An interview with Curt Henry of TattieBogle CiderWorks!
Matt Windle: Before we get into talking about cider, tell us about yourself.
Curt Henry: I am a Leo. I like long walks on the beach at sunset. I don’t like mean people…
But seriously folks, I live in southwestern Pennsylvania in a three-county area called “The Laurel Highlands of PA”. It is the playground of Pennsylvania offering skiing, hiking, bicycling, white water rafting, and just about every other outdoor adventure that you can think of. The area also boasts, 33 craft beverage producers including breweries, wineries, distilleries, meaderies, and one cidery, us.
We have a house outside of Uniontown, PA on the Chestnut Ridge, the westernmost ridge of the Allegheny Mountains which is a sub-range of the Appalachian Mountains. Our family farm, Laurel Run Acres, where Tattiebogle Ciderworks is located, is on the same ridge about 20 miles north. I could literally walk the ridge from one place to the other.
I have a wife and three children, a girl and two boys, all of whom are especially important to me. Family is one of the pillars in my life.
Due to my blatant disregard and lack of respect for authority, I have never been employable by others, so I have been self-employed my whole life other than two years right out of college. 😊 I have a master’s degree in Math and Computer Science and my first company was an IT consulting firm. I built it over the years, got bored, and sold it to my employees. My last adventure was an equity stake in a packaging company which brought you the likes of (Love them or Hate them) the upside down Heinz ketchup and mustard bottles, STP oil treatments packaging, and lots of J&J and P&G consumer goods packaging. We sold the company and I thought that I had retired early, but after about a week of being home all day, Wifey sweetly suggested that I find “something to do”. I was apparently cramping her social schedule. So, instead of taking up golf or something reasonable, I decide to buy a farm and start making cider…😊
MW: How did Tattiebogle Ciderworks come about? What is a "Tattiebogle"?
CH: Tattiebogle CiderWorks was not our first name. It was Highlander CiderWorks. I thought that it was the perfect name due to my heritage, the fact that we are in the Laurel Highlands of PA, and the number of Scottish and Irish descendants that live in this area. Unfortunately, we ran into a trademark issue with Highlander Brewing in Montana which we were not able to resolve. Long story short, the owner of the Highlander Brewing name turned out to be a patent and trademark attorney who taught at the University of Montana for over 20 years, no way I am winning that battle…
We had jumped the gun and had glassware, labels, and merch with the Highlander name on them so, we had to punt. Expect to see these Highlander badged items on sale for millions of dollars when Tattiebogle CiderWorks becomes the next Budweiser. 😊 At the same time, my mom, who had suffered long illnesses died. She was a 5 foot 4 inches tall, feisty, red head with Scottish blood and attitude coursing through her veins. She loved apples and apple trees. I wanted a Scottish themed name as an homage to her as well as the other reasons above. Tattiebogle is a compound Scottish word from “Tattie” meaning potato and Bogle meaning spirit or ghost. Our name literally means Potato Ghost. It is the Scottish word for the scarecrow that guards the fields. It was also used by Scottish parents as a cautionary tale, “Don’t go out after dark or the Tattiebogle will get you.” Or, “Leave my sight and the Tattiebogle will get you.” It is also the origin of the Bogey Man, via Germany, who lives under American children’s beds.
There were no trademarks on Tattiebogle in the alcohol industry, it is a conversation starter, and it is fun to say, perfect for our needs.
MW: How has the journey towards opening been?
CH: Well, it has been a long one, but fun. I thought that I knew about red-tape until I encountered the TTB (The US Federal agency that regulates alcohol sales), the PLCB (the state version of the TTB), and building inspectors (think Deputy Barney Fife of Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show). I have also learned that in this business, everything takes 5 times as long as you projected and costs 10 times as much. There is an old joke in the wine business that goes “How do you make a small fortune in the wine industry?” Answer: “Start with a large fortune.” It applies to the cider industry as well. I am fairly sure that the fun is just beginning.
MW: How has the Covid-19 pandemic altered your plans and what are your short-term plans for the future?
