Martha Lowry is a passionate cider maker who has been working in the beverage industry for most of her professional career. With a background in horticulture, and experience managing organic and IPM orchards, she believes the best apples make the best cider. Martha has worked in some of the largest and smallest craft cideries in Ontario and made everything from apple focused wine style ciders to fun fruity flavored ciders. As head distiller she also crafted apple brandies and apple gins. She currently owns and operates Woodfolk Cider up in Ontario, Canada.

Andy Garrison is the distiller/owner of TUFF TALK Distilling, a boutique distillery in Portland, Oregon focused on custom distillation for the wine industry as well as producing esoteric spirits centered around fruit. Andy has been distilling professionally since 2012 at Stone Barn Brandyworks, with stints at New Deal Distillery and House Spirits, and he has consulted with dozens of clients in the cider, wine, and spirits industries to develop award-winning spirits products.

David Klein is the co-founder and head distiller at Ambix Spirits, an artisanal apple brandy distillery based in Sebastopol, California. His path to distilling is circuitous: a physics PhD from Berkeley and a founder of a biotech and medical device instrumentation startup. David’s journey has been shaped by a deep curiosity and a passion for precision. However, his true love has always been fermentation—and apples. He was an early homebrewer and certified beer judge and planted well over a dozen apple trees in the tiny front yard of his first Bay Area home, planting the seed for what would become Ambix Spirits. Today, alongside his partner Zoe, David runs Ambix Spirits, where they cultivate over 300 different varieties of apples, pears, and quince. Using traditional French distillation techniques and equipment, they create award-winning brandies and ciders that reflect their dedication to craft and innovation.

Jason Cassidy is the cidermaker at The Cider Farm in Madison, WI where he is fortunate to make craft ciders from the best organic French and English cider apples in the Midwest. He finds the combination of hands-on work and the seasonal nature of orchard-based cidermaking deeply rewarding. He is a Cider Institute Certified Cider Maker, and an ACA Certified Pommelier. Jason got serious about cidermaking after being diagnosed with Celiac disease. After realizing that making cider was what he really wanted to do with his one and precious life, and with unwavering support of his wife to seek professional fulfillment wherever it may lie, he made the switch from amateur to professional and hasn’t looked back once. He can often be found conducting important ‘flavor research’ with friends and family and discussing all the crazy things yeasts are capable of doing

John Behrens is the Founder and President of Farmhaus Cider Company located in Hudsonville, Michigan. This company was founded in 2015 and has gone on to win many national and international accolades and awards. John began his first term as President of the Michigan Cider Association in 2018. Previously, he worked as a Certified Public Accountant for over 10 years at BDO USA and Steelcase. John holds an MBA from Grand Valley State University, in addition to degrees in Accounting and Finance.

Todd Little-Siebold is a professor of history at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. He teaches class on a wide range of topics, including one on the history of apples. His class “The Cider Project” was a year-long experiment in teaching the history and techniques of making hard cider. He has spent the last fifteen years tracking down, researching, and helping to preserve heirloom apples in downeast Maine. He has collaborated with the Maine Heritage Orchard since its inception in 2014 to build its current collection of 400 rare and historic cultivars.

Patti Wilcox co-founded Gravity/Awestruck Ciders in Sidney, New York and spent the last 12 years taking it from zero to a 30+ person team. After a 2023 restructure, she turned to AI to rebuild operations and grow sales. She helps fellow cideries, wineries, and breweries navigate AI, translating buzzwords into ready-to-use, beverage-specific workflows that augment people, not replace them.

Māris Plūme is the cider maker behind Mr. Plūme Cidery in Latvia. He began his cider journey as a trainee at Domaine Dupont in France and Distelberger Cider (Most) in Austria, where he learned traditional European cider-making techniques. Since 2010, Māris has been experimenting with diverse methods and styles, earning numerous awards across Spain, Germany, Norway, Madeira, and local competitions. Each autumn, he leads an “apple safari” to discover and preserve native Latvian cider apple varieties—many of which are now grafted and thriving in his family orchard. In addition to cider, Māris is passionate about perry making and cultivating distinctive pear varieties, continuing his dedication to the craft from orchard to glass.

Chris Leimena has had a love for food and hospitality for as long as he can remember. After graduating from culinary school he spent a decade honing his skills as a chef at some of Portland’s top culinary destinations. Chris has since managed the dining rooms of many of Portland’s premier restaurants. His deep appreciation for food and wine naturally evolved into a love for cider, and he has been enthusiastically sharing his knowledge and passion for all things apple with Bauman’s Cider ever since!

Jamie Hanson is the Orchard Manager at Seed Savers Exchange, overseeing the care of nearly 1,000 historic apple trees throughout two eight-acre preservation orchards in Decorah, Iowa. Her interest in apple growing began with the study of pomological history in coastal Maine, shaping her expertise in preserving and promoting historic apple cultivars. Focused on innovative collection management, Jamie and the team at Seed Savers Exchange are combining new technologies with time-tested practices to re-examine how their orchards can address both global and community needs.