Rachel Bolongaro grew up with a passion for good English cider. At a career crossroads she decided to channel this into founding her own cidery in Langley British Columbia. The Fraser Valley Cider Company opened in 2016. Rachel enjoyed the highs and lows (mostly highs) of creating great craft cider and introducing it to the public. In 2023 she sold the cidery to great people and has returned to her first love – being a happy cider consumer.

Janelle Balsillie is the Co-owner and Cidermaker at Carolinia Cider Company in Harrow, Ontario, Canada and Head Cidermaker at Heeman’s Cidery and Meadery in Thorndale, Ontario, Canada. Her day-to-day experience is that of cidermaker and orchard manager.

Janelle chose to become a Certified Pommelier to expand her palate in the industry and in her cellar. She says that the Certified Pommelier™ is a great way to learn about cider and varieties from all over the world and continue to train and expand your palate.

Nova Scotia has a rich history in apple production (one of the oldest in North America). Growing up in the Annapolis Valley, surrounded by old and new orchards, Nick McDow began to wonder why cider wasn’t the drink of choice. After working in both the wine and beer industries, he decided to focus more on cider, so in 2014 he took the Cider Appreciation and Production course at Cornell University with Peter Mitchell. After that Nick decided to go to Herefordshire, England to work a Harvest season with the renowned producers Ross-on-Wye Cider and Perry. From there, he started a small agency, King’s Barrel Imports, dedicated to representing cideries from around the world in Nova Scotia. He also began working full time at Halifax’s first urban cidery, Chain Yard Cider, and eventually became their General Manager. Nick has since gone out on his own and has started to focus more on imports, sales, and cider education. He currently hosts private cider tastings which provide an insight into the wide world of international cider.

Sara is the owner and cidermaker at Loch Mór Cider located in beautiful Prince Edward County, Ontario. Loch Mór uses traditional varieties of cider apples, grown in the estate orchard to create award winning ciders. Over the past few years, Loch Mór Cider has won 4 Best in Class awards at GLINTCAP, Best Cider in Canada 2021 at WineAlign, along with Double Golds at the All Canadian Wine Championships. Sara started her cider journey whilst living in London & traveling throughout the UK and European cider regions trying all the ciders she could find. Sara qualified as a Certified Pommelier™ in 2020 and is passionate about cider consumer education in Ontario and Canada, along with opening up new horizons with local craft cider with food pairings. Sara is also a Certified Cider Judge with the BJCP. Prior to becoming involved in Ontario Craft Cider, Sara was the Market Strategy and Planning Manager for Procter & Gamble in the highly competitive UK grocery market.!

Jeannie Dubois first fell in love with cider on a trip to the British Isles in the 1990s. Since then, her cider journey zagged towards the wine industry, where she worked in Niagara both in vineyards and wineries and became a CAPS Certified Sommelier. At the time she won both the Up and Coming Sommelier Competition and Sommelier of the Year Award. She then ventured into beer upon her return home to Thunder Bay and completed her Cicerone Certified Beer Server and ventured to become a brewer at a local craft establishment. Subsequently, with the growth in the cider industry, she was able to attend and successfully complete the Foundation in Cider & Perry Production course through CINA at Cornell University and then went on to achieve her certification as a Cider Judge with the BJCP. She was fortunate enough to sit the second exam that the ACA hosted for Certified Pommelier™ and passed to become Canada’s first Pommelier. She currently writes prolifically for Cidercraft Magazine, judges cider competitions, invigilates cider exams and brews beer, all whilst dreaming of her true love, cider, always.