Jocelyn Kuzelka is a winemaker, cidermaker, and technical consultant. Since 2003, Jocelyn has followed her love of fermentation and enology all around the world with experience working wine grape harvests in the U.S., Italy, Australia, and New Zealand. Her education includes a B.S. in Biochemistry from Virginia Tech and a M.S. in Oenology from the University of Adelaide in South Australia. Jocelyn has been serving as a consultant to winemakers and cidermakers across the country, as well as creating small batch wines and ciders in Virginia since 2008. Jocelyn’s company Panacea Wine & Cider Consulting has helped producers build successful, thriving wine and cider companies; working with many different producers over the years has given her a high level of mastery and proficiency in the field. Jocelyn also serves as the Cider Specialist for the Virginia Winemakers Research Exchange, a non-profit organization of Virginia producers pursuing quality improvement through practical experimentation in vineyards, orchards, wineries, and cideries. The organization supports wine and cider makers to refine ideas or questions through experimental design, protocol design, funding laboratory analysis, and finally conducting sensory and statistical evaluation.

Seven years into her career as a professional cidermaker, Christine’s company Bauman’s Cider has four consecutive titles of Mid-sized Cidery of the Year at both of the most prestigious cider competitions in the US. She is a fifth generation farmer, growing apples and making them into cider in the beautiful Willamette Valley, Oregon. Christine is on the Board of Directors for both the American Cider Association and the Cider Institute of North America. She is driven by an intense passion to move the bar upwards in both supply of and demand for cider, increasing access for makers and consumers to great fruit, fair markets and ever increasing quality of ciders. She is always dragging around her family and friends, in search of new favorite ciders and producers, tirelessly scouring the globe for the next perfect glass of apple-fermented magic.

Dave Takush is the Head Cidermaker and co-owner of 2 Towns Ciderhouse. Dave earned a Master’s Degree in fermentation science at Oregon State University and has almost over a decade of experience in the craft beer, wine and cider industries. His passion for fermentation led him to join two childhood friends in starting 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Corvallis, Oregon. Now one of the largest craft cider producers in the nation, 2 Towns has over 100 employees and is dedicated to producing quality craft cider from 100% fresh-pressed Pacific NW apples. Dave is the current board secretary for the American Cider Association, and also a board member of the Cider Institute of North America.

Mary Mills joined 3 Tier Beverages in 2022 from NielsenIQ, where she spent 14 years across client management, business development, and innovation insights. She has experience working with various clients in the food, beverage, and consumer goods industries, with 9 years focused on alcohol specifically. She holds a Marketing degree from The Ohio State University and is an avid Buckeye fan. She resides in Columbus, Ohio with her husband Andy and two children, Luke and Ava.

Beth Demmon is an award-winning freelance writer and podcast host, BJCP Certified beer judge, Certified Cider Professional, and member of the North American Guild of Beer Writers. Her work has appeared in outlets such as The Washington Post, Food & Wine, Good Beer Hunting, and many more. Her first book, The Beer Lover’s Guide to Cider: American Ciders for Craft Beer Fans to Explore, is out now.

Breanne Heuss is a brand marketing leader with a reputation for identifying emerging consumer trends and market opportunities, launching first-to-market products, and establishing early market dominance across multiple beverage categories. With more than a decade of branding experience in the beverage industry, she has worked on everything from established national wine brands including Sutter Home Family Vineyards and FRE Alcohol-Removed Wines to developing new brands within the low/no alcohol space. Breanne currently serves as the Marketing Director for Golden State Cider and Seismic Brewing Company overseeing the marketing department driving new consumer acquisition, new brand development, and growth within direct-to-consumer channels. Breanne is also an at large member of the American Cider Association’s Board of Directors. Born and raised in California, she is happy to combine her love for supporting local agriculture with brands that expand consumer occasions and experiences.

Cider expert and author of Cider Cocktails – Another Bite of the Apple, Darlene Hayes has traveled throughout the world interviewing cidermakers, growers, and researchers, all the while drinking many fabulous ciders and trying to wrap her head around cider, past and present. She is a well regarded international cider judge and teacher, editor of the cider zine Malus, and writes about cider for a variety of other publications, including a regular column for Spirited Magazine, as well as at allintocider.com. She makes a bit of cider of her own from her orchard where she is conducting research on the impact of terroir on apples used for cider.

As the founder-editor of cider-review.com, the UK’s leading source of long-form content on cider and perry, Adam Wells has been at the forefront of covering the worldwide cider and perry revolution. He is currently writing his first book, Perry: A Drinker’s Guide, to be published by CAMRA Books in May 2024. Adam has written for Pellicle, JancisRobinson.com, Burum Collective and Full Juice Magazine amongst others and makes regular presentations on cider and perry as well as co-hosting the Cider Voice podcast. A regular judge at major cider competitions, he is the incoming Chair of the International Cider Challenge. A firm believer in celebrating the links between different drinks made with craft and care, Adam holds the prestigious WSET Wine & Spirits Diploma and works by day in the whisky and rum industry.

Steve Selin is the owner-orchardist-cidermaker at South Hill Cider in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Steve has been foraging apples and making cider since 2002. For South Hill Cider, Steve sources fruit from varied sources such as wild pippins and abandoned trees, his own cider orchard, leased orchards, and a contract-orchard planted in cider apples. He directly manages 20 acres of apples. South Hill Cider, founded in 2013, has a tasting room including local farm-to-table food menu, U-pick flowers, event space for weddings and music events.

Ellen Cavalli is co-owner and sales & marketing director at Tilted Shed Ciderworks in Sonoma County, which she founded in 2011 with her husband, Scott. She has been named as “one of seven women moving American cider forward” by Wine Enthusiast, and is a 2019 inductee into the Heritage Radio Hall of Fame for her work devoted to advancing cider in America. Following her breast cancer diagnosis in 2021, she embarked upon creating low-ABV cider spritzes and nonalcoholic ciders, releasing the first dealcoholized cider in the US in December 2022.