Twisted Hills Craft Cider
Twisted Hills Craft Cider is a genuine Similkameen Valley original. Established in 2012 by Jo Schneider — a fifth-generation Cawston orchardist — and Kaylan Madeira, a first-generation Canadian who grew up on the family farm in Oliver, Twisted Hills holds a unique place in BC cider history as the first stand-alone cidery in the Similkameen Valley and the first cidery in British Columbia to produce a full lineup of certified organic ciders made entirely from estate-grown cider apples.
The philosophy is simple and uncompromising: the quality of cider will never surpass the quality of the fruit used to make it. In 2008, Jo and Kaylan planted their own acreage specifically in cider-variety apples — high-tannin, high-acid French and English cider varieties that produce the structure and balance missing from conventional dessert apple ciders. The orchard has since grown to 12 acres, including dessert apples, pears, and cherries, alongside heritage varieties sourced from Belgium with roots going back to the fourteenth century. Every cider in the Twisted Hills range is estate-grown, estate-pressed, estate-labelled — nothing is subcontracted out.
The results speak for themselves. Twisted Hills has won awards across North America consistently since 2012, including back-to-back Best Cider of the Year at the WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada — for the cherry-infused Midnight Cherry and the plum-and-apple Tangled Rose, a semi-sweet cider that finishes sharp and crisp with tart organic acids. The range spans dry to semi-sweet, single-variety to blended, and now includes craft spirits alongside the cider lineup.
The tasting room — the CiderDome — sits on a scenic 5-acre property just off Highway 3 in Cawston, surrounded by the orchard rows that produce everything in the glass. A picnic area and relaxed, knowledgeable staff make it one of the most enjoyable stops on the Sip the Similkameen Trail. Dog-friendly and wheelchair accessible.
