Looking for a cider mill?
“Where are the cider mills in L.A.?” my transplanted friends, especially the ones from Michigan, would ask.
“Cider mill?” I’d reply. “In L-A?” Talk to the hand. (Uh, Michigan joke? Anyone?)
Well, my Midwestern friends, behold Julian, California, a historic little town that popped up in the mountains east of San Diego during a mini-gold rush in 1869—and never went away. Forget Apple Valley (a total misnomer, BTW), this is SoCal’s apple country. And the whole town—all population 1621, elevation 4226 feet, 7.9 square miles of it—is crazy over apples.
Apple pies, candied apples, apple cider, apple wine, apple butter. While there’s no need to be choosy—you’ll find a good version just about everywhere—my camping compadres and I fell in love with an adorable bakery called Candied Apple
and the dutch apple pie a la mode there. (Yes, that’s vanilla bean flecks in the ice cream.)
As for said cider mill, the main one—you guessed it, Julian Cider Mill—along the town’s sole Main Street is just ramping up for apple season.
We didn’t see any cider doughnuts there, but why do you need doughnuts when there’s all this pie?
—Jiyeon Yoo