Each apple picked at Fair Hills Farm has a purpose.
“Half of our best, highest-quality fruit goes to local schools, restaurants, and independent grocers on the Central Coast, nourishing students and supporting a healthy community,” the farm’s website states. “The other half is lovingly crafted into our Signature Harvest Blend unfiltered apple juice and our tea line.”
Released in July and featuring fruit from the San Miguel orchard’s 2024 harvest, Fair Hills Farm Organic’s freshly brewed teas and apple juices are now available at select San Luis Obispo County retailers and restaurants, as well as the Saturday Paso Farmers Market in downtown.
The teas “are gently sweetened with our organic apple juice, free from preservatives, contain minimal ingredients, and have no added sugar,” said Fair Hills Farm proprietor and entrepreneur Russel Steingold, who splits his time between Paso Robles and Los Angeles. “I’m unaware of any other product that is tea sweetened with apple juice.”
The 80-acre property, originally established in 1992, was purchased in 2020 by Steingold, who then planted several thousand fresh trees and converted the property from conventional to USDA-certified organic farming practices.
Steingold’s vision for his 48 acres of planted fruit—including 15 varieties of apples as well as stone fruit, pears, and pomegranates—is to create a model farming enterprise rooted in sustainability, innovation, and commitment to community.
“The farm is nothing without the support of the community we serve,” said Jessica Nash, Fair Hills Farm’s director of operations. “We presently serve local organic produce … to all SLO County schools—roughly 34,000 students.”
The team also works with Slow Money SLO, Harvestly, Farm to School Central Coast, and SLO Food Bank, “which will be helping us through harvest this fall,” Nash added.
Nash, of Paso, served as wine club manager at Paso’s Sculpterra Winery before joining Fair Hills last year.
She, along with agricultural manager Caitlyn Pierini, also of Paso, heads the “boots-on-the-ground” team at the farm, Nash explained.
Pierini, a Cal Poly wine and viticulture graduate, previously worked with Paso’s Gibbs Vineyards as a viticulturist.
“I love having Jessica and Caitlyn running the farm,” Steingold said. “It’s amazing to see how it has transformed under Jessica’s guidance coupled with Caitlyn’s knowledge of farming practices. It’s great to see these two strong women having a profound impact on the property and helping me to execute my vision for this product.”
Pierini oversees seasonal planning, crop strategy, soil health, pruning, and varietal development while striving to foster biodiversity and environmentally sound initiatives.
Unblemished apples—ranging from gala, Fuji, pink lady, and cameo to McIntosh—are reserved for schools and retail markets, while “our ‘seconds’ are used for our beverages,” Pierini said.
“They are typically just a little ugly, but still have the great quality that we desire,” she explained.
“Anyone that tastes our apple juice immediately falls in love with it,” Steingold added. “I am an iced tea lover and also enjoy an Arnold Palmer and thought it would be interesting to try adding apple juice as opposed to lemonade to the tea.
“After getting a lot of positive feedback, I decided to bring this product to market. Thus far it has been very well received. It is a healthy solution and has only two ingredients—flavored organic tea gently sweetened with pure, cold-pressed apple juice.”
Fair Hills’ black tea varieties include original, mint, ginger, cinnamon and naturally caffeine-free chamomile. Small bits of natural ingredients may collect at the bottom, so the team recommends giving the bottles a quick shake before enjoying.
Fair Hills is a working farm, with no current infrastructure for on-site sales, so customers are encouraged to purchase its beverages and produce online and from more than 15 area vendors and growing. The company also sells apple wood chips for smokers.
“Having a farm, from a financial perspective is no easy undertaking,” Steingold said. “My main goal immediately is to make the farm financially sustainable. And I’m hoping that this tea and juice project gets us there.
“There are lots of ideas, including kombucha and hard cider, which we may continue to develop once we have our current projects rolling in a satisfactory direction. Things are looking very positive, and we have already gotten interest and commitments from several high-end retailers in the Southern California area. Once we establish the distribution and gauge interest from our trade partners, we will continue to develop other products.
“On a different note, the goal is also to set an example in the area to other local farmers to look at their farming practices and show them the path and reasons why responsible organic and sustainable farming is the way of the future.”
Pierini concurred that she is passionate about “growing nutritious and delicious fruit for our schools and community” while also “maintaining our unwavering standards to quality and stewardship of the land.”
On a more personal note, she added, “I also want to continue to show other women, particularly mothers, that you can enjoy a beautiful balance that allows you to be present and active in your children’s life while also maintaining a career.
“I wholeheartedly believe in a work/life balance and very much appreciate the flexibility of this job that allows me to volunteer at my children’s school, coach them in sports, and also be attentive to the farm and share that side with them. They are often there at work with me,” Pierini said.
Most mornings you can also spot Pierini with her chocolate lab, Clover, roaming the orchard, preparing for harvest, and seeking new opportunities for the farm. Δ
Flavor Writer Cherish Whyte’s favorite Fair Hills tea flavor is ginger. She’ll be enjoying one over ice at cwhyte@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in 55 Fiction 2025.