B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill

Unfriendly owner and cider quality has gone down. Tried to order donuts in advance for a family event and was told 2 weeks wasn’t enough notice. When I asked how many would be enough I was told it’s not possible to order in advance.

I wish I had known about this place when I lived in CT for all those years. I actually found this Cider Mill because I was Unilocaling for good cider in CT while visiting family. So glad that I found this gem because it is amazing!
We ordered everything– hot cider, cold cider, frozen cider! I would highly recommend them all! The apple donuts and turnovers are great too!
We didn’t have to wait in line for long at all. The only downfall was the tight parking situation, but people were coming & going constantly… So just be patient!
I will definitely be a returning customer!

Such a fun experience, definitely go for the demonstration of the cider press, they have them at 9am and 1pm (check the website prior to going). The grounds have several different buildings that feature a variety of tastings and experiences. We started at the cider press building where they demonstrated their old school process with belts and presses to make their amazing cider. Then we did a sampling of the hard apple cider, cider with alcohol woks great! They sell these in half gallon and gallon jugs and they last for 9 months in your fridge. The taste is so different then the hard cider I was used to, they were all unique.
The next stop was for a free wine tasting, all wines made with apples and the flavors were all over the board, they were great! They sell the bottles for only $ 11 each which I thought was a great deal as most wine tastings I have been to, you pay for the tasting and the minimum price of a bottle is $ 15.
Visited the other building that had cider donuts, hot cider, a bunch of different items for purchase and right outside they had jerky samples and maple syrup samples. So if you are looking for a place to stop on your way to Mystic Village, definitely come here as it is unique and will take you about an hour to tour

The best and fresh apple cider I ever had! They offered a Cozy little tasting room right next to the store, friendly staff good experience.

A little touristy but a great place to visit in the fall. Great apple treats and a lot of local items for purchase. The regular cider was delicious but I was not fond of the hard cider or the apple wines. I asked the lady doing the wine tasting what the difference in cider and wine was and she could not answer. I then asked the lady doing the cider tasting and she did explain it but mentioned there were no sulfites in the cider. After I purchased a gallon and got home, I noticed it said on the label that it contained sulfites. Anyway we all agreed while the taste was fine, a full glass was not so great. So, go for the regular hot or cold cider and expect to pay just a little too much but enjoy the view.

As far as cider mills go, Clyde’s gets a 5 out of 5! Went here in a cold Saturday and had a great time watching the demonstration of how they make the cider and enjoyed a nice cup of hot apple cider! They also had a lot of jams and spreads to try and for sale! A great activity!

A family yearly tradition. The hot apple cider donuts are amazing. Cute store, great staff and yummy cider. They even have hard cider with tastings.

Interesting to see, but poorly organised/​staffed so be prepared for a series of long queues. After 30+ minutes queuing for a few sips of cider tasting (staffed by 1 person!), the queue to buy a doughnut was even longer — gave up at that point. Would not have committed the time if we’d known. Shame

Quick Unilocal math:
Warm apple cider donuts — 4 stars
Cold apple cider donuts — 3 stars
Other pastries — 2 stars
Cider — 5 stars
Hard cider — 3 stars
Free samples of all the goodies — 5 stars
Happy kids/​short line — 5 stars
Unhappy kids screaming/​long line — 1 star
National historical register site — 5 stars
Free to see the cider mill, cheap goodies — 5 stars
Total 38 stars /​10 factors = 3.8 stars total, and I’m rounding up bc it’s inexpensive and the service has been nice.
For apple cider donut fanatics/​food tourists, the donuts here aren’t the best I’ve had in New England, but they’re good and made with their own delicious pressed apple cider. Worth a visit.

Admittedly we went here on a beautiful Saturday of Columbus Day weekend, so the crowd shouldn’t have been unexpected, however, I am not sure the 45 minute wait for cider donuts was really that worth it. I am not sure what all the hype is about. The donuts were good but I have tasted better and not waited so long. They were a bit doughy. I think the issue is the system for buying donuts and cider is laid out wrong hence the ridiculously long wait. At a cider mill I would expect a decent selection of apples but other than a couple of bins with not so appealing apples there weren’t any in sight.
We did the wine tasting — limit 4 minuscule samplings in a walk up counter that is a bit crowded and awkward if you wanted to taste more than one. Surprisingly the «drier» varieties were pretty tasty and we did purchase a bottle.
Overall, it’s cute and I get the appeal and if we lived here I might return but not to wait 45 minutes for an average cider donut.

Love Clyde’s! Being a local to the Mystic area I have been going to Clyde’s for as long as I can remember. I haven’t figured out the best time to go without a line… they’re always so busy but the lines move efficiently because they have two registers. My favorites: sweet apple cider, apple cider donuts, and an apple cider slushie. I always forget how good the donuts are until Clyde’s opens again in the fall. Flawless. They’re always fresh because they sell so well! I highly recommend stopping here if you’re in the area!

I loved the hot mulled cider with caramel! That was a five stars on its own. The doughnuts weren’t too special. The freshly made doughnuts at fisherman’s warf in san francisco taste better in my opinion. Definitely come here for the cider which you can purchase in half gallon or gallon sizes. Also in order to avoid lines and 1 hour waits, I recommend coming here from monday-​thursday.

