Dr. Clayton Slaughter serves as the head cidermaker and orchardist for Slaughter Orchard & Cidery in Bloomington, Indiana. Clay enjoys making artisanal harvest driven hard cider from the cider apples he helps grow in Bloomington, as well as the heirloom culinary and dessert apples he helps grow at their north location, Hainlen Orchard, in Converse, Indiana.

Clay has a background in biology, education, and law. In any given day you will find him tending trees, pressing apples, teaching classes, or any of the other tasks necessary to make the cidery run. He loves to talk about cider, apples, trees, and sustainable local food. Additionally, Clay works as an attorney to help orchardists, farmers, and business owners create successful growth and succession plans.

Clay Slaughter is also a Certified Cidermaker by the Cider Institute of North America (CINA).

David Lugo is a cider enthusiast and is the Bar Operations Manager for the Clyde Theatre in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Clyde Theatre is the premier live music venue in northeast Indiana. It boasts a 2,300-capacity venue, a restaurant with a second stage, coffee shop and catering hall. David started his career in the culinary arts scene in New York city as an Artisanal Bread Baker where he first fell in love with fermentation. He studied at the New York Restaurant School and has worked as a Line Cook, Chef and Bartender. David’s love for cider started when he was a Line Cook at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Trustees Dining Room working under a French trained Chef and was introduced to French cider and calvados. Since then, David has been exploring and tasting his way through cider’s many expressions in the states and around the world. As a Certified Pommelier David educates his staff of bartenders and servers about the idiosyncrasies of tasting and serving cider, educating his customers about what makes cider unique, developing cider cocktails and pairing cider with food. David is excited to be a part of the growing cider community.

As one of the founding cidermakers, Aaron is responsible for your original favorite Ash & Elm Cider Co. flavors. He is especially interested in forging long-term partnerships with Indiana’s apple producers and hopes to one day have an orchard of his own to supply the company with heirloom apples. He enjoys spending time with his family and traveling to other cider-producing regions.

He chose to pursue being a Certified Pommelier™ to support Ash & Elm Cider Co.’s mission of growing Indiana into a leading cider state, through consumer education and highlighting cider food pairing at their restaurant in Indianapolis.