Let me introduce you to our BevFluence® Collaborations platform and latest campaign: Cider: New Perspectives on Cider, Perry, and Brandy. We created the BevFluence® Collaborations Campaign (BCC) to expand influencer engagement by leveraging the BevFluence® community. We have devised and tested our proprietary methodology for accelerating social media distribution and require our members to adhere to specific regulations throughout the campaign. This methodology includes scheduling social media posts at the optimal time, sharing, and working with brand participants to engage within our platform.
After an incredibly successful Rendezvous: An In-depth Look at RTD Cocktails campaign, the BevFluence® team is jumping right back in with a passion project – Cider: New Perspectives on Cider, Perry, and Brandy. The BevFluence® team is comprised of cider enthusiasts (BevFluence® founders Justin, a Certified Cider Professional, and Todd, a tried-and-true cider lover) and cider aficionados among the team of influencers. This campaign will operate during the late summer and fall and feature cider, perry, and apple or pear brandy from across the globe. It will also include deep dives into cider making, consumption, styles, cocktail recipes, and food pairings. The products will be presented to a combination of industry experts, mixologists, bartenders, creators, bloggers, writers, and other media – and across the craft beverage landscape. This will generate new perspectives about cider, perry, and brandy from creators who range from cider novices to experts and these perspectives will cascade to their followers.
We curate only the most diverse palates, particularly those that will be tough but fair. You will get to know these creators as part of our community through group tastings and one-on-one interviews. Dozens of creators have already signed up and are salivating for this campaign to barrage you with posts and discussions about your brand (unless you live in a cave, that is). This campaign is far superior to your typical trade show as we go deeper and aim for more impact than the usual one-post or five-minute meet and greet. If you want to grow your business and meaningfully engage your consumer, this is the campaign you need to be part of.
You can view more information on the BevFluence® Collaborationsplatform. Once the campaign commences, you will use this platform to engage the creators, view posts and professional tasting notes, and experience the engagement dashboard.
Registration will run through early 2023 and the price per each product registration is $225, but we have enacted early bird pricing of $195 per product registration through February 4th. Cider and brandy associations can contact us for further discounts for their members.
For each product registered, the brands must send (6) samples to each BevFluence® Regional Office, as well as a sample to each Influencer we assign (3-4 influencers). That equals 15-16 total samples. All of the requirements are outlined in the campaign guidelines once you log in to the BevFluence® Collaborations platform.
What is BevFluence®?
BevFluence®, LLC (BevFluence) was founded in 2017 and is made up of active members of the food & beverage industry – experts with decades of experience. This group of well-respected and highly sought-after professionals is dedicated to building and strengthening the professional food & beverage media community through education, collaboration, and expanding access for both brands and creators. Founded by media professionals to create the change for our clients that define the future, you get us all (for the cost of a single consultant in some other companies) – a team dedicated to growing your business over the long term. Our Team is made of wine, whiskey, technology, marketing, social media, hospitality, culinary, and beverage industry experts.
Cider Canada / Cidre Canada, an association for cider producers in Canada, brings together cider markers and their provincial associations to develop a stronger community of producers, as well as a vibrant cider industry in Canada.
Cider in Canada is a quickly growing industry, from only a handful of producers in the 2000s to now over 370 producers across Canada in all provinces (and but one territory!). Similar to the craft beer movement, cider in Canada now employs an estimated 5,000 full-time and 4,000 part-time employees with an estimated 39 million total liters of product each year. This makes cider the 4th largest alcoholic beverage behind beer, wine (which cider is currently classified under), and spirits.
Their members range from multi-million dollar producers who support thousands of jobs across the country to small, farm-based producers who are key economic drivers in their rural communities. They are currently facing large production cost increases due to the increased price of apples and juice, transportation, bottle/can availability, labor, and inflation touching nearly every aspect of their business, especially after the pandemic.
The organization focuses on six primary services for its members in order to alleviate these burdens:
Lobbying & Advocacy: Working alongside the provincial associations to support Provincial and Federal changes including tax, distribution, and awareness with elected officials and paid staff.
Education: Working alongside the Cider Institute of North America, Cider Canada / Cidre Canada provides education and training opportunities in multiple formats.
