Spartanburg: A Passion for Peaches
“If I had my little way, I’d eat peaches every day.”
When you visit Spartanburg, you can really bring that song lyric to life.
Spartanburg County has a passion for peaches, dating back a couple hundred years to the area’s time as a railroad hub. Peach packing sheds dotted the county, allowing fresh, juicy peaches to be shipped around the U.S.
The county’s appreciation for peaches (a-peach-iation, if you will) can now be found at breweries and restaurants using the famed fruit in interesting dishes and drinks that are earning new generations of peach-praising goodness.
HEIRLOOM: A MILLTOWN EATERY
Heirloom embraced August, which is National Peach Month, with an uncommon vigor, unveiling several new specialty drinks and desserts featuring the juicy fruit.
The Weekend Spritz featured fresh peaches, Campari, house-made fruit syrup topped with Prosecco, while the Strawberry Peach Tea featured oodles of the two fruits.
The South Carolina Mule, very aptly named, is a specialty bourbon cocktail made with ginger beer, fresh peach puree using only South Carolina peaches, brown sugar simply with garnishes of mint and a peach slice.
Last but not least is Heirloom’s take on angel food cake. This divine dessert is baked with peaches, topped with even more peaches and a peach’s best friend, whipped cream.
RJ ROCKERS BREWING CO.
Perhaps Spartanburg’s most famous peach-pushers are the folks at RJ Rockers.
The brewery’s most well-known beer is its Son of a Peach, an unfiltered wheat ale brewed with peaches grown fresh in South Carolina. Son of a Peach pours golden with the aroma of fresh peaches hitting you right away. The classic beer-like body is accompanied by a slightly tart finish that has made Son of a Peach popular among locals and visitors alike for years.
A slight step up in spice (and alcohol by-volume) is RJ Rockers’ Peachy King. The beer is similar to its counterpart but features twice the peaches and heaping helping of spices that add to this beer’s powerful scent and taste.
Rockers’ newest peach-forward addition is its Son of a Peach Hard Seltzer, which packs the peach flavor into a crisp, bubbly seltzer that’s the perfect accompaniment to a hot, summer day.
CICLOPS CYDERI & BREWERY
RJ Rockers isn’t the only brewery in town proudly showcasing peaches, though.
Ciclops Cyderi & Brewery’s host of taps includes the Fair-Haired Peach, a Belgian blond-style ale brewed with peaches straight from the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Research Farm. (The Fair-Haired Peach packs a punch, at 8% alcohol by-volume, though, so be warned!)
CRIBBS KITCHEN
Downtown Spartanburg mainstay Cribbs Kitchen is in on the peach game too, thanks to a handcrafted cocktail and a fruit-forward salad.
The Peach Betta Have My Money combines peach-infused vodka with lemon, honey, basil, more peaches and ginger beer for a sweet, slightly spicy and refreshing cocktail. And Cribbs’ peaches and burrata features peppery arugula, S.C. peaches, toasted almonds, black pepper and a honey vinaigrette.
FARMS & FARMSTANDS
If you’re looking for some fresh peaches for at-home use in your next recipe or cocktail, Spartanburg County has you covered there, too.
Abbott Farms showcases peaches throughout the summer from its locations around Spartanburg and Cherokee counties.
Belue Farms in Boiling Springs offers a variety of peaches from its Natural Food Market.
And Strawberry Hill USA has peaches available throughout the summer months.
Georgia has the moniker of the “peach state” and Gaffney has the Peachoid, but make no mistake, the epicenter of peaches in South Carolina (the second-leading peach producing state in the U.S.) is Spartanburg.
