Hiring and onboarding your cidery’s tasting room staff is more than a quick training session on pouring technique and a rundown of the tap list. Instead, it’s a process that needs to be rooted in building confident and knowledgeable team members who can connect with every guest.
There are three foundational values in hiring practices: intentional training for those new to the brand, empowering the staff to grow within the business, and emphasizing the importance of tasting as a cultural building and educational tool.
For most, personality outweighs cider knowledge when it comes to hiring.
“Hiring for personality is our top priority,” said Tristan Wright, founder and president of Lost Boy Cider. “We can teach cider, but we can’t teach someone to be warm, curious, and genuine.”
Jennifer DeSmul of Big Mountain Ciderworks echoed that sentiment.
“The qualities I prioritize most in a potential new hire are attitude and personality,” she said. “I can teach you about cider and serving and our food, but I can’t teach you to have a positive, can-do attitude and great, friendly personality.”
Once the right person is hired, the next step is providing them with a deep understanding of the brand and the products.
“We prioritize hiring people who bring an innate sense of hospitality — folks who are welcoming, curious, and community-minded,” said Finnriver’s Andrew Byers, the cidery’s Operations Director and Cider Garden Manager. “While cider knowledge is a plus, it’s not essential. Teaching about cider and the ‘Finnriver way’ of making cider is a joyful process of tasting, touring, and talking through the seasons.”
DeSmul takes a hands-on approach to training new hires.
“I like to show them the production area and the steps we take to make cider,” she said. “I give them talking points and answers to frequently asked questions about cider making. I also require them to sample all of our ciders and come up with tasting notes and selling points for all ciders.”
For Atomic Dog’s Kat Gregory, tasting was the key to her growth from a hospitality hire to a cider evangelist.
“Now that I know how to discuss flavor profiles, mouthfeel, and our cider making processes with customers, my personal understanding of the industry is greatly enhanced,” she said. “This makes me a better asset to the company when it comes time to explain why people should give our cider a try.”
Tasting each product weekly and monthly isn’t just about product knowledge, it’s an internal culture builder.
“Team tastings are central to our internal culture,” Wright said about Lost Boy. “Every staff member tastes each new cider release and seasonal batch with our cellar team, and we encourage honest feedback. This builds a shared understanding of the product and keeps everyone engaged.”
Watson Wheeler emphasized that team tastings are embedded in their process from development through release.
“It’s fun and it makes everyone feel like they are an integral part of the process,” co-founder Bleeker Wheeler said. “We also set aside a limited number of bottles from every batch… and as they get close to being ready for release, we will open those together to taste them, brainstorm on flavor profiles, and make sure they’re actually ready.”
READ MORE: Managing a Growing Tasting Room Staff
Beyond tasting room duties, many cideries are creating opportunities for staff to grow into leadership roles or other departments.
“We’ve seen tasting room staff grow into leadership roles across events, distribution, and even production,” Wright said. “Our team-first approach and small size allow us to promote from within and reward initiative.”
DeSmul has promoted staff into roles such as Special Events Manager, Cider Lead, and even positions in the production area.
“Prove yourself, and if you have a passion and desire to move up, take on more responsibility and leadership roles in our business, I will give you the opportunity,” she said.
At City Orchard, co-founder Patrick Kwiatkowski has also seen staff move into ambassador roles that extend beyond the taproom.
“We use a lot of our taproom staff to do in-store demos and help with festivals,” he said. “This is a fantastic way to get knowledgeable and dedicated people behind the bar and under the tents. We have brand ambassadors that started as bartenders.”
The cider industry continues to evolve, and with it, the expectations of the tasting room staff. As Gregory put it, “Cider has long been regarded as one of the most inspired beverages… so we are inadvertently tasked with keeping up. This means that tasting room staff have to be in the know on our specific blends, but also have a solid, albeit simplified, understanding of how the apple gets from the tree to the customer’s glass.”
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