Tristan's blog
Notes from the founder.
An online diary of sorts, started in 2017 before there was a cidery. The lease that fell through, the one that didn't, cider school, competitions, COVID, and what's next.
Fall 2026: The Long Walk and the Long Winter
Two days before Fall Fest. The pumpkins and hay bales are ordered, the goats are confirmed, CJ has a hog on hold, and I'm writing this instead of sleeping, which is about right for the third week of…
Fall 2025: Reflections, Growth & What's Next
2025, like the last five years, was unpredictable. This post captures where we've been, what we've learned, and what's ahead for Lost Boy Cider. The year began quietly with Dry January—a period that…
The Sweet Future of Lost Boy Cider: A 2025 Message from the Founder
1. Welcome to Our Next Chapter We just hit our 6-year mark in June. Six years. That milestone sort of sucker-punched me with a wave of gratitude and exhaustion and, well, reflection. A lot of you…
2023, A Letter – Past, Present, and Future
Well, it's been several years since I last checked in on my startup blog. Years!? Wow, incredibly fast but also slow at the same time. It is hard for me to get my head around this in some ways. At…
CiderCon 2019
Each year the country's largest collective of all things cider gather together for the industry's annual conference. Overseen and managed by the good people at the United States Association of Cider…
Albemarle Ciderworks – A Day on the Orchard
There is a road in central Virginia that will make you question everything about your place on earth. 20 South winds slowly towards Charlottesville and is impossibly beautiful. It's 7AM and the sun…
The lease.
After making a painful business decision to walk away from our last location I wasn't sure what the future looked like. I did know that I had just created a serious delay in my timeline to launch…
GLINTCAP 2018
GLINTCAP: Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition. Each year Grand Rapids, Michigan hosts the annual industry-organized event where fellow cider makers judge cider, perry, and meads by…
Undeniable
I fell in love with cider the day I discovered her. Like meeting a beautiful person from an unfamiliar culture and immediately recognizing an instant connection. Like WHOA, this feels really good…
Lead Up
So we're at the end of April and there's a lot going on. This week brings some potentially interesting milestones. We're zeroing in on locations and finalizing logos. More to come on that soon. With…
Tug Boat Attitude
Progress around the cidery is steady. I'm constantly reminded that I'm on other people's schedules. Patience appears to be the name of the game. Industrial space is few and far between so we've…
Pacific Northwest and Seattle Cider
Last week my friend Scott invited me out to his shop, Seattle Cider. Scott's a humble guy so you wouldn't know he's the head cider maker there, you wouldn't know he's a serious pro at problem…
CiderCon Pep Talk
I was feeling pretty grateful to be at CiderCon this year. Surrounded by good people and inspired by all of the positive energy I posted a video to capture the moment during a sunrise walk. Watch my…