Tennessee Stud Cider in downtown Gatlinburg has walk-in tastings for their range of hard ciders and cream wines!
While making our way up and down the main tourist route in downtown Gatlinburg, we were keeping an eye out for ciders and/or other tastings that sounded appealing.
Just a few minutes' walk from The Village (with the wonderful Donut Friar!) we found Tennessee Stud Cider. Like many Gatlinburg shops in the summer, its front entrance stays wide open to passersby on the sidewalk, so we could see the tasting counter as well as the chandeliers, and we were intrigued enough to wander inside.
No reservations are needed for tastings. Here's what else to know before you go!
Getting There
This cider business has two locations: one in Gatlinburg, and one in Pigeon Forge. We visited the Gatlinburg spot.
Parking in Gatlinburg can be a real challenge; in general, you park and pay for the day and then walk the main strip of the town to explore whatever you're interested in.
When we visited, the cheapest parking garage was behind Ripley's Aquarium. This is about a 10-minute walk from Tennessee Stud Cider.
What Does a Tasting Include?
There are a couple of tasting counters inside the store. The flavors and cost to sample are easy to see on signs posted at the counters.
When we visited, you could choose 10 different ciders and/or cream wines to try. (At that quantity, the samples were, of course, very small — but sufficient.)
What Style of Drinks Does Tennessee Stud Cider Offer?
We enjoyed this tasting, and they had a nice range of dry and sweet ciders. See their website for the lineup.
My favorites were the drier ciders: the cranberry and the blackberry. The majority of their ciders were sweeter, so if that's your flavor preference you'll have plenty to choose from. Ciders are listed on the sign in order from dry to sweet.
We picked up a bottle of blackberry cider to enjoy later in the hot summer evening while watching the synchronous fireflies.
They also had a selection of "cream wines," which are sweet dessert drinks similar to liqueur. We enjoyed the ones we tried and thought they would be great in cocktail recipes. We especially loved the chocolate beignet and the raspberry cream flavors.
At home, I used the chocolate cream wine to make mocha martinis!
This ended up being one of our favorite stops in Gatlinburg.
A little later on in the day, we appreciated a break from the summer heat at Gatlinburg Brewing Company, a good place to try some local brews and appetizers.
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