Blake's Backyard Almont

Home to an 800-acre working farm and orchard with a Cider Mill, Funland, Tasting Room, and Hard Cider Production Facility. Blake’s grows over 40 different apple varieties on the property, along with a diverse selection of crops. For seven decades Blake’s has strived to put community and environment at its forefront, with a passion for providing its visitors with the freshest homegrown fruit and vegetables and a memorable family experience.

Founded in 1946 by Gerald and Lovey Blake, Blake Farms was built on hard work and strong family ties. With a desire to explore farming, Gerald moved out of the suburbs and on to a hundred-acre plot of land Armada, MI and raised their 13 kids in a 3-bedroom farmhouse. Twin brothers, Pete and Paul Blake, returned after graduating from Michigan State with an interest in growing what their family had built over the years, adding more diverse experiences for visitors. Years later, Paul’s son, Andrew Blake, who had grown up working on the farm with his family, returned to Armada after graduating from MSU with a desire to explore hard cider. With his family’s blessing and support, Andrew founded Blake’s Hard Cider in 2013.

Andrew Blake made his first batch of hard cider in his college garage while attending MSU and would take it around to parties for friends to enjoy but admits it wasn’t his best work and didn’t quite know what he was doing at first. After coming back home, Andrew was determined to craft an uncompromised line of all-natural hard ciders, that weren’t overly-sweet like its competitors. Andrew says the unique profile is attributed to a blend of 5 apple varieties, grown on Blake Farms and a proprietary wine yeast. The apple base used is pure cider and not from concentrate, resulting in the purest profile, creating a bright, clean and flavorful line of products. What started out as a side-project to offer our visiting customers something straight from the source, has led to one of the fastest growing companies in the industry, with distribution in 18 states.