Our Story
We are a Craft Cidery located in Charlottetown, PEI. Our mission is to create a sustainable, natural and profitable product infused with friendship and fun from the first blossom to the last sip.
THE BEGINNING
Robert and James met as babies and grew up not far from each other in rural P.E.I (Mayfield & New Glasgow). They share fond memories of building forts, swimming and playing sports together.
As teenagers both of their families moved away to different parts of the world. Robert started a career as a photographer and travelled the world focusing on climate change and working for clients like National Geographic Traveler and Canadian Geographic. He spent years living in Europe where he met his future wife and dance partner, Anna Keenan. In 2015 they came to PEI to raise their son and take care of family.
James moved to the US, was a professional cyclist and eventually became a physiotherapist. He practiced in Ottawa for years before meeting his future wife, Caralynn, there. On vacation in 2016 James found himself sitting on the patio of a cider house in Prince Edward County, Ontario. He found the landscape familiar; rolling hills, farmland, sandy beaches, forests. A dream was born, a cider house on Prince Edward Island.
THE DREAM
Then, as these things happen, James’s mother mentioned his dream of opening a cider house to Robert. Robert’s family had been making cider for years so the interest was there. A phone call, a meeting and Red Island Cider was born.
With the support and aid of their partners, Anna and Caralynn, the four of them worked hard to get a locally produced cider into the bars in PEI. 17 months from idea to opening at the Charlottetown location and they haven’t looked back.
THE CIDER
As the cider maker, Robert’s goal is to create traditional clean, dry ciders using 100% apple juice from the best orchards in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Like wine variations in weather, apple varietal, and individual orchards means our ciders are always going to have variations from batch to batch. What is consistent is our commitment to producing the best cider.
He is always experimenting with new ideas, new fruits, yeasts and recipes. His favourite cider is the ‘next’ cider and the goal is to always have something fresh and exciting at our tap room.