Answer Man: Where does Bold Rock Mills River get its fruits?
MILLS RIVER - Today’s question asks about where the fruit comes from for Bold Rock's beverages in Mills River. Got a question for Answer Man or Answer Woman? Email Asheville Citizen Times Executive Editor Karen Chávez at KChavez@citizentimes.com and your question could appear in an upcoming column.
Question: Where do all the fruits come from for Bold Rock's apple ciders and also its other ones like lemonade, blackberry cider, berry peach cider and raspberry lemonade?
Answer: Bold Rock Brand Manager Maddie Doering said while she's unable to provide specific suppliers of all the different kinds of fruits, she is able to say the general area of where the company's main fruit comes from.
"Each of our cider styles contains a proprietary blend of apple styles such as Granny Smith, Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp and more, and we source our apples from our backyard in the Blue Ridge Mountains as much as possible," she said. "In terms of a specific source, we are not able to give you that information. Cider is a highly competitive industry and we do not wish to fully disclose what makes Bold Rock so special."
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Travis Brown, who is Bold Rock's director of operations, told the Times-News on July 11 that Bold Rock gets in several bins of apples each week from area suppliers.
"Honestly, I don't even know the amount of pounds we get, but it's a lot of apples," he said. "It usually takes two days to process. The workers usually get in around 6 a.m., and as soon as they hit the ground, the press is running."
Brown said the press normally runs all day, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Last month, Bold Rock in Mills River celebrated its 11th birthday and made a big cake, serving slices to its customers. The company was founded in Nellysford, Virginia, in June 2012 by John Washburn and a world-renowned cider expert, Brian Shanks, Doering said.
"After some quick and early successes, Bold Rock opened its second cidery location on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Mills River in early 2015. Now 11 years 'Bold,' Bold Rock is distributed in more than 20 states and is ranked as the No. 2-best-selling cider in the United States," she said.
In addition to apple ciders, Bold Rock has other fruit blends, including blackberry, peach, raspberry, lemon and watermelon.
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"Flavorful ciders and lemonades are what we are known for," Doering said. "The fresh fruit juice in products like our blackberry cider or our latest seasonal berry peach is sourced from some of our amazing partners across the U.S., and we are always ensuring quality is a top priority for our cider."
Located at 72 Schoolhouse Road in Mills River, Bold Rock is open noon-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. For more information, go to https://boldrock.com/ or call 828-595-9940.
Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Answer Man: Where does Bold Rock Mills River get its fruits?
