… That was my first ‘Oh, wow,’ and it won a couple of awards. I thought about how we hadn’t worked with wine grapes, so we got our hands on some petit manseng, fermented it with some Manchurian crabapple, and it came out so delicate and unique. “At the time, we didn’t have a title for that, we just called it a wine hybrid. “My favorite product I ever made was Petit Manchurian, the state’s first vino cider,” Benson says. After carefully following recipes to produce the company’s flagship products, he was given free rein to produce something of his own inspiration when he settled into the role of head cidermaker in 2018. The new building afforded them the space to establish a thriving events program and host weekend markets, pop-ups and even a small cheese shop on the premises that was once occupied by Truckle Cheesemongers.īenson originally started working at Blue Bee in the tasting room before moving to the cellar and eventually the production side of the venture as he dove deeper into the craft of cidermaking. When the cidery moved from its original location in Manchester to its current Summit Stables spot in Scott’s Addition, she became Mailey’s assistant. Smith started with Blue Bee as a bottle labeler. They became high school sweethearts, moved to Richmond to attend VCU and lived together during college before landing at Blue Bee while finishing their degrees. Smith and Benson, both 30, met at Smithfield High School. “They both have the passion and drive to make it successful, and they’re young enough to do what it takes,” she says. Which is why Blue Bee Cider Event Coordinator and Assistant General Manager Mackenzie Smith and Cidermaker Taylor Benson said “yes.”įor Mailey, the passing of the torch doesn’t feel like a risk at all. Over the years, Mailey’s active attention to the ideas of everyone on board built much trust among the crew, and the duo are familiar with how she navigated production, pioneered through experimentation, established connections and built community. Mailey says that when she reached the heart-wrenching decision last year, that she approached her core group of long-term employees about the opportunity to take over the cidery. I wanted to transition before a crisis happened.” I don’t want to be in the middle of a harvest if they need help. “There’s no point in being surprised by the inevitable in life,” Mailey says. Her parents are getting older, and this change will allow her to be closer to them. Much like the rest of Blue Bee’s continuing story, Mailey’s decision is aligned with deeply held personal values. Now, Mailey has made the choice to step away again. It was also the first urban cidery in Virginia, and during its 10-year run, Mailey and her team’s dedication to rare, Virginia-only heirloom apples and expressive products have made Blue Bee a name known throughout the commonwealth and beyond. In 2013, Courtney Mailey stepped away from finance and took a wild, rewarding risk: She opened Blue Bee Cider in Manchester, marking Richmond’s first foray into local cider. The new owners of Blue Bee Cider, Taylor Benson and Mackenzie Smith (Photo by Julianne Tripp)
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