We’re so excited to announce that we're officially bringing back a Drifter favorite seasonal flavor: Spiced Apple Cider! Move over, pumpkin, this fall is all about the apple.

For years, our community of Drifters has asked us to make a Spindrift Apple, and last year we finally did it! We hope you’ll join us in welcoming the 2023 autumnal season in our way: with delicious seasonal fruit – apples – and just the right amount of bubbles. That's right, Spiced Apple Cider has made a limited comeback!

What better way to mark the season than apple cider you ask? Well, making it with real-squeezed fruit and delightfully bubbly, for starters. Spiced Apple Cider is here for a limited time, and we’re so excited to bring it back for the Drifter fam.  

“Apples are effortlessly delicious. Crisp, biting, sweet, and amazing in both sweet and savory recipes. We were looking for a way to capture the spirit of apple-picking in a can. Then added hint of cinnamon spice adds complexity and depth, “ said Caitlin Burke, of our Innovation Team.

“Personally, I can’t wait for people to try it. This is the first flavor we’ve added spice to - which is an ingredient we’ve been testing for years. It’s all very top secret but let’s just say - innovation is getting even more creative these days. The community keeps asking for more creative flavors from us and we love the challenge. Stay tuned for more. That’s all I can say.” 

We agree with Caitlin wholeheartedly—there’s something about popping open a can of Spindrift Spiced Apple Cider in the fall that brings us a small moment of joy that’s truly reminiscent of home. This unique Spindrift flavor challenges people to rediscover how good and authentic a fall beverage can be, without the added sugar and heavy concentrates.  

The real taste of Fall: Spiced Apple Cider's Origins

Apple cider: it’s a staple this time of year, just as apple picking is synonymous with the season. The season of wandering through sprawling orchards ready to pick ripe fruit from rows upon rows of apple trees, then grab their apple cider from the farmstand on their way home.

The apple is an icon and for good reason: the crisp snap it makes when you bite into it, the juicy mouthful, the sweet scent…it’s an entire experience unique right to the core. 

As an ingredient, apples are everywhere and often used as filler or sweetener, but we couldn’t find the beauty of the fruit itself in beverage products at the supermarket. Real, crisp, unsweetened apples are perfect as they are and not meant to be hidden. 

It was love at first bite when we tasted freshly-picked apples from an orchard in the Pacific Northwest and it was then that we knew what we had to do. Instead of throwing apple into the ensemble, we’d put it front and center and make it the star of the show.   We realized this is what the world has been missing: a beverage that celebrated the incredible apple in all its glory. We wanted to honor the apple and let it shine by holding true to our real-squeezed tradition. 

And so, in 2022, Spiced Apple Cider sparkling water was born.  

Warm and inviting, it’s a flavor inspired by our New England roots. It also has the same refreshing, endlessly drinkable flavor profiles as the other Spindrift flavors you know and love. The recipe is simple: crushed apples, cinnamon spice, and just the right amount of bubbles. 

However, simple doesn’t mean basic. We’ve found a way to highlight the sensory experience of the apple in its truest form and amplify it with a balance of spice and carbonation. Spiced Apple Cider pays homage to our New England roots and reinvents, nay, perfects a traditional fall beverage.   

Your new favorite Fall fling.

“We’re thrilled to launch our first seasonal flavor this fall. People love summer, but fall is everyone’s favorite season. You return home, you appreciate the crisp air, the sights and scents, the opportunity to eat heartier seasonal foods, and spend more time with loved ones. All of that is a perfect backdrop for Spindrift,” said Bill Creelman, founder and CEO of Spindrift.

“The Spiced Apple Cider flavor is an exciting lead-in to the holiday season for us. We all remember sharing 750mL bottles of sparkling cider over holiday meals with the family. Our sparkling Spiced Apple Cider is inspired by that same ritual – but with a lighter and more portable twist. It’s a flavor that everyone can enjoy from September through December. We’re especially excited to have a Sparkling and a Spiked version for our community to enjoy.”

Where to Find Spiced Apple Cider Before It's Gone

“Spiced Apple Cider is here for a good time but not a long time,” said Caitlin. Like Fall, once it's gone... it's gone. While it remains a Limited Release flavor, we hope it’s just the beginning because we love the idea of crafting flavors inspired by specific, salient memories and moments in time.

However, we’ve made it easier than ever to get in on this limited-release flavor: Spiced Apple Cider is available in 24-can packs to buy on our site to be shipped directly to your doorstep. Talk about bringing it home for the season!  

You can also buy this flavor in stores while supplies last at Target, Market Basket, Fred Meyer, QFC, and King Soopers. We recommend calling ahead though—we hear it’s going fast.  For maximum enjoyment, we suggest sharing with friends at your holiday party, while decorating for Halloween with the kids (dare we say add a can to the viral boo basket, anyone?), or while out on the porch leaf-peeping in the crisp Autumn air.  

This seasonal Spiced Apple Cider flavor is just one way we’re reinventing classic beverages our way. We love the idea of crafting flavors for you that are inspired by specific memories and moments in time. If there’s another nostalgic drink you’d like us to Spindrift-ify, send us ideas at @drinkspindrift and we’ll be sure to pass them along to our Innovation Team.  

Obsessed with our Spiced Apple Cider flavor? Share it on socials, we love to see it!  

Oh, and welcome home for Fall, Drifter fam.