CH: The Corona Plague has certainly slowed our tasting room opening. Contractors were not able to work by decree of the governor of Pennsylvania and the state was shut down, so we could not get inspections needed for occupancy completed. Now we find ourselves in a position where the inspectors have a 3-4-month backlog due to the shutdowns. Luckily, we are farm-based, so we have plenty of outdoor space to accommodate guests. I honestly don’t know how restaurants and other service industry business will make it while limited to 50% occupancy as they are here in PA. If you are a salaried employee, think about losing 50% of your income overnight, but still having your mortgage, car loans, and other bills. The economic and cultural effects of this pandemic are only starting to be felt and will play out over generations. If things don’t work out for the cidery, we are going to have one heck of a place to have parties…
MW: It would appear that you have a strong Scottish influence in your imagery. Where does that come from?
CH: As I said above, I have Scottish heritage and live in the Laurel Highlands of PA, an area rich in Scottish, Irish, and English history and culture. One of the pillars of this adventure is family. Our logo is shaped like a coat of arms, denoting this. “Family Owned” is on the shield. Our motto on the scroll of the crest is “Flavor, Craft, Tradition”. I am proud of my heritage and wanted to introduce others to it. I think that it is a fascinating culture with lots of tradition that lends itself well to cider culture. There is an air and mystique to Scotland and the Scottish people, with swirling mist and castles, much like there is to cider in this country. You will see the Scottish theme carried through to all parts of the cidery and our ciders as we go forward and evolve.
MW: What is the history and affiliation with Laurel Run Acres?
CH: The full name of the cidery is “Tattiebogle Ciderworks on Laurel Run Acres”, but that was too long to fit on the Cidercon registration form. Laurel Run Acres is a separate business entity focused on regenerative agriculture. It is the actual name of the farm where the Tattiebogle CiderWorks is located. Laurel Run Acres owns the pre-prohibition cultivar, heirloom orchard where Tattiebogle will source organic apple juice for the estate line of traditional ciders which we will offer. I guarantee you that we have cultivars that very few people will have ever heard of:
Ribston Pippin from the 1700’s
Venus Pippin – juicy, sweet, and acidic
Red Spitzenburg – supposedly Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple
Franklin – a bittersharp with all the necessary qualities of a great single variety
White Pippin – Early 1800’s American apple with hints of citrus and vanilla,
Baldwin, Carter’s Blue, Lord Hindlip, etc.
We currently have 53 cultivars and will add more next spring. My goal is to make a heritage line of ciders that would be representative of what Pennsylvanians of old drank.
We will also offer modern ciders with juice sourced from other select Pennsylvania orchards under the “PA Preferred” program which requires 75% of your raw materials come from other PA businesses.
The long-term vision for Laurel Run Acres is to grow, on-farm, most of our fruit and spice adjuncts used in the modern ciders, using beyond organic, regenerative agricultural practices. As a second phase, my vision is to grow organic vegetables and pasture-raised, all-natural livestock for an on-farm, ultra-local farm to fork and glass restaurant featuring our products and the best of offerings of other local craft beverage makers and food producers.
MW: What's the cider scene in Pennsylvania like? I know a lot of folks were sad to miss PA Cider Fest this past weekend.
CH: The PA Cider scene is on fire. Pennsylvania is the 4th largest apple producing state in the country. While we lag Washington state in sheer volume, we make up for it with a huge legacy of apple production experience and culture. Adams County, PA, which includes historically important Gettysburg, is the highest apple producing county in the country. There is a huge concentration of top-shelf orchards and cideries, all just a stone’s throw from each other in the Gettysburg area. In western PA we are more spread out, but we have one of the pioneers of the cider revival in a very hip area of Pittsburgh. Arsenal Ciders just celebrated their 10th anniversary this week. Pittsburgh is becoming a very Bohemian city known for its food and beverage culture. With an adventurous, rapidly growing, younger population and dirt-cheap rent compared to New York, Chicago, LA, and San Francisco, hot young chefs, fresh from culinary school, are coming to Pittsburgh to make their names before moving on to the big markets. Most of these chefs are very cider friendly and incorporate cider into their pairings and offerings just as an older chef would wine.
We are the first cidery in the Laurel Highlands and hope to become the destination for fun-loving cider fans from all over. The PA Laurel Highlands are easily reachable from all the major metropolitan areas in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic sections of the country.
The PA Cider Fest is one of the best craft beverage festivals out there. Put on by Cider Culture Magazine and Jack’s Hard Cider, as a benefit for the Pennsylvania Cider Guild, it has increased in size and fun every year. It is always sold out. Due to the Plague this year, the organizers have had to quickly pivot and are offering a virtual event August 15th. It is shaping up to be a neat event. You can find more info by checking out Cider Culture’s website or FB page. PA Cider Fest also has a FB page with info.
