Events / lemons
It's That Time of Year Again
There has been a nasty cold going around the Berkshires, and one by one it has taken us out. First Dan, then Sean, Amy, and Dana. I blame Dan's kids for being cute but efficient plague carriers. Anyway, we've been hitting the amped up virgin Fire Cider hot toddys pretty hard over the last week- and I'm happy to say we've been feeling much better! Ingredients: -1 -2 Tablespoons of Fire Cider -Juice of 1/4 - 1/2 lemon -1 T honey, raw, local honey is best. -A healthy dose of ginger (We use 1T frozen ginger juice. A 1/2 tsp ginger powder or 1T diced fresh ginger works too) -Hot water or tea to fill your favorite mug [caption id="attachment_764" align="aligncenter" width="538"]
Warming and soothing.[/caption] Our full arsenal of anti-ick fighting home remedies includes Osha tincture, Echinacea tincture, oil of oregano (rub it on the bottom of your feet or get capsules), raw honey, Fire Cider, ginger juice, lemons, neti pot and of course, some Berkshire Bourbon for when you finally start to feel better! 
This Sunday is the last SoWa Market in Boston for the season so make sure to stop by and see Sean for your free Fire Cider sample! He'll also be handing out samples on Friday, 10/24 at Foster's Supermarket in Greenfield, MA, 3-6 pm and on Saturday, 10/25 at the Fruit Center Marketplace in Hingham, MA 11 am-4 pm 
Cheers!
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Warming and soothing.[/caption] Our full arsenal of anti-ick fighting home remedies includes Osha tincture, Echinacea tincture, oil of oregano (rub it on the bottom of your feet or get capsules), raw honey, Fire Cider, ginger juice, lemons, neti pot and of course, some Berkshire Bourbon for when you finally start to feel better! This Sunday is the last SoWa Market in Boston for the season so make sure to stop by and see Sean for your free Fire Cider sample! He'll also be handing out samples on Friday, 10/24 at Foster's Supermarket in Greenfield, MA, 3-6 pm and on Saturday, 10/25 at the Fruit Center Marketplace in Hingham, MA 11 am-4 pm Cheers!
New Equipment, Thanks to The CDC!
Have I mentioned lately how amazing it is to be working in partnership with the Franklin County Community Development Corporation- say that 5 times, fast! They offer guidance to anyone interested in starting a business and they have provided us with a space to produce Fire Cider and continue to grow our small business. The CDC is currently under construction to expand their cold and dry storage as well as their commercial kitchen. We are stoked to have more space to make more batches of Fire Cider. Last year the CDC's loan program, headed by Alan Singer, made it possible for us to upgrade all of our equipment to food grade stainless steel. We were super happy to say goodbye to all of our plastic barrels. We found them homes as rain barrels! [caption id="attachment_323" align="aligncenter" width="538"]
Stainless steel steeping tank, stainless steep pump parts, only the best for your Fire Cider![/caption] Less than a year later, we approached Alan with another loan request, this time for two pieces of kitchen equipment that would save us many long hours in the kitchen, taking a lot of stress and physical labor out of making Fire Cider. The result? An awesome scrubbing tunnel that has turned a 10-12 person hour job into a 30 minute exercise. Yes, you read that correctly. It used to take 2 people working non stop scrubbing organic horseradish for hours on end just to prep that one ingredient for 2-3 batches of Fire Cider. Now, we can achive even better results in just 30 minutes, and that includs set up, clean up and break down! Here's a fun video of Dana and Brian trying out the scrubbing tunnel for the first time. It's a bit loud, so turn the volume down! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f43-STEMEe8&feature=youtu.be Here are the before and after photos, can you tell we are super impressed with our investment?! [caption id="attachment_644" align="aligncenter" width="538"]
Organic horseradish, covered in not so delicious organic dirt![/caption] [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="538"]
So fresh and so clean and ready to be turned into Fire Cider.[/caption] With our second loan we were also able to purchase a chopper for the lemons and oranges. Processing hundreds of pounds of citrus by hand is just asking for carpal tunnel, not to mention an injury waiting to happen. This chopper, with it's graphic warnings, is definitely scarier than the chef's knives we've been using, and will save our hands and arms, as long as we keep them away from the blades! [caption id="attachment_646" align="aligncenter" width="538"]
All thumbs ups, not to worry, we have cut resistant gloves to protect our hands while cleaning the machine.[/caption] And here's our new chopper in action, making batches Fire Cider just got a lot easier, which means that the three of us can safely continue making you Fire Cider for many years to come. Yup, this video is loud too, what can I say, I'm working on my videographer skills! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSoH5OwJdiE&feature=youtu.be We are super thankful to the CDC and their staff for supporting the growth of our small business, we truly couldn't do this without them! If you are thinking about starting a business, the CDC has you covered from the very beginning.
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Stainless steel steeping tank, stainless steep pump parts, only the best for your Fire Cider![/caption] Less than a year later, we approached Alan with another loan request, this time for two pieces of kitchen equipment that would save us many long hours in the kitchen, taking a lot of stress and physical labor out of making Fire Cider. The result? An awesome scrubbing tunnel that has turned a 10-12 person hour job into a 30 minute exercise. Yes, you read that correctly. It used to take 2 people working non stop scrubbing organic horseradish for hours on end just to prep that one ingredient for 2-3 batches of Fire Cider. Now, we can achive even better results in just 30 minutes, and that includs set up, clean up and break down! Here's a fun video of Dana and Brian trying out the scrubbing tunnel for the first time. It's a bit loud, so turn the volume down! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f43-STEMEe8&feature=youtu.be Here are the before and after photos, can you tell we are super impressed with our investment?! [caption id="attachment_644" align="aligncenter" width="538"]
Organic horseradish, covered in not so delicious organic dirt![/caption] [caption id="attachment_645" align="aligncenter" width="538"]
So fresh and so clean and ready to be turned into Fire Cider.[/caption] With our second loan we were also able to purchase a chopper for the lemons and oranges. Processing hundreds of pounds of citrus by hand is just asking for carpal tunnel, not to mention an injury waiting to happen. This chopper, with it's graphic warnings, is definitely scarier than the chef's knives we've been using, and will save our hands and arms, as long as we keep them away from the blades! [caption id="attachment_646" align="aligncenter" width="538"]
All thumbs ups, not to worry, we have cut resistant gloves to protect our hands while cleaning the machine.[/caption] And here's our new chopper in action, making batches Fire Cider just got a lot easier, which means that the three of us can safely continue making you Fire Cider for many years to come. Yup, this video is loud too, what can I say, I'm working on my videographer skills! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSoH5OwJdiE&feature=youtu.be We are super thankful to the CDC and their staff for supporting the growth of our small business, we truly couldn't do this without them! If you are thinking about starting a business, the CDC has you covered from the very beginning.
