sherry. We bought a bottle.
- Pomona - This cider is made by freezing, then slowly fermenting, crabapple juice. Definitely a dessert cider. Ianiv’s review: Very sweet, like an ice wine.
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We began our trip to Victoria bright and early on Friday morning by meeting at the Vancouver Coast Hotel. There, we met up with our fellow social media gurus (Rebecca & John, Duane, Anny, Karen, Lorraine, April & guests) and Danny & Sherry of Coast Hotels. The photos, videos and tweets started right away, of course (you can even find the hotel on Twitter) – see, here we are on the bus!
Credit: miss604
At the Tsawwassen BC Ferries terminal, we met up with a tour guide who took us through the Market where we all stopped for some much-needed coffee (at the Salt Spring Coffee stand, not the Starbucks one, of course. Mmm, mocha).
We were supposed to be sailing on one of the new Coastal ferries, but the schedules were flipped and we ended up instead on the Spirit of British Columbia. I don’t know if it’s because this is a Victoria-bound ship, but it’s not a class of ship that I’d known in my many years of traveling to-and-from Vancouver Island (way back when I used to live in Courtenay). Our itinerary had us down for a “buffet lunch” and I was pretty curious about that – were they going to put us in a private room, or what? To my surprise, I found out that several BC Ferries ships now have a special Pacific Buffet, in addition to the normal cafeteria area and snack bar. We sat down to a lovely brunch before heading out for a “BC Ferries Photowalk”, even catching a brief glimpse of some whales. Ianiv even had a little Marilyn Monroe moment. Cute.
On our way back from Victoria today, I also had a new experience – the Seawest Lounge. For those of you who spent endless hours sitting in noisy areas trying to read… it’s like a lovely little haven. The lounge, which you have to pay to go into, sits at the rear of the ship. There are sections with tables as well as a series of chairs that recline a bit (picture me there with my feet propped up on my suitcase). There’s also some pastries, coffee and things of that sort to munch on. A very relaxing place to be after a long weekend of activities!!
After we got to Victoria, we boarded another bus and headed to a Cider farm… more on that in another post!!
This weekend, we’re heading off to Victoria for what will likely be our last pre-baby vacation. We were invited to Victoria, along with other Vancouver bloggers, as part of the “New Victoria for New Media” weekend organized by Coast Hotels. We were in Victoria last year for the BC 150 festival with Duane and had a fantastic time – we’re looking forward to the same this year.
Our trip will begin on Friday, starting out at the Coast Hotel in Vancouver and taking us aboard the new Coastal Celebration ferry to Victoria. Our weekend will include a number of organized events, as well as some free time. Some of the things we’ll be doing include:
Our trip is made possible with transportation and accomodations provided by Coast Hotels and Tourism Victoria. We’ll also be having some of our meals supplied, including breakfast at the Blue Crab Bar & Grill as well as a lunch at Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub. We’re also being given a "Harbour Holiday Pass" courtesy of the Tartan Group.
Here’s the latest image of our baby! The ultrasound was taken at 18 weeks and 4 days. We’re now at 19 weeks and 3 days in our pregnancy.
So far the baby is very healthy and growing the way it should. All our pre-screen tests came up normal, so that was good to hear. We don’t yet know the gender of our baby. During our last ultrasound, the baby had its legs up high but the umbilical cord was running right between them, covering any chance of seeing if we’re having a boy or girl!
Since there’s no “medical” reason to get another ultrasound, we’ve decided to get the “entertainment” ultrasound. Basically they call any ultrasound that just looks for gender an “entertainment ultrasound.” This is one you need to pay for yourself. Given that, we decided to have fun and get the 3D option. We’ve booked a 3D ultrasound on June 22nd (23 weeks in) to see the gender of our baby.
Right now, I’m feeling pretty good. Some of the pain and discomfort I had during the first trimester has passed. I still have difficulty sleeping, not being used to sleeping on my side plus the added weight of the baby causing some pain in my hips. I get very uncomfortable sitting and working through the day, so that’s been a challenge too. I’m growing more quickly now, so we’ll see how that changes as I get bigger!
Most of my clothes don’t fit already, and I *hate* wearing pants, but the second trimester has been a little easier than the first. Though I didn’t have horrible morning sickness, the feeling of nausea triggered the nerve pain in my neck and that made me rather miserable. Now that that has passed (unless I get too hungry), things are going more smoothly.
Speaking of hungry, that “eating for 2″ thing finally kicked in. Whereas before I was simply hungry more often, I’m now able to polish off more per meal too. Trying to be careful with that.
My body has undergone a lot of changes with being pregnant, and they take getting used to. From my asthma getting worse to how easily my low back gets f*d up. Some things are great, like feeling the baby move. Every day is different and yet the time is flying by. My “nesting” urge is crazy, so we’re trying to wrap up renovations so we can prep the baby room.
I think everyone undergoes challenges when they’re pregnant, and it’s different for everybody. I knew that my injuries and pain would pose a challenge to the pregnancy, and so far that’s been true. In some ways, I’m doing better than I expected. I can sleep on my side without being in agony from neck pain, so that’s a plus! It’s still a challenge, but we’re working on it.
It’s crazy to think we’re nearly half way through the pregnancy. Time flies!
