“In the early days of 2 Towns Ciderhouse, we were still producing our ciders in a converted garage. We were bottling our cider on a chilly winter day in the parking lot in front of the rollup door on our bay. We had completely filled our small 1,000 ft garage with tanks and equipment and had been forced to start bottling outside. As the rains set in and winter was upon us, we purchased an R.V. canopy to cover the area directly in front of our garage to help keep the rain off our heads as we worked. This day was chillier than usual, and it began to snow. We worked on with fingerless gloves, hoping to get through the day’s packaging run quickly so we could get back indoors in front of a warm heater.
The snow began to accumulate on the canopy as the snowfall became heavier. With a loud crack, one of the canopy supports gave way, and piles of snow poured down on our heads. Our landlord was across the parking lot, watching all the commotion with a smirk. He was puffing on his customary cigar and taking his afternoon walk around the grounds when he came across our rumpled crew. As we dug out from under the mess, he strolled over and declared, “Boys, I think you need a bigger boat.” Assuming he was ribbing us in our predicament, we shot back some snarky jabs, to which he repeated, “I really do think you need a bigger boat… and I want to talk to you about building it.”
The statement caught our attention, and we put down our crumpled canopy parts and damp bottling equipment and followed him to his office. Our landlord unrolled plans to build what would become our tasting room facility. We had not yet considered at this phase of our business that we could even hope to afford a purpose-built facility. Our landlord indicated that he had wanted to build this new building for some time but was waiting for the right anchor tenants. He said anybody working in the snow in the parking lot on a day when all of his other tenants had already gone home because of the weather were the right people to talk with to make his plans a reality. Using our graphics skills, we added a 2 Towns logo on top of the artist’s rendering of the building in his plans – that graphic, now framed, still adorns a wall in our tasting room.
Over the next year, we worked with our landlord and watched as our new facility took shape. First in piles of dirt, then grids of rebar, then concrete slabs, and finally in finishing trim, the tap room was nearing completion. We walked through what seemed a vast empty space in awe of the 40ft ceilings and medal girders holding it all together. We knew that our dream of bringing cider back was moving out of our small garage and into our own space – and with this move, we could expand our business and begin to share it with our fans. While we have since grown into new production facilities and expanded offices, it was in this first space that we really learned our voice and first got to share our craft with our local community. Cheers to the friends and family who all supported us in this journey! Thank you all!”
– Aaron Sarnoff-Wood, Co-Founder of 2 Towns Ciderhouse