Services: Members get access to special discounts to help with operations, including equipment, insurance, health benefits, and much more through a network of industry partners.
News: Members get access to provincial, national and international news around cider, perry, alcohol, and more as a member.
Community: Members get access to special community groups via e-mail, Facebook, and Instagram.
Grant Support: Members get help in writing and submitting to various grant programs.
For the remainder of 2022, membership is free with other investment opportunities available. The BevFluence team is actively working with Cider Canada / Cidre Canada to investigate common areas of engagement and benefits for each of our members. Stay tuned…..
We have another round of canned cocktails for the Rendezvous: An In-depth Look at RTD Cocktails campaign; this time from Heritage Distilling from Washington state. The distillery is the largest independently owned craft distillery in the Pacific Northwest and operates six tasting rooms in Washington and Oregon. And for the last nine years, Heritage has won more awards than any other craft distillery in North America from the American Distilling Institute.
The canned cocktails are a relatively new addition to their portfolio and the recipes use existing Heritage spirits, syrups, and other flavors, and a little soda water for effervescence and to keep the ABV below 7%.
Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy consists of Heritage Vodka, lemon juice, and soda water. Refreshing just as it is, would only add another slice of lemon.
Gin Jam Fizzzz is their Elk Rider Gin, raspberry jam, and soda water. Very fruit-forward and botanicals stand out on the nose. Augment with a dose more of gin to tame the berries.
Blood Orange Vodkarita is comprised of Heritage Vodka, blood orange flavoring, margarita mix, and soda water. An orange crush.
Peach Bourbon comes from Heritage Bourbon combined with peach bourbon syrup, lemon flavor, and soda water. Peaches everywhere, nose, body, and finish. Added some rye whiskey to tame the peaches and add a little spice.
Napa’s Troop Beverage Co. was started by the married team of CC and Reed and “amateur bartenders, expert canners, and San Francisco explorers”. They started Troop in 2019 because they had enjoined creating new cocktail recipes and sharing them with friends. And thus, started a business to justify their cocktail habit.
Our influencers received a combination of three cocktails: Vodka Lemonade, Tequila Paloma, and Rum Mojito. Each cocktail weighs in at 10% abv and is packaged in 200ml cans. Depending on the recipe, the ingredients consist of a spirit, freshly squeezed juice, and soda water. The influencer favorites varied but all appreciated the portability, freshness, and low alcohol — particularly while hiking and hanging outside. Here are some of the Instagram posts from the participants.
This is a big month for Virginia Cider. Last week the American Cider Association (ACA) announced the launch of the Virginia Cider Trail where users of the app can win prizes and receive discounts at participating cider houses. And it just happened that this summer I have already visited four of these establishments. And I believe I was the first to officially check-in using the Virginia Cider Trail app at Sage Bird Ciderworks and Ciders from Mars.
In addition, our partner site at BevFluence has opened brand registration today for their Cider: New Perspectives on Cider, Perry, and Brandy campaign. The cider, perry, and brandy products will be presented to a combination of industry experts, mixologists, bartenders, creators, bloggers, writers, and other media – and across the craft beverage landscape. This will generate new perspectives about cider, perry, and apple brandy from creators who range from cider novices to experts. I also plan on taking the ACA’s Certified Cider Professional (CCP) exam during this campaign and using the ciders with my training guide. Brands and content creators can register here for the BevFluence campaign or learn more about the CCP here.
Lost Boy Cider is an urban cidery in Alexandria and sources its fruit from various orchards in the Shenandoah Valley. In early June they hosted one of four sessions on the Virginia Cider Road Show presented by the ACA. After a brief overview of Lost Boy by cidermaker Dave, the ACA’s Jennie Dorsey provided a history of cider, a history of cider in North America, and then the history of cider in Virginia. She then provided a brief overview of Virginia’s three most important apple varieties: Newton (Albemarle) Pippin, Hewes VA Crab, and Harrison. She finished by discussing the ACA’s Apple classes (bittersweet, bittersharp, sweet, & sharp); ACA Cider Families (cider, perry, fruit cider, botanical cider, & dessert ciders); cider cocktails; and cider-food pairings. Yes, a boatload of information was packed within each session. We finished with a food and cider pairing featuring cheeses from Cheestique. I think the Barrel-Aged cider paired with the Appalachian cheese, dried pear, and balsamic vinegar was my favorite — very complimentary.