I am sure that the event will be back next year with a vengeance. It is well worth the trip to try over 35 PA cideries’ wares, while enjoying great food and music. It is easy to make a long weekend of it with so much to do in and around Gettysburg.
Expect to see more great things out of the PA Cider industry.
MW: A big part of the cider life is the people and experiences that come along the journey. Do you have any memorable cider memories?
CH: This is a tough question to answer simply because of the sheer volume of memories and great people that I have met on this path. I came from an extremely competitive business where fractions of a penny on a line item could win or lose a deal for you. I like to refer to the cider Industry and other craft beverage industries as “Coopetition” rather than competition. Anyone in this industry will do anything in their power to help out someone in need, be that loaning equipment, helping to solve a problem, sharing knowledge, or physically helping bottle and label to help a “Coopetitor” meet a deadline. The cider industry is filled with great people, there are engineers, computer scientists, musicians, artists, but few “pure” businesspeople. My theory on this is that cidermaking requires both sides of your brain to be successful, the logical and scientific side as well as the creative, artistic side. I know myself that if you live in both sides of your brain, most professions are frustrating because they tend to focus on one side or the other leaving the other side unfulfilled. Cidermaking fills that gap and I think that is why it attracts such great people.
Cidercon must be one of the greatest experiences that a cider lover can have. You can skip the tradeshow, the educational sessions, and just go to the tastings and parties instead and you will still have received much more value than the price of admission.
I remember being in a morning keynote session my first year at Cidercon and having Ian Merwin, Cornell University, Professor Emeritus and America’s foremost pomologist from Black Diamond Cidery sitting on my right and Steve Wood from Poverty Lane Orchard and Farnum Hill Cidery sitting directly behind me. If you don’t know these names, these are two demi-gods of the cider industry, and I was having a conversation with them. If I were a little younger and more fanboy in nature, I probably would have fainted or asked for autographs.
Another time, I was standing on a street in an industrial section of Portland, OR at 7:00 am, in front of a locked brewery. I was feeling a little bit like a first day in high school, not knowing exactly what to do since the doors were locked to the place that I was supposed have my “The Business of Cider Class” sponsored by Portland State University. I see a very big guy, very Italian guy, very bearded guy that looked like he had the bone-breaking ability of the best Mafia enforcers headed straight for me. Here’s me knowing that I am going to lose my wallet and probably a few teeth. It turns out that it is super-nice, super well-known Cider Guy, GLINTCAP Gold Medal Winner, Ron Sansone, of Spoke and Spy Ciders in CT. It turns out that he is here for the class too. We start talking like we have known each other all our lives and became good friends.
I could go on and on, but I will save that for in person recitals of my tales.
MW: When you're not drinking the cider you're making, what are you drinking?
CH: There is an old saying that goes, “It takes a lot of good beer to make great wine.” The funny thing is that I don’t drink alcohol. It is kind of an inside joke amongst the people who know me. I like to think that I use the same approach as a 3 Michelin Star, vegetarian chef who is known for their meat dishes. I sniff, sip, swirl, and spit. It is difficult for me to tell how things finish without swallowing, so I rely heavily on trusted others to give me honest feedback. I think that it works out well, since my goal is to make ciders that other people enjoy, not necessarily myself.
If I am drinking something it is probably my ever-present Klean Kanteen filled with our Pennsylvania Wildberry seltzer water, made with organic PA blueberries, blackberries, red raspberries, and black currants that we will offer at the tasting room to non-drinkers and designated drivers.
MW: Any other thoughts or nuggets you'd like to share with the group?
CH: If you can’t tell, I am deeply passionate about this whole cider revival. It is the culmination of my dream to have a family owned business that can be passed from generation to generation. I have always been fascinated by businesses that have survived for hundreds of years within the same family and have honed their craft to perfection.
There is an exceptionally good book by a Napa Valley insider that details the early years and personalities of the American wine industry. I am firmly convinced that someday, someone will write a similar book about the American Cider Culture and its pioneers. American Cider needs to keep this revival plunging ahead by finding its own culture, distinct from the great cider cultures of the UK, France, and Spain. Through innovation, impeccable quality, and determination we will become the beverage of choice for generations to come.
Thanks for the opportunity to let me ramble. I deeply appreciate it. I hope that some of you find at least a bit of value and humor in my musings. Please feel free to get in touch with me anytime. I would love to hear from you.
Slàinte!
