Kira Bassingthwaighte
Kira Bassingthwaighte was raised in Missoula, MT and developed a deep appreciation for food and beverage early on in life. In 2009, she ventured out East for culinary school in New York’s Hudson Valley and it was here that she fell in love with fermentation, the world of apples and cider. The Rocky Mountains called her home to Montana where she began distilling at a local distillery in 2013 before she found her home as the cidermaker with Western Cider in 2017. In 2020, she received the Peter Mitchell Award for Educational Excellence and joined the Cider Institute of North America’s board of directors in April 2022.