Castle Hill Cider is located east of Charlottesville in Keswick and has an interesting history regarding the propagation of cider apples. As stated on their website:
Colonel Thomas Walker, the original owner of Castle Hill Estate, was the first to bring Newtown Pippin apple scions to Central Virginia following his return from the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. The variety was planted at Castle Hill and became known as the Albemarle Pippin apple.
And as most Virginia cider lovers know, the Albemarle Pippin is still one of the signature Virginia apple varieties and was even exported to England throughout the 1800s. Castle Hill Cider was founded in 2020 and the estate is planted with 6,500 trees featuring more than 30 apple varieties including Albemarle Pippin, Black Twig, Harrison, Burford Red Fresh, GoldRush, Dabinett, Hewes Crab, and Wickson Crab. The ciders are bottled in either 750ml or 375ml bottles and range from sweet to dry.
During our visit, we choose a Classic flight and a Barrel aged flight. The majority of the group preferred the Terrestrial 2020 where the tannins and slight RS are balanced. It’s also an interesting blend that includes Black Twig, Winesap, and Ashmead’s Kernel. Personally, I preferred the funky, dry, and naturally fermented in quevri Levity 2020. Is this the only American cider fermented and aged in Georgian quevri?
For the barrel-aged ciders, the Hewes Pommeau Reserve is fascinating with complexity created by four years of aging in Woodford Reserve barrels and Keswick Winery wine puncheons. I also enjoyed the Silver Bough where Dabinett and Golden Hornet ciders were aged over a year in rum barrels.
Sage Bird Ciderworks is located in downtown Harrisonburg and opened a couple of years ago after the persistently hard work of Zach and Amberlee Carlson. This is the first cidery in the home of the Dukes and they offer an excellent array of various styles. I settled on a flight of five ciders – slightly more than the paddle size. The clear favorite was the Dry River Reserve — their flagship brut cider made from a blend of Virginia-grown apples. The Peaches For Me fits perfectly into the upcoming BevFluence campaign since the cider was aged in used apple brandy barrels. The oak treatment is noticeable — providing a peaches and cream feel with a boost of apple flavors. Finally, an interesting geographic cider is their Stay Gold, a dry cider inspired by West Virginia’s official state fruit, the famed Golden Delicious apple.
Ciders from Mars is located about 30 miles south in downtown Stanton across the street from both Ox Eye Vineyards and Redbeard Brewing Company. So no excuses for not visiting. The cidery was founded by Virginia natives and science-minded Nikki West and Jeremy Wimpey. And Nikki improved her cidermaking through courses at the Cider Institute of North America -> a partner of the American Cider Association. Over a burger from 1Tribe Farm, I sampled six ciders through a standard flight. The Helles Dry is a solid representation of a brut cider and on the other side of the spectrum, the Pink Oceans was interesting with a subtle strawberry profile. However, the most impressive cider was easily the Liquid Gang, made from foraged apples and fermented using native yeast. The tannic structure mimics biting into an apple. Could be my favorite cider made in Virginia and is on par with the excellent cider from New York’s Aaron Burr Cidery.
Who has taken a bottle of vodka and infused some type of fruit into the alcohol? I’ve done it with blueberries, figs, and blackberries but never achieved the success of Portland’s Wild Roots Spirits and their range of fruit-infused vodkas. Each of these spirits starts with six times filtered corn-based vodka infused with over a pound of real fruit farmed in the Willamette Valley. Grapes are not the only quality fruit grown in the largest river valley in Oregon. Recently Wild Roots entered the RTD market by creating a series of Vodka Sodas based on these infused vodkas. These 12-ounce sparkling craft cocktails are low in alcohol (4%), gluten-free, flavored with natural ingredients, contain only 2 grams of carbs, and have less than 100 calories.
Our influencers received a combination of four cocktails: Raspberry Vodka Soda, Lemon Vodka Soda, Peach Vodka Soda, and Blackberry Vodka Soda. Their favorites varied but all appreciated the portability, freshness, and low alcohol — particularly while hiking and hanging outside. Here are some of the Instagram posts from the participants.
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