Milk & Honey Ciders
In Good Company: Conversations with the people who make Joetown special.
Just north of St. Joseph, farmhouse cidery Milk & Honey Ciders is quietly (and consistently) making some of the best cider in Central Minnesota.
You probably know the summer version — sunshine, live music, apples overhead, easy conversations that stretch longer than planned. But the heart of this place runs deeper than a season.
The founders grew up right here. Same roads. Same neighbors. Same rhythm of hard work and helping each other out. It’s a place that teaches you to show up, figure it out, and try — even when you’re not entirely sure how it’s going to work. Watching their parents and neighbors live that way gave them the confidence to do something bold themselves.
And bold it was — because 10–15 years ago, this wasn’t the plan. No one imagined running a bar, hosting weddings, organizing events, booking music, or building a gathering place. The original vision leaned more toward plant research and working alongside family and friends. But about fifteen years ago, the idea took hold — and then, as they put it, “it sort of takes you for a ride.” What kept it moving forward was belief: the three partners believing in each other, and families believing too — even when the path wasn’t clear.
Early on, there were plenty of growing pains. In their first commercial year (2013), they wildly overbought apples, overproduced cider, and did it all inefficiently — small pumps, the wrong equipment, limited labor, cider spilling everywhere. Apples and tanks ended up in basements, neighbors’ garages, rented warehouses — like squirrels hiding nuts wherever there was space. It makes them cringe now, but they’ll tell you honestly: there was no other way to learn those lessons.
Today, that hard-earned wisdom shows up in quieter ways. In the care given to the apples. In the stories behind the varieties. In the meticulous work that hopefully comes through in the glass — even if most people never notice it directly.
What they hope you notice is how it feels to be there.
They want people to feel welcome. Curious. Comfortable enough to slow down and take it all in — the smell of fermenting cider, the view across the valley, birdsong drifting through the orchard. In winter especially, that feeling intensifies. Fires roaring, a packed taproom, live music echoing through a cozy country space in the dead of winter — those little magic moments that can’t be guaranteed, but feel incredibly rewarding when they happen.
Running a place like this has also required unlearning some things. Letting go of anxious, hyper-focused control. Trusting others’ strengths. Believing there’s more than one way to reach a goal. Giving the team room to be creative has made the business stronger — and the work healthier.
Looking ahead, the dream isn’t growth for growth’s sake. It’s longevity. They hope Milk & Honey is remembered as a beautiful place where people had simple, good times. A place that lasts long enough for kids who played in the orchard to one day bring their own kids back.
When you walk through the door, they want you to know this: you’re welcome. This is an open-hearted place full of oddballs. A place for people of all walks of life. A place where there’s real value in sipping a cider, watching the sky, walking through the orchard, sitting by a fire, and sharing good food with people you love.
Sometimes, that’s everything.
Photography by Rubinski Visual
