Two Broads Ciderworks owners, Morgan Murphy and Maggie Przybylski.
Two Broads Ciderworks
—Two Broads Ciderworks is a cidery in San Luis Obispo co-founded by two women: Morgan Murphy and Maggie Przybylski. They fell in love with cider and wanted to share their portfolio of ciders spanning modern, approachable ciders and traditional, mind-blowing ciders. Each cider made is a different blend, co-ferment, aging process, and yeast choice.
“Most folk have no idea how different ciders can be because they have only had one or two. We have ten ciders on tap, all tasting very different. Guests visiting our tasting room are constantly telling us how surprised they are about cider that can be still, pétillant, or sparkling, high in tannin, high in acid, and dry or semi-sweet. We are proud of the few awards we’ve won when we have entered contests. It is mostly for bragging rights, but it’s nice to know that our ciders measure up to international industry standards,” said Maggie
The tasting room has a very special, welcoming vibe with a Bohemian-Victorian aesthetic. Maggie and Morgan wanted to create something different, and cozy, where guests could explore cider, enjoy art exhibits, play board games, or just sit back and relax on the patio and enjoy the garden. They are proud to share their space with guests and support the community. The cidery features mostly women and queer artists on the walls and the bottle labels. The tasting room also provides space for non-profits such as Access for All, to have events and rehearsal space for small troops.
See Canyon, a historic growing region for apples, was first planted in the late 1800s and continues to produce heirloom varieties not found in many areas. Supporting local farms is a driving motivation for Two Broads Ciderworks. They want to make sure the local, historic orchards continue to produce apples. If apples are not purchased, the farms will not pick the fruit and the orchards will get neglected and will likely be replaced with a different crop.
According to Maggie, “We lease our orchard from the Land Conservancy and we prefer to dry-farm. The apples might be smaller, but the flavor is more intense, and it makes an amazing cider. We are transitioning some of the twenty-year-old trees to heirloom varieties like Pink Pearl, and Dolgo Crab. Crab apples, which are used mostly for pollinating other trees, might not be great to eat, but they make an amazing cider. We also do fun environmental work with organizations like Monarch Joint Venture, who just installed a pollinator corridor in the orchard, which will draw Monarchs, other butterflies, bees, native bees, and other pollinators. Such diverse planting can increase the health of an orchard and an ecosystem, overall.”
A great way to explore cider is by attending the Central Coast Cider Festival, an event created by the Central Coast Cider Association. Now in its sixth year, the festival is held at the Sunken Gardens in Atascadero. The event will be held on August 24 from 4-8 p.m. and includes live entertainment, food and merchant vendors, and for the first time a few craft breweries. Purchase festival tickets at centralcoastciderfestival.com.
Maggie is looking forward to the educational aspects of the event. “One of our goals as an association is cider education. We are developing a program for the Central Coast Cider Festival this year with speakers who pull the veil back from cider, the cider industry, and the challenges we face in our industry. This year we have partnered with Andres at En Fuego events to help us move the festival to the Sunken Gardens since we outgrew the former space. We are hoping to have thirty makers this year from all over California, and a few local vendors. We will have a cider shop again this year so the ciders that are hard to find in our area are available for purchase.”
Two Broads Ciderworks is located at 3427 Roberto Court, Suite 130, San Luis Obispo. Tasting room hours are Friday, 3-8 p.m., Saturday, 1-8 p.m., Sunday 1-6 p.m. For more information visit twobroadscider.com, or call (805) 292-1500.
—Lisa Pretty
