Olivia Yi Makes Art With Apples
Olivia Yi Makes Art With Apples
The assistant cider maker for Brooklyn Cider House is part of a budding family business.
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Even in infinite universes with infinite variations, Olivia Yi says she’d probably still end up working in food and beverage. “It’s in my blood,” she says, pointing to her family. From her brother to her aunts to second cousins, most of her relatives work somewhere in the industry. “I don’t know if I could be in any other industry. Maybe art,” she muses.
Art was originally the path she set down upon in college at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There she studied painting, video installations, and woodworking, the latter of which sparked an interest in more hands-on creating. Once she built, shaped, and created tangible objects with her hands, she realized those skills translated beyond the studio—straight to the family business at Brooklyn Cider House.
Olivia’s father Peter founded Brooklyn Cider House (BCH) with her aunt Susan almost 10 years ago. Before that, Olivia says her parents originally worked in wine retail in Manhattan, which introduced Peter to the wine world and eventually cider. From his first sip of cider, Olivia says he caught the bug and never looked back. She laughs as she remembers walking into the garage and seeing “gallons and gallons” of apple juice. “I thought my dad was a little crazy,” she chuckles. But she says that natural progression pulled her in as well, almost unconsciously. “It was just always around me, and there was so much love there,” she says. Food and drink always connected her family. Making it themselves opened them up to an entirely new world.
Once she came on board BCH around four years ago, Olivia says her art school training dovetailed into the day-to-day of cider making in surprising ways. “Thinking outside of the box, problem solving, being a little bit more innovative I think definitely helped during that time,” she recalls, noting “that time” is the BCH’s current nascent stage of farming and cider making—endeavors she describes as taking years, if not generations, to fully develop. “In the farming industry, 10 years is still a baby,” she says. They’re figuring out how—and what—to build together, and Olivia’s self-described "creative, eclectic, and passionate” mind is an integral part of it.
Even if ending up in food and beverage seemed like an inevitability, working for a family business wasn’t necessarily what she expected. However, she says it’s “one of the best decisions” she’s ever made, even when opinions clash. “There are a lot of passions, and there's a lot of love for what we do,” Olivia explains. “Every single one of us—starting from my aunt, my dad and myself included—we're bold and we know what we want.” But working with her family, one that she describes as always dedicated to food, drink, family, and creativity, has made her a better cider maker, especially as someone who didn’t originally set out to be one.
As a Korean-American family, Olivia says her older brother probably felt more pressure to follow in the family’s initial wine path. “I had the luxury to wander off and go to art school,” she says, adding that she’s only felt “incredible support” from her family to pursue her interests. She was able to explore the world and make the choice to build something with those she trusts the most. That freedom to choose allowed her to figure out the cider maker she wants to be.
“My whole approach is there’s not really many rules in cider making, especially in America. It's kind of a free-for-all,” she says. She calls herself a firm believer in minimal intervention (“to keep the cider as pure as possible”), but also a fan of funky ciders as long as they remain balanced. What she says she lacks in formal wine or cider education, she’s learned from experience. “All I know is through the juices I have,” she says. “I’m just here to learn, observe, and try to make incredible ciders.”
I ask Olivia where she thinks she fits into the evolving American cider scene. If there aren’t rules, where does she think the cider industry is heading? What sort of legacy and reputation are American cider makers creating, especially compared to more established cider regions like Europe? She thinks for a moment.
“Agriculture in America is really like no other—especially because of the fact we don't have many rules. It really allows us to be creative. I'm one of those believers that cider is going to be one of the most popular beverages in America in 50 to 60 years,” she predicts. To achieve that dream, Olivia says more people need cider education, awareness, and accessibility to variety. “I think there’s really a cider for everyone, they just haven’t found it yet. My five to 10 year vision of cider is getting more variety of ciders to everyone in America.”
She’s already working to expand BCH’s commercial portfolio, working with heirloom varietals and creating products like fortified cider and a Champagne-style cider. Like her art school experience, she’s trying it all, even if she’s unsure of where she’s going. “I don’t know if I’m going to be changing the cider world,” she says thoughtfully. “It’s a little bit of a crazy wild roller coaster. It’s really exciting.”
Follow Olivia’s work on Instagram at @brooklynciderhouse.
What Else Is Going On
I’m headed to Portland, Oregon this month to speak at CiderCon and host a few book events while I’m there. The event I’m most excited about is on Friday, January 19 at Living Häus Beer Company (628 SE Belmont Street), where they are graciously adding a couple ciders to their tap list and letting me sit creepily in a corner signing books. Come drink cider and beer with me and let’s party! (No ticket, no RSVP, no CiderCon badge required - tell your PDX friends!)
What I’m Consuming
SO much cheese these past few weeks. Like… a lot of cheese.
Fun Fact
My son went to Science Camp over his school’s winter break, and he very breathlessly told me that octopuses (apparently that’s the actual correct plural, but correct me if I’m wrong) have three hearts. The way he explained it to me is “One heart would explode because it’s too much blood. Two hearts would eventually explode because it’s too much blood. But three hearts is juuuust right.” (Insert Goldilocks reference here.) Today’s science fact is brought to you by The Fleet Science Center in San Diego and a six-year-old aspiring nerd.
Do you know of a woman or non-binary person working in beverage alcohol who hasn’t seen the spotlight—and should? Nominate them for a future feature!
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