It’s cider mill time
September brings college football (good), school (jury’s still out), increasingly cooler weather (good) and the opening of area cider mills (wonderful). It’s a family tradition for us — we gorge ourselves on donuts and cider, try to avoid the sting-crazy bees, check out the donut- and cider-making processes and enjoy the stirrings of fall.
You should, too. It will be a field trip for you Detroiters, but hopefully you can find something relatively close. Here’s a list of some cider mills in Michigan. I recommend the Franklin Cider Mill in (you guessed it) Franklin, Diehl’s Orchard & Cider Mill in Holly or Paint Creek Cider Mill in Rochester. All amazing.
Edit: So forget the Paint Creek Cider Mill. It was a restaurant for a while but starting in 2006, it will house commission offices and bathrooms for the Paint Creek Trail. I will miss those donuts.
Edit #2: According to a comment below, Paint Creek is open until 11/30/05 and will reopen in 2006. Thank you for clearing that up, Ms. Steinheiser. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a hold of anyone from the Paint Creek cider mill when I wrote this two months ago and had only this and this to go on.
Unfortunately, the Paint Creek Cider Mill was shut down, and I’m unsure if they will open for this season (it’s one of those places that has new management every other year). Yates Cider Mill in Rochester is a good alternative, even though it tends to get pretty packed on the weekends. It’s best known for being one of the few remaining water powered mills, and they make these killer doughnuts.
There are also plenty of wonderful orchards up in beautiful Romeo. I personally like Westview Orchards, besides cider – they have hay rides, a corn maze and a petting zoo where you can feed goats (okay, maybe not so amazing, but fun for the kiddiez)!
Thanks for the info, Jeremy. I edited.
I get my cider mill donuts at Eastern Market all year. First thing I do is buy a bag of six for $2 and then I wander the market… Best darn cider mill donuts I have ever had.
I really need to find a place to go apple picking. That is the ultimate fall event.
I highly recommend Parmenter’s in Northville, on 8 Mile or “Baseline” to the suburbanites. Great cider, delicious donuts, and a wonderful selection of wines and miscellaneous goods. I’m not sure if they will this year, but in years past, there have been frequent hayrides on weekends. There’s also a stream where everyone feeds ducks, plus a giant hill that kids are always trying to climb. Way more than just a cider mill.
Also: a good apple orchard/cider mill guide from the Freep.
Paint Creek Cider Mill IS open and will be till 11/30/05, then reopening in September 2006. Please correct this error, as your blog is adversely affecting our business. Thank you very much.