Cider Chat28 Maj 2025

461 RAW Levi Danielson

Levi Danielson is the founder and cider maker at RAW Cider, based in Dayton, Oregon. With roots in the Driftless Region of Minnesota and a cidery nestled among cider apples and pears in the Willamette Valley, Levi's story is one of wild ferments, place-based cider, and planting for the future – both in Oregon and back home.

Levi Danielson Building RAW Cider

Levi's path began in microbiology and health policy before a leap to France introduced him to wild fermentation and orchard life. After interning and later leading production at Dragon's Head Cider in Washington, Levi launched RAW Cider in 2020 with méthode champenoise ciders that quietly matured during the pandemic.

Since then, RAW Cider has:

Opened a year-round tasting room on an orchard in Dayton, Oregon
Earned gold and silver medals for its first releases
Focused on native yeast fermentation, minimal intervention, and orchard-first practices
Planted and top-grafted cider and perry fruit in both Oregon and Minnesota

Pear Ambitions and a Regional Vision

Levi's passion for perry is central to RAW Cider. With 60-year-old pear trees, now top worked with perry pear varieties and wild seedlings grafted in the Mississippi River Valley, plus collaborations in Hood River, he's betting on American perry's future.

He believes Hood River could become the "Domfrontais of the U.S."—a new home for pear-driven sparkling ciders that mirrors the pear region in Normandy, France.

Listen to episode 313: Wild Yeast Fermentations | CiderCon 2022 featuring a panel discussion with Levi Danielson

Contact info for RAW

Website: https://www.rawcider.com

Mentions in this Cider Chat

European Union 100% juice movement – Sign the petition today! https://www.petitions.net/protect-european-artisanal-cider-and-perry
Totally Cider Tours
Inn on Lake Champlain

Keep #ciderGoingUP by becoming a patron at the Cider Chat Patreon!

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(519)

516: Tasting Time | Totally Cider Tour '26 - France

What does time taste like? Join Cider Chat MC Ria on the 2026 Totally Cider Tour through Normandy, Domfrontais and Brittany, where cider, poiré, Pommeau and Calvados become a way of experiencing place...

7 Okt 56min

515: World of Cider: The Baltic Region

What happens when a cider region has the apples, but not centuries of rules telling cidermakers what cider is supposed to be? Recorded at CiderCon 2026 in Providence, Rhode Island, this World of Cider...

23 Sep 51min

514: Doing More With Lees | Ryan Monkman

Lees are more than sediment at the bottom of a tank. Recorded at CiderCon 2026 in Providence, Rhode Island, cidermaker and fermentation consultant Ryan Monkman explores how cidermakers can put lees to...

9 Sep 53min

513: Still Cider, Single Apples and Time | Sowams, Rhode Island

What happens when a cidermaker decides to do less and give cider more time? Spencer Morris of Sowams Cider Works in Warren, Rhode Island, makes cider with more than 70 apple varieties, old mechanical ...

26 Aug 1h 6min

512: Plant the Damn Apple Tree | Special Edition

Cider Chat MC Ria Windcaller reads her August eCiderNews editorial, Plant the Damn Apple Tree, reflecting on entrepreneurship, uncertainty, abundance, and what an apple tree might teach us about the t...

24 Aug 10min

511: Hungarian Cider Comes of Age | Bright Cider

Hungary may not have a centuries-old cider tradition like England or France, but that is exactly what makes its modern cider movement so exciting. In this episode, Cider MC Ria Windcaller travels to B...

12 Aug 54min

510: From Barrels to the Pub | The People's Cider Co., Michigan

Most cider makers dream of expanding their barrel program. Jason Lummen did the opposite. In Episode 510, Ria Windcaller visits The People's Cider Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Jason explai...

29 Juli 59min

509: Mr. Plūme | In the Heart of Latvia's Fine Cider

Episode 509 takes us to the heart of Latvia to meet Dace and Māris Plūme, the husband-and-wife team behind Mr. Plūme, an award-winning orchard cidery known for both still and naturally sparkling cider...

15 Juli 1h 3min