Ace Cider & CIDER ON FILM Create First Cider NFT

 Minted on the Ethereum blockchain, depicting Ace Cider’s “ACE BlackJack 21” premium cider 

South of Tokyo, Japan/Sebastopol, California, U.S. — Ace Cider and CIDER ON FILM jointly announce the minting and  launching of the world’s first official cider NFT (non-fungible token), named “ACE BlackJack 21,” which was minted on  the Ethereum blockchain on 2021-06-19 featuring a photographic film image (produced/shot by CIDER ON FILM) of  Ace Cider’s “ACE BlackJack 21” premium cider. The initial announcement of this world-first for the cider industry was  made via Instagram on 2021-06-20.  

During 2Q 2021, CIDER ON FILM founder/owner/operator Jay Revelle began to look into the potential of NFTs and  how they could be paired with CIDER ON FILM’s work and applied to the world of cider. He commented: “With the  NFT wave revolutionizing the art world, it makes sense that, as a boutique cider media brand & fine art producer,  

CIDER ON FILM would be drawn toward NFTs as a means to promote cider in new ways.” However, it was also evident  that CIDER ON FILM needed a partner, i.e., a cider brand with strong market presence that is also tech-literate &  innovative enough to step on board and early adopt such a new & emerging technology. With cider massively growing  in popularity as an alcoholic beverage, and with its own awareness of the potential of NFTs to deliver a new type of  brand message, the idea resonated with Ace Cider, and the two parties quickly greenlighted the project forward. The  image was chosen from a recent body of film photography work by CIDER ON FILM depicting Ace Cider, and  development and minting was carried out by Revelle via opensea.io, which is an online peer-to-peer marketplace for  minting, buying, selling, and trading rare NFTs/digital goods/crypto collectibles.  

What are NFTs?  

An NFT is a form of digital asset that can be characterized as a blockchain version of a digital work of art. In 2020, the  NFT market was valued at 250 million USD,¹ and interest increased in 2021. In one case in 2021, an NFT sold for 69.3  million USD.²

Background  

Revelle comments: “As a creator involved in traditional film photography, we at CIDER ON FILM feel that we can  uniquely offer added value to the NFT world because, while NFTs are digital art, CIDER ON FILM’s work is rooted in  analogue processes. This is the fusion of analogue processes with digital technology. Hence, this NFT also has a  physical counterpart existing as a one-off film negative, which is safely stored in our film archives. Thus, forgery of this  NFT is impossible.” (Note: Buyers that are interested in also procuring the film negative with the NFT are asked to  contact CIDER ON FILM directly.)  

Also notable is that the NFT image was created using traditional Kodak B&W photographic film in 4×5 negative size  using a 1947 Graflex Speed Graphic large-format classic film camera (made in Rochester, NY), for a trifecta of  completely “made in America” (cider, film, and camera). Also, the film negative itself was hand-developed by Revelle  via a truly artisan process using a homemade instant coffee film developer concoction known as “Caffenol,” which  was invented in Rochester, NY, by the Technical Photography Class at Rochester Institute of Technology, in 1995.  Furthermore, the fact that CIDER ON FILM is based in Japan signifies the bond that America (and cider) has with its  allies overseas, all resulting in a truly unique and meaningful NFT package.  

In terms of the cider itself, Simon House, VP of Sales for Ace Cider, comments as follows: “The House family first  decided to create ACE BlackJack 21 in 2014 to celebrate the cidery’s 21st anniversary of making world-class ciders in  Sonoma County, California. This cider showcases the incomparable fruit & terroir that makes Sonoma County special.  For this anniversary cider, each July, we partner with a different local Sonoma County gravenstein apple farm to buy  select apples. We crush the apples in Graton and place them in a slow, cold-temp ferment at the cidery into August. 

After fermentation, we partner with a different local Sonoma County winery to barrel-age the cider in used oak for 2– 3 months. After patient taste-testing each week, we bottle the cider at maturation usually in late October to be  shipped to retailers in time for the holidays. It is warming, with farmhouse apple crumble & vanilla notes, and its  tannins provide a bitter backbone to contrast the sweetness. It brings gratitude for another year of nature’s bounty. This cider pairs well with a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal, i.e., cranberry and goat cheese salad, bacon-fat-fried  Brussel sprouts, turkey, apple pie, etc.”  

¹ https://www.businessinsider.com/nft-marketplaces-where-to-buy-sell-non-fungible-tokens-online-2021-3  
² https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/11/22325054/beeple-christies-nft-sale-cost-everydays-69-million  

CIDER ON FILM  

CIDER ON FILM is a one-of-a-kind boutique cider media brand & fine art producer created by Jay Revelle that  documents the world of cider & cider lifestyle solely as seen through classic film cameras on photographic films  developed via traditional photochemistry methods. CIDER ON FILM is home to the world’s LARGEST archive of film  pictures relating to cider & cider lifestyle and uses classic film cameras (some as old as 100 years) to capture the  world of cider as it grows in status and market awareness. CIDER ON FILM is based south of Tokyo, Japan.  www.cideronfilm.com & www.instagram.com/cideronfilm

Ace Cider  

California Cider Company is the first family-owned cidery in the U.S. and has been making Ace Cider since 1993 in the
beautiful Sebastopol area of Sonoma County, just north of San Francisco. www.acecider.com