April 20, 2013.
I cannot believe that it’s been three years since we opened the tasting room at Blue Bee Cider. In that brief time, we have more than doubled production, increased our lineup from one cider to roughly 20, introduced innovative new concepts, run out of space (twice), and plotted a relocation to Scott’s Addition.
On a sunny Earth Day in 2013, none of that insanity was even a gleam in our eye. A lot of folks visiting the present-day tasting room harken back to the more primitive times, when we “only had two ciders.” But the 163 die-hards from the opening know that we opened the doors with one cider: Aragon 1904, which remains our best seller to this day.
Sifting through old papers at home, I recently came across the original tasting notes that I scribbled down for opening day. I remember the associated waves of panic – for Courtney, as she readied to introduce her business to the world, and for me, as I scrambled and crammed and rehearsed to fake my way through presenting a product that we had only finalized and tasted a couple of days before. It amazes me to see buzz words that we still use today: Off-dry, minerality, tartness, lingering finish. I definitely forgot about the word “pétillant,” which Courtney introduced to me as a way of defining slightly sparkling levels of carbonation.
I couldn’t pronounce it, so I never used it.
Tasting room was a relatively easy gig in those days: Memorize two lines, repeat. Explain to visitors that no, Courtney and I were not married. Or brother and sister.
I particularly loved when people would walk in and ask, “So what’s the deal with a tasting?”
“Well, we have one cider. Would you like to try it?”
Soon, I was weaving in stories about the creation of Aragon 1904. And then hyping up the release of Charred Ordinary in May. And then suddenly a few months later, we accidentally had six ciders in our lineup.
Tasting room is not an easy gig anymore, as we typically have seven or eight ciders available year-round. Thankfully, there is nothing more rewarding than sharing these ciders and stories with you – our fans, our friends, and the reason we’re still going strong three years in. Thank you.
The fourth vintage of Aragon 1904 will be released on Saturday, April 16, 2016. See you there!
– Brian Ahnmark
