Gabriela Muñoz has been working with Keepsake Cidery for going on six years. Her work at Keepsake includes production, sales management, deliveries, tasting room crew, resident DJ, and most importantly, harvesting sunshine and smiles. She went from not understanding cider at all to drinking almost exclusively cider and is a one-woman force in the Twin Cities beverage community. She is single-handedly shifting the marketplace – one restaurant and wine shop at a time – to understand fine, natural cider and the role cider plays in reshaping the Twin Cities beverage culture, which is currently experiencing an over-saturation of wine, beer, and flash-in-the-pan trend beverages. Hence, her work involves creating an appreciation and permanent space for fine cider within the Twin Cities beverage landscape. She will gladly step into the ring with anyone who doubts cider as deserving of its own space alongside wine, beer, and spirits (and she will win).

Christian Scott Junes is just your average Head Cider Maker at Wild State Cider and a Business Owner at Borealis Beverage Company doing the best he can to bring people what they love, good beverages.

Greg Kodgis is the lead bartender and cocktail coordinator at Number 12 Cider in Minneapolis. He was raised south of Boston, came of age in South Korea, and moved to Minneapolis in his unripe 30s. A domestic creature of sensory pleasures, he looks forward to cooking staple and novel recipes, and always has an ear to the ground for a remarkable spirit, digestif, or cocktail. When not laboring in the taproom he enjoys the auditory and visual arts, both still and moving. Occasionally he reflects upon identity and self, or lack thereof, when writing bios. Greg is also a Certified Cicerone® who never intends to pass the Somm exam.

Valerie Scott is the Owner of Duluth Cider, located in Duluth, Minnesota. Valerie fell in love with cidermaking and drinking while living in New England and after traveling abroad to Europe. The company was founded in 2018, and produces a wide variety of ciders that appeal to every taste bud. When Valerie is not at the cidery, she can be found out hiking with her dog or spending time with friends and family.

Sarah is a passionate sommelier and hospitality professional based in Minneapolis. She finds joy in the collaborative nature of restaurant work and from a young age felt a strong sense of belonging among restaurant people. She has served in a variety of leadership roles throughout her career, most recently as Sommelier at the restaurant Demi where she curated diverse beverage pairings for a ten-course tasting menu experience, and before that as Wine Director and General Manager of 112 Eatery, whose team she led to Semifinals in 2018 for a James Beard Award in Outstanding Service. She is a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas, and holds a Level 3 Award in Wines from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. Sarah is also a founding board member of Twin Cities Somms, a volunteer-run not-for-profit created in the wake of the pandemic by out-of-work sommeliers seeking to unite and support the broader Twin Cities beverage community. She leads the organization in raising funds to support free membership access and facilitates regular educational programming on wine and cider. Currently Sarah can be found in Longfellow Minneapolis behind the cozy bar of The Bungalow Club, learning about spirits and aspiring to mix a perfectly balanced cocktail. Sarah has been drinking cider longer than grape wine and with more relish. She decided to pursue Certified Pommelier out of an organic love for the beverage and out of curiosity for the communities and cultures surrounding it. She is preparing for cider to inherit the Earth.