Hi folx, Taylor and Kenzie here!
We wanted to introduce ourselves and answer some questions about the process of Blue Bee Cider’s acquisition and moving. We want to start off by saying – WE’RE SO EXCITED!
What is our background? We both grew up in Smithfield, VA where we met in high school and graduated together. After graduation, we received our associate degrees at a local community college and moved to Richmond, VA in 2014 to attend the School of Business at VCU.
We have both worked for the company since 2015. Taylor started his career at Blue Bee in the tasting room and after about four months, he moved to the production team [to pursue his budding passion for cidermaking]. Taylor started as a cellar assistant – bottling, pasteurizing, and hand-labeling bottles. In 2017, he became full-time in production as assistant cidermaker. During that time, he learned much more about juice procurement, fermentation, and aging processes. Later in 2018, Taylor became head cidermaker where he started working directly with orchards, developing new recipes, creating long-lasting partnerships with other beverage producers, and managing the overall production space.
Kenzie got her start hand-labeling bottles (yes – we used to hand-label thousands of bottles!), then gained more hours acting as Courtney’s assistant. This was right when Courtney was working on acquiring Summit Stables, so her job was to help Courtney keep organized and take care of basic admin tasks and errands. Once the company moved to Summit Stables, Kenzie created the private event program and hosted weddings for many years. In between planning private events and managing our social media, she partnered with local businesses to host cidery workshops (concentrating on fun and education), worked pop-up tastings, worked in the tasting room, helped the cellar team with cider production, assisted in wholesale [and broke a nail], and even did some gardening and facilities maintenance when needed. This was a small business and we all knew that we had to wear many different hats to keep our world spinning.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Courtney took a full-time job away from the cidery to ensure Blue Bee was kept afloat. Because of this, the cidery was able to keep all of its staff employed. Since Courtney wasn’t on site very often in the years to come, Kenzie stepped up and became acting assistant general manager.
With the combination of Taylor having the cidermaking and production management knowledge for almost eight years and Kenzie knowing front-of-house and back-of-house operations, we’re very confident in our ability and excited to continue the legacy that Courtney has created.
Why did we purchase the business? We have both spent our entire working years at Blue Bee Cider. In eight years, we have bonded with the brand and the people who love it. We have both created so many memories with this brand and friendships that will last a lifetime. We couldn’t just let that go.
A few years back, we planted the seed to Courtney that we one day wanted to own a cidery ourselves. At the time, she was very supportive but wasn’t ready to give the business up. Fast-forward to summer of 2022, Courtney came to the difficult decision to sell Summit Stables and we started the conversation of acquiring the business from her. She spent many years creating Blue Bee and being a powerhouse and a leader in putting cider back on the map. She was proud to put the brand she created in our hands and is one of our biggest supporters.
Why are we moving and where? Great question! After looking for about six months, we landed on 4811 Bethlehem Rd., Richmond, VA 23230 — which is merely seven minutes away from Scott’s Addition. Since the property was sold separately from the business late last year and staying on site at any capacity long-term wasn’t an option, we needed to find a new location ASAP that provided the special requirements necessary to operate as an urban farm cidery. In short, real estate inventory was low and we were ready to reopen as soon as we could! In our downtime, we’ve missed seeing our customers’ faces and sharing our ciders.
Blue Bee Cider has called Richmond, VA home since its establishment in 2012 (officially opening in 2013). It was the first urban cidery in the Commonwealth and fifth cidery in all of Virginia. On a personal note, we have been living in the city of Richmond for almost 10 years; we went to VCU together, started our careers, rescued two dogs (Delilah and Reba), and purchased our first home two years ago. Richmond holds a very special place in our hearts. Unfortunately, the timing of the acquisition wasn’t compatible with property inventory within the Richmond city limits.
As new business owners, it is very important for us to keep all operations under one roof. Requirements we needed to consider were: structure of building (Can the floors hold tanks and sanitation chemicals? How tall are the ceilings? Is there a bay door for juice deliveries? Is there somewhere we can park our forklift?), square footage (Is the space big enough to fit customers, equipment, and warehousing for finished product?), green space (Is there proper green space to plant fruit trees and/or bushes? Unfortunately, planters do not count – we tried), and location (Is it accessible, and are we in close proximity to other complementary businesses?). Purchasing property isn’t an option for us at this time, but it is definitely the future goal!
Of course, we will miss Summit Stables dearly. We’ve each spent over 12,000 hours in that beautiful stone building making memories and relationships that will last a lifetime, but we are very excited for our new space and the future. We now have the challenge of upholding the brand’s legacy while also making it our own. We look forward to sharing our voices, creating our own space, and making new memories.
What should you expect? Fun! Because we were both an integral part of tap and event programming, we will build onto that and make room for new concepts.
Programming – Last year, we started our trivia night program focused on niche topics like The Office, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Horror, and Disney. We would love to continue this and introduce other fun programming such as bingo nights, comedy, and karaoke. We also hope to partner with local performers and host drag shows. As avid RuPaul’s Drag Race fans, Taylor and I (as well as many past staff members who plan on making a resurgence 😉) have always wanted to host drag nights – hopefully we get that opportunity! We also would like to continue to host live music more frequently. In addition to the above, we’re eager to continue our pop-up market and educational workshop events.
Atmosphere & Experience – We are going to create a comfortable environment with a mixture of ample indoor and outdoor seating. We’re eager to introduce both lounge areas and bar seating – two elements Blue Bee hasn’t had before. We have always made sure to be a space where all are welcome and feel safe. We will continue to keep this our biggest priority.
Will we be dog-friendly? Absolutely! This is something that has always been near and dear to us. Please make sure to only bring your pets if they’re confident in loud, strange environments, and are people- and dog-friendly themselves. We want to set them up for success so both they and you enjoy your time with us! We do charge for dogs though…we MUST be able to give them pets and treats. 😊
An element that we both miss when visiting establishments is the novelty of meeting owners of the business. We want to bring back that intimacy and personable aspect. Along with bringing back some of your favorite staff members, we will also be behind the bar – sharing our story and making connections.
On tap – In the past, we often had more product in kegs than we had taps! Adding more taps to our bar will allow for a larger array of products. We will continue to offer flights, carafes, and glasses of cider. We will also continue to carry a lineup of various non-alcoholic options, many of which will be locally-made beverages!
Food – We will be working with a robust food pop-up and food truck lineup and will likely provide light snacks in the tasting room. For the time being, we will also encourage outside food/picnics.
Are there events or elements that you would like to see in our new space? We’re open to suggestions – email us at admin@bluebeecider.com or message us on social media.
We’re so excited to continue Blue Bee Cider together and create products and an environment that we can be proud of. We appreciate everyone’s support over the years, but especially during this huge transition period.
Change is tough. But it’s also an opportunity.
All our love 💙
Photo Credit: Julianne Tripp, Richmond Magazine
