Sweet Corn Fritters with Apple Cider Dipping Sauce
When you make Chef Tracey Couillard’s delectable crunchy freshcorn fritters, make sure you have a chilled apple cider ready to pour for the perfect pairing.
Cool Cider
A modern take on an ancient beverage art
Andréa Homoya, founder of Ash & Elm Cider Co., exudes the confidence and energy of a person with purpose—and a plan. She and her husband, Aaron Homoya, launched their cidery during the summer of 2016, introducing Indianapolis consumers to an ancient craft by making distinctly modern hard ciders.
Less than a decade ago, if you lived in the Indianapolis area and wanted a pint of crisp, dry, hard cider, you were going to have to travel. For the Homoyas, that meant going all the way to Ireland, where a serendipitous stop at a small-town Irish restaurant served a life-changing sip of something different: cider from the farm next door.
“It blew Aaron’s mind,” recalls Andréa. He had been brewing beer and making wine for several years but never had much interest in cider. In the early 2000s, hard ciders were typically mass-produced, super-sweet beverages: alcoholic apple juice. That glass of home-crafted Irish hard cider was a revelation. Dry and sparkling, more like a wine, and with a history, a heritage.
Making alcoholic cider was something to rediscover, something that could be made new again, a market niche no one in the Indianapolis area was chasing. It was a risk, but also an opportunity to do something real, something with substance.
“And I’m a risk-taker,” says Andréa.
REAPING THE REWARDS
Today you can enjoy Ash & Elm ciders in restaurants and breweries across the city, buy them at eight local farmers markets and order them online. They are showing up on local grocery store shelves, are shipped to customers in 37 states and are eagerly anticipated by over 400 subscribers to their Cider of the Month program. And, of course, in the cidery’s own restaurant and tasting room.
Every cider is crafted from regionally produced fresh-pressed apple juice and real fruit and herbs—locally grown, if possible. Ranging from semi-sweet to very dry, their flagship ciders include the popular Headlong dry-hopped cider, semi-dry Sunset Tart Cherry, and raspberry- and lemon-infused Fleeting Youth, among others. Seasonal and small-batch ciders, including fall’s Autumn-tide pumpkin and spice cider, blend creativity with meticulous attention to quality.
“We peel every lemon,” says Andréa. “The cinnamon and star anise, we toast them over a fire. There will be multiple people sitting around, crushing spices.” But the apple never gets lost. “We care a lot about balance. We want everything to play together so you can taste the apple, but you can also taste the cherry, the spices.”
INTENTION IN ALL THINGS
That sense of balance is coded into the company’s DNA. Everything from the cider names and label designs to the restaurant decor is carefully considered.
“I think we’ve made a space for people,” says Andréa. “Before we opened, we talked a lot about how to make our labels, our logo and everything seem like ‘No matter who you are, it’s.’ That’s become part of our culture.”
Their efforts have paid off in customer loyalty, with robust support from the neighborhood, the LGBTQ community and customers across the city, even through the uncertainty of 2020 and the pandemic.
“We sold more cider the first month of the pandemic than we normally do by multiple-fold. People were saying, ‘Tell all your friends, we gotta support Ash & Elm.’ It felt so great, in the middle of such a hard time, to know that your customers were going to show up for you.”
The company has also cultivated strong ties to the surrounding residents and businesses.
“We really like the spotlight we’ve been able to shine on the near east side, that’s important to us as people who live here,” says Andréa, “At least half of our staff lives in this zip code and care a lot about the Near Eastside as well.”
Ash & Elm actively supports the arts in Indianapolis, local nonprofits and efforts to increase agricultural sustainability and conservation of natural resources.
GROWING INTO THE FUTURE
Five years of hard-won successes have built a springboard for new opportunities.
Ash & Elm’s new full-service restaurant and tasting room recently took up residence at The Assembly, a mixed-space development located at 1301 E. Washington St.
The new site puts them about a mile closer to downtown, where they gain visibility yet stay close to the Eastside neighborhood they love. “They made Model T Fords here a hundred years ago, so it’s a really historic building,” says Andréa. It’s a provenance that aligns well with the company’s efforts to energize local businesses and honor the area’s long-term residents and supporters.
“Our space is twice as big and has a full-service kitchen,” she continues. That expansion gave Chef Tracey Couillard the freedom to create a new, bigger, broader menu that complements Ash & Elm’s award-winning ciders and is built around ingredients sourced from local vendors including Smoking Goose, Amelia’s, the Paramount Schools of Excellence dairy operation and others. Increasing their presence in local groceries is also a goal for the near future, as well as expanding sales into Kentucky.
“Aaron’s other long-term vision is to have a plot of land that can become our estate cider location,” says Andréa, with their own orchard and the ability to offer limited-edition, commissioned ciders. The couple foresees expanding that property into an event space as well, complete with a farmhouse-style venue and perhaps living space for their family.
For Ash & Elm the humble apple fuels a family with purpose, a business with prospects and a community with the fruits of work well done. n
Ash & Elm Cider Co.
The Assembly, 1301 E. Washington St., Indianapolis
AshAndElmCider.com
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