Mixed feelings. I love the cider mill from many perspectives. Its historic. It’s seasonal. It’s unique.
I hate it because it is obnoxiously crowded on the weekends. I can’t overstate how long the lines are to just buy a cup of cider (which I didn’t even bother with this time).
Thankfully this year they moved the wine tasting and purchases to a separate building, which helps. And surprisingly no line for the wine.
I am giving it a 4. Great place all around. However if you actually want to enjoy it go on a weekday or right at opening in the weekend. During peak weekend hours I would probably drop it to about 2.5

I had never been to a cider mill, so when the Connecticut scene was abuzz with talk about the cider mills opening, I was admittedly intrigued. As a west coast native, I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing, and when the talk of a reported apple cider doughnut reached my ears I knew it was high time to check this thing out.
We went on opening weekend, which surprisingly wasn’t super crowded. Our gps had a hard time finding it with the Unilocal address, but we figured it out and parked out back. It looked to us that there was a wine tasting shed, a merchandise and foods shed and the pressing shed, so we started with the wine. I was surprised to see that they had wine tasting on a cider mill, and I hadn’t seen grape vines in days. Come to find out, they are legally required to call it wine because of the abv (alcohol by volume) of their hard cider. The more you know! We were delighted to get to try all their cider/​wines, which were free, and purchased a few to take home. Our favorites were the classic, which is also the highest abv, and the barrel aged Blackout, their newest addition to the lineup (all wines 11−14%).
After wine we poked around the mill, which is the oldest continually running steam powered cider mill in the US. Sadly they were already done for the day by the time we got there (noon), so we weren’t able to see the mill in action. One of the site workers was in there cleaning up though, and was friendly enough to answer some of our questions about the mill and the pressing techniques.
At last we headed into the main building where the wafting doughnut aroma was tempting us the whole time. They have a great variety of packaged goods with fall time takes on bbq, baking, and gifts, as well as more of the wines in case you didn’t go to the tasting shack. They offer the non-​alcoholic apple juice, slushies for the kids, hot mulled cider, and rotating baked goods like breads, twists, and the famed cider doughnuts. I didn’t know what to expect with a cider doughnut, but it was just short of extraordinary. Cakey, chewy, dense, fluffy, warm, covered in cinnamon sugar, MMM, so good.
Prices are decent for the small batch quality of the product, and given its seasonal availability, I’d say it’s pretty great. Parking in the high season is hard, and you may find yourself parking down the street on the side of the road and walking. Key secret is to come during the week in the afternoons to bypass the lines, and to catch the press in action. I get it now why this is such an iconic east coast haunt; it’s a wonderfully fun, unique and delicious, limited availability treat!

The cider is good! It was very crowded the day we went, there were cars parked for hundred yards down both sides of the road.
They allow you to taste the cider varieties that are for sale, and I have to say, they were all good. The cider is quited potent, but goes down a little too smooth.
The store was crowded, but the doughnuts and other sweet offerings make it worthwhile.

On the plus side: a friendly place with a very pretty very old working steam press.
On the minus side: Despite what some say here, the cider is pasteurized, and they don’t grow their own fruit, the apples are purchased from across the Northeast. A bit of a tourist trap.
The cider and doughnuts here are somewhat better than average. The doughnuts were tasty and warm, but not at all crisp. The cider, at least in early September, was also tasty enough, but nondescript.
I would return to try their hard cider, because I live in the area, but it certainly isn’t worth a special trip for the sweet cider. Scott’s Yankee Farmer in nearby East Lyme sells a significantly superior sweet cider, unpasteurized, with character and from their own fruit.

We made it to their soft opening this weekend after much anticipation since hearing about the place when we moved here. Overall the kids nor my wife and I were really impressed with the grounds or the experience. I think the concept is cool and enticing but the execution, mainly the customer service, was unimpressive. The donuts were meh, the bottle of wine was meh, and the customer service was bull crap. After purchasing half a dozen donuts and a bottle of wine we asked for a sample of the cider since they had these tiny cups at the register and their Facebook page said to come sample the cider. The lady looked at us with disgust and said just this once but they normally don’t do it. Okay. Got it. Noted.

Truly one of the best tourist locations in the area. Only open seasonally and the lines are worth it. Great cider and incredible donuts.
Make sure if you are there with kids to make sure you watch them fresh press the apples.

Oh my. The voice recording says the times they’re open (6 weeks a year) and then oddly enough says to park on the grass but out of the road if the parking lot is full — that was strange until we approached. Some days you trek a mile to get to the mill due to the number of guests!
5^th generation family business with a cider press in operation since way way back and the general approach here is to enjoy the weather, buy kettle corn, local bee products like honey and candles, and wait in LONG LINES to get every imaginable Apple product you’d desire in the Fall. Apple fritters, cider donuts, pressed juices, hot apple cider and most intriguing hard cider.
3,000+ gallons of hard cider a weekend at $ 22/​gallon easily happens here and while waiting to taste their wines and ciders you can’t help but think you’re at a speakeasy. The buzz is palatable. Go, enjoy, and stock products for a Wintery night by the fire.

This is a great place to visit this time of year! Great for families – not super «stroller friendly», but we managed. First time I’ve been here after living in the area 20+ years.
This is the ONLY steam powered Cider mill left in the US. I hope they keep it going forever because it really is such a cool thing to witness. I won’t go over the process, but it is so great to see how things were done over 100 years ago and the fact that it is so functional even now.
The place is busy, so bring patience! You may wait in line, but that is also worth it. We waited for 25 – 30 minutes. We got cider donuts, apple cider-​hot and cold, jug of cider, fresh apples and kettle corn and hardly broke $ 20.
Great place, very nostalgic and surprisingly inexpensive. Catch a cider making demonstration for sure!