Craft cider and an Airstream—what could be better?! We recently caught up with Dan and Tim, the co-founders of Potter’s Craft Cider based in Charlottesville, Virginia. The company is dedicated to creating unique and delicious cider made from fresh-pressed local apples, and now they have set their sights on creating a mobile tasting room out of an Airstream trailer! Read on to learn more about Dan and Tim’s entrepreneurial endeavors.
Potter’s Craft Cider is a company founded on friendship and a passion for the Live Riveted life. Dan Potter and Tim Edmond met while in college at Princeton University and quickly bonded over a shared love of home-brewing. After graduating in 2007, Dan started work as an environmental engineer in Durham, North Carolina, while Tim ended up working in finance in nearby Charlotte.They soon found themselves meeting up on the weekends to “escape the grind, brew beer, kick around ideas, share books, and generally try and figure out how we could find a way to live the good life.”
After a few years of discovering their passions and opportunities that helped them expand their brewing horizons, Dan and Tim relocated to Charlottesville, Virginia. In Charlottesville, theyfound the perfect place for their cidery: Wildair Farm, a working horse farm with views of the Blue Ridge mountains. They set up shop in a building once used as a horse veterinary clinic and began to experiment and hone their craft.
“Our ciders are fruit forward, crisp and dry. We do not add any sugar or water so the ciders finish almost like champagne. We are constantly exploring new styles and our love of experimentation keeps things fun and interesting,” said Tim.
At this point, Potter’s Craft Cider does not have a direct retail storefront—instead, their ciders are sold wholesale across Virginia. Tim and Dan are, however, excited about opening their mobile tasting room, which will operate from an Airstream trailer. The Potter’s Craft Cider team are now all hard at work gutting the travel trailer, stripping and priming the frame, installing a new floor along with new wheels and tires. Once finished, the interior of the Airstream will feature a 16-foot long bar as well!
“We have always loved the look and feel of the Airstream. My uncle is an Austinite with a serious Airstream ‘problem’, and we have really enjoyed watching him transform his trailers into guest houses on his ranch. We are Airstream novices but are taking a crash course in their construction and design as we take ours down to the frame and rebuilding it,” said Tim.
Tim and Dan are eager to meet the people who drink Potter’s Craft Cider and to engage with them about some of the new and exciting small batch ciders that they have been fermenting. Since the craft cider category is still being defined, they are looking forward to getting on the road to share what they do and why they love it.
When asked how they Live Riveted, Tim said “Every day offers new challenges that call for unique solutions. Our business is growing and changing. We are a very small company, right now our three full-time employees are Tim, Dan and Andy, so all three of us take a great sense of pride and ownership in every step of the process. We are thrilled that craft cider, despite being a tradition steeped in history, is still in a relative infancy in this country. There is a lot of room to explore and experiment with new styles and to help define the category of American Craft Cider.”
We are so excited to watch Potter’s Craft Cider grow and take their cider on the road with their Airstream tasting room! They will be hosting pop-up tastings beginning in April in Charlottesville, Virginia. Check out their website to learn more about the pop-up tastings and to follow along on their Airstream’s progress.
You can also learn more about Potter’s Craft Cider on Facebook and Twitter!
Photo by: Shay Munroe
