By Jennifer Crain
I buy a jug of Lattin’s apple cider every year for Halloween, sipping it as I’m drawing on eyeliner whiskers or tying on a superhero cape.
In fact, our family brings it home all through the season: when we need a family friendly drink for a party, on car trips to Portland, or to go along with a pastry at a local coffee shop. Like many South Sound families, it’s a regular part of our lives. So much so that it’s easy to forget that it has a history of its own.
Carolyn Lattin says her family has been on the land where Lattin’s Country Cider Mill and Farm is located since 1956 and has pressed apple cider there for more than 35 years. Since they launched the business in 1976, they’ve slowly built the brand, going beyond juice production to create a farm destination centered around the fall apple crop.
It has, of course, been a rousing success. Carolyn and her daughters, Debbie and Sherrie, sell their apple cider to stores from Thurston County up through Snohomish County and throughout the Portland metropolitan area. They recently reached an agreement with a box store to supply the region with even more of their award-winning juice.
In the late 1970s, Carolyn Lattin and three other women started what became the Olympia Farmers Market to create a venue where they could sell their products. Lattin says she did so at the original location on Plum Street for about 12 years, five days a week.
“Standing there for fifty dollars a day, you know? It takes a lot of commitment to start a market,” she says. Lattin was also involved in helping with the Lacey market and says her company still sells at the Proctor Farmers Market in Tacoma once a week.
But as anyone who has been to Lattin’s Country Cider Mill knows, it’s not only about the apple cider. Lattin’s has a comforting presence in South Sound culture, one that has many families bringing a third generation out to the farm.
Dave Jekel, owner of Spud’s Produce Market, says a sojourn to Lattin’s is an integral part of his family’s Olympia experience.
“I have taken my daughters to the farm too many times to count. They love feeding the animals and, of course, the hot apple doughnuts,” he says. “It is hard to believe a 25-cent bag of feed can bring such joy to them. They love the experience.”
After a tour around the farm, many end up waiting in line for apple cider and perusing the coolers that line one wall of the barn. Inside they’ll find not only juices in a variety of flavor combinations, but a Lattin’s hidden treasure: frozen pies.
Think of your aunt dropping by to tuck something in your freezer for a rainy day. That’s the kind of home-baked treat Carolyn Lattin describes when she talks about their dessert pies.
“Our pies are made like you would make them in your own kitchen,” she says, noting that they make a special effort to avoid chemical ingredients. They make a small quantity of sugar-free pies every week and sweeten them with maltitol, a sugar alcohol.
When Dave Jekel acquired a freezer at Spud’s this summer, he set aside some shelf space for Lattin’s pies at the request of customers. It’s a good way to round out the store’s inventory, providing a ready-to-bake dessert option for home or a potluck. Outside Lattin’s farm itself, Spud’s is one of only three locations where their homemade pies are available.
“I have worked with Lattin’s Cider Mill for several years and have always been impressed with the quality products they produce,” he says. “The family is hardworking and committed to quality. It is just another example of a family business in Thurston County that is doing a great job.”
Lattin’s makes 24 varieties of ready-to-bake frozen pies and several flavors of apple cider (original and berry blends). Carolyn Lattin says they keep doing what they do so well because she loves her customers, and feels appreciated in return.
“It’s the people I’ve met over the years that have brought a lot of joy to me,” she says. “You know, you don’t take a lot with you when you go and I have the joy of (running) this business during my lifetime. I’m just the luckiest person in the whole wide world.”
2828 Capitol Boulevard
Olympia, WA 98501
(360) 915-9763
