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You can now add hard cider to the list of creations inspired by last year’s protests.
Today, Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider will release Please Move West, a whiskey barrel-aged cider. The name is a cheeky reference to last summer’s demonstrations against racism and police brutality, and a phrase frequently heard by protesters over the Portland Police Bureau’s long-range acoustic devices.
A collaboration with Westward Whiskey, Please Move West is the first of several protest-themed ciders that Reverend Nat’s plans to release. The releases will all be part of the cidery’s annual Tent Series, which puts out one-off, experimental brews each month. All ciders in the series will be available exclusively for home delivery on Reverend Nat’s website.
Going forward, many of those ciders will have names that are puns on Portland protest in-jokes.
“I’m not trying to beat anyone over the head with the names,” says founder Nat West. “I think a lot of folks had a shared experience on the ground, and so I just wanted to show a little solidarity.”
West’s participation in the protests made headlines last July when his 16-year-old daughter, Beck, suffered permanent hearing damage from crowd control munitions fired at point blank range.
Most of the ciders in the series were named by Chris Wise, a protest medic and familiar figure at last year’s demonstrations.
“He has a way with words,” says West. “And I wanted to make sure someone who frankly has more experience with the protest community than me approved the names. I don’t want to retraumatize anyone.”
The next cider in the series, due out in a few weeks, is named Cider for My Family, after former President Donald Trump’s frequently memed “soup for my family” rant.
There’s no predetermined end to the protest-themed series. According to West, it could continue for as long as Wise comes up with usable names. Recently, Wise suggested “No Justice, No Peach,” and West decided it was too good of a pun to pass up.
“Now I got to come up with a fucking peach cider to match that name,” says West.
The release party for Please Move West is tonight until 8 pm at House Spirits on Southeast Washington Street. Four-packs will be available for purchase online starting tomorrow.