042: Jennifer Smith & Sara Grady | Women Leaders in Cider for NY

Jennifer Smith the Executive Director of New York Cider Association and Sara Grady Founder of NY Cider Week discuss the state's commitment to cider and upcoming events.

I sat down for a chat with these two women who are cider beacons for the Empire State. We were all attending Cider Feast 2016 a Food Karma Project created by restauranteur and all around good guy and one of my picks for NYC's Best of the Best Publicans around award Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy's No. 43.

CiderFeast was held alongside the East River near the upper East Village. We sat on three chairs with a bottle of Bone Dry Cider from the Brooklyn Cider House. With cups in hand we kept on talking through the noise of a biplane taking off on the river besides us and the sounds of the city.

The New York Cider Association is comprised of a 9 member board. The members are growers, cidermakers and work on a sustainable farming culture.

The New York Cider Association is a non for profit.  It has memberships for cideries producing between:

• 1 and 5K Gallons
• 5 - 25K
• 25 - 250K
• and 250 and up

Additionally, NYCA has memberships for growers, associated industries such as distributors and equipment suppliers, cideries-in-planning, and enthusiasts.

NYCA' cider goal is increase tourism, cider and apple marketing, provide assistance with value added capital grants, and work towards making it easier for cideries to get licensed.

The Association does get help of the  Empire State Development

Cider Week in New York grew out of the Cider Project a Hudson Valley an Apple Exchange with NY and French cideries (listed below). CiderWeekNY was started in 20111. The NY Association grew out of Cider week.

What is cider and how is the Association informing consumers?

• By working with professionals in the beverage trade and working towards making them ambassadors for cider

Jenn Smith's tips on forming a Cider Association:

• Being open to a diversity of communication styles.
• Build time into your life for the spontaneous and important educational conversations.

Anticipate opportunities for bringing together your cidermakers, showcasing their services to the consumer audience.

Cider Weeks in New York State

• Cider Week NYC was started in 2011-will be held October 21st through the 30th for 2016
• Cider Week Hudson Valley (CiderWeekHV) in June
• Cider Week Finger Lakes (CiderWeekFLX) also in October. For 2016 October 1- 9th

Contact Jennifer Smith, Executive Director of New York Cider Association

email: [email protected]

Contact Sara Grady, Vice President of Programs | Glynwood

email: [email protected]

Mentions in this chat

• Colette Rossant in Le Perche, France.
• Cideries included in the Cider Project
• Cidrerie Traditionnelle du Perche, La Maison Ferré, La Ferme du Chêne, Domaine du Ruisseau .
• And Calvados: Cave Coopérative de Calvados du Perche

Sabine Hrechdakian, who produced Cider Week with Sara Grady in the first few years, she is a partner in Wassail, a cider bar in NYC.

Alec Steimetz of Buskey Cider in Richmond Virginia, provided an update on the new Richmond Virgina cidery Buskey Cider. Listen to Alec's chat Episode 023 via iTunes http://apple.co/1MBZoGW

Ria will be taping an chat with Normandy cidermaker Eric Bordelet this September. Become a Patron of Cider Chat via https://www.patreon.com/ciderchat?ty=h and be part of the behind the scenes taping of this very special chat with this world renown cider man.