The admins of The Cider Exchange group on Facebook (Ryan Gravell, Erica Jeter, Matt Windle) wanted to take advantage of Women's History Month in March and highlight members of the group who are in the Cider Industry. Collectively, we came up with a standard set of questions to ask our honored guests. We hope you enjoy our feature and get to know more about the Women in Cider who are being highlighted.
Talia Haykin
Haykin Family Cider, Owner and CMO
Q: Tell us about yourself and your role in cider
TH: I am the co-owner of Haykin Family Cider. I do all the marketing, I manage our tasting room, I sell the cider, do tastings, bottle, package shipments... I do just about anything that needs to be done.
Q: What do you enjoy most about cider and/or the cider industry?
TH: Prior to making cider, neither my husband nor I were in the alcohol or food world... other than the fact that we both really enjoy consumables. Being a part of the industry has been so much fun! We have had the opportunity to meet so many amazing people both in cider and food. Additionally, we've had such incredible food/beverage experiences as well. Another joy has been the comradery amongst cider people. Everyone has been so supportive and kind.
Q: Do you have a favorite moment in your cider adventures?
TH: Finding out competition results is probably pretty high up there but maybe the coolest so far was when we were invited to pour at an Outstanding In The Field event with Fruition Farms Creamery. The image of 200+ seats at one long table in a field with exceptional chefs cooking for us... it was... WOW. What an opportunity!
Q: What was the first cider that really knocked your socks off?
TH: When we were first starting out, we tried tons of cider. In fact, we drank a lot of cider before we started cidermaking and that was the impetus to try to make our own. A lot of them were good or interesting but we kept pushing to find the best, for our tastes. When we started making our own cider, it was the same thing. We kept pushing to make it better - which is how we found the exceptional nature of single varietals. So there's been a lot of cider... But truthfully, it was probably Dan's first real Esopus Spitzenberg cider, which won best in class at GLINTCAP... or maybe our Ernest Cider - a blend of apples foraged in the Boulder area that we guessed were planted by Boulder's Johnny Appleseed, Ernest Greenman - which won Franklin County Cider Days. Those two ciders were pretty seminal in our decision to start the business.
Q: What is your current favorite apple for cidermaking and why do you love it?
TH: Honestly, I have to say Esopus Spitzenberg. It consistently is a winner for us and other apples that have done well for us usually have Spitz as one of the 'parents.' It's really an exceptional apple. Sometimes it has melon notes and sometimes it's more tropical. It's a trip to taste two ciders made from 100% Spitz grown in different places. You can really taste the terroir differences.
Q: What do you do when you’re not making great ciders?
TH: HA! Good question... Well, I run my own freelance marketing business and Dan is an investment advisor. Plus I'm usually crawling around on the floor playing babies and Paw Patrol with our 4.5 and 2-year-old.
Q: When you're not drinking your own ciders, what are you drinking?
Q: When you're not drinking your own ciders, what are you drinking?
TH: TBH, if it's not our cider, it's usually a Gin & Tonic or Coors Light
Q: Anything else you'd like to add?
TH: There probably will never be any experience like starting a cidery while 9 months pregnant and giving birth to our daughter 6 days after we opened. It was a little like having twins... She spent the first 6+ months of her life going to sales meetings with us and now we call her our Chief of Sales. And our son only really heard his last name in conjunction with the business so for a while, around 3 years old, he told his teachers and strangers and everyone that his full name was David Haykin Family Cider. Which is hilarious and adorable. My kids use the bottle labels as stickers, play with corks, and my son climbs into empty tanks and declares "This is my cider house!" Our business is truly a family business. Truth in advertising. We are just a couple of people who love a certain style of cider and want to share that with all of you.
Talia Haykin
Owner | CMO
Haykin Family Cider
haykinfamilycider.com
Award-winning sparkling cider - pressed, fermented, and bottled in Aurora, CO
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