Lake City Cider

Lake City Cider is downtown Dartmouth's cider house — a fully operational production facility and taproom on Portland Street that ferments, filters, and bottles fresh-pressed Nova Scotia apple juice from the Annapolis Valley. Founder Poet Comeau opened it in 2018, and it has been a fixture of the city's craft-drink scene since: readers of The Coast have voted it Best Cidery GOLD multiple times, and Tourism Nova Scotia's listing carries a 4.8 Google rating alongside its year-round taproom. For the province's wider craft scene, see our Craft Beer and Cider guide.

Comeau's origin story is a Dartmouth story. "I see it more as an opportunity. I get to be the only Dartmouth cidery," she told The Coast — a "super proud Dartmouth girl" who launched the business after the company she worked for dissolved, betting that her side of the harbour deserved a cider room of its own. The bet aged well. Today the taproom pours a rotating slate of inventive flavours (the strawberry Red Head, the blueberry Exit 6 Oxford, named for the highway exit you'd take toward berry country, and the chamomile-forward Tea & Honey among them) alongside the year-round lineup, with eight local taps in play.

From Shared Cidery to Cider-Plus-Brewery

The address has history. 35 Portland Street is the space Lake City once shared with Brightwood Brewery; when Brightwood shut its taproom in the spring of 2024 to restructure the business, Lake City began renovating with plans of its own. "We're hoping by spring that we'll have a brewery of our own," general manager Russel Layden told The Coast, on word that veteran Halifax brewer Adam Campbell (a Canadian Brewing Awards medallist with stints at Propeller and Alberta's Blindman among others) was rumoured to join the venture. Whatever the brewhouse becomes, the cider operation at the front of the house carries on as it has since 2018: tanks working, flights pouring, cans leaving the fridge.

Visitor reviews collected on the cidery's own site capture the room: "Awesome seating, great patio, really nice little flights of cider so you can try them all out" from Emily White; "Clean & unique little space. A really amazing place to visit when you're around Portland/Dartmouth" from Sarah Devoe; and Grace McArthur's verdict on the range — "The cider is amazing and their new Pride Cider is a 10/10." The taproom is dog friendly, a detail Emily White flagged as "the big plus," and the patio is a warm-weather draw. Online orders over $45 ship free anywhere in the HRM, and cans travel Canada-wide.

The Practical Details: Location, Hours & Essentials

Address & Location
35 Portland Street, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 1H1 — downtown Dartmouth, between the ferry terminal and the Portland Street shops; the taproom entrance faces the street, a corner from Chanoey's Pasta.

Hours of Operation
Monday to Thursday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight. (Tourism Nova Scotia lists slightly shorter winter hours; the cidery's own posted schedule is the current standard.)

Price Range
Tasting flights and pints at craft-cider prices; cans, bundles, and merchandise to go. Free HRM delivery on online orders over $45; Canada-wide shipping available.

Reservations
Not required for the taproom — walk in for flights, pints, and cans. Group visits and events are best arranged by phone or email; the space hosts private gatherings.

Parking
Street parking on Portland Street and adjacent blocks; a short walk from the Alderney ferry terminal and downtown Dartmouth's municipal lots.

Order a flight first; the spread from strawberry to blueberry to chamomile is the point. Then settle on a pint and a spot on the patio, dog in tow. If the brewery addition has opened by the time you visit, you will be tasting the newest chapter of a Dartmouth story that keeps expanding; either way, the cider that built the room is the reason to cross the harbour.