(Photo above: Dan & Samanth McCoy | courtesy of Atlas Cider)

Bend, Oregon’s Atlas Cider Company is the first Oregon cider company to be an official partner of The Portland Trail Blazers, and the first local cider option to be on draft at all Moda Center events.

Now that the Portland Trailblazers’ new season is underway, fans are enjoying an updated roster on the court, and, for the first time, a local hard cider option on tap in the Moda Center. Atlas Cider Company, Oregon’s second largest hard cider maker, will not only be a refreshing new drink option at all Moda Center events, but they are also the team’s newest sponsor and an official partner of the Trail Blazers. Over the summer, while the Trail Blazers were looking to build their team roster with some solid draft picks, they were also on the hunt for a local craft cider to add to the Moda Center’s roster of draft options. Ultimately, the Trail Blazers organization decided that Atlas Cider would be the best fit as the Trail Blazers official partner. And the Blazers fans we talked to agreed. “I have been wanting a good hard cider option at Blazer’s games, and Atlas is my favorite!” one fan told us. And here at Atlas Cider, we are confident that the Moda Center’s newest “draft” pick will quickly become a star player at games and events.

Joining the Trail Blazers family represents an exciting new chapter in Atlas Ciders’ small business success story. Just four years ago, Dan and Sam McCoy were both public school teachers in Central Oregon. It was a dizzying risk for them to convert their family tradition of enjoying hard cider and Dan’s cider fermentation hobby into a new business venture- producing locally sourced craft cider. Yet they made the leap, and named it Atlas, after their son.

Now, as they stand in the Moda Center sporting broad smiles and their favorite Blazers shirts, Dan and Sam reflect on how far they have come, the hard work along the way, and how becoming an official partner of the Trail Blazers is a remarkable milestone. “I think back to when I was a little girl, going to Blazers games with my Dad,” Sam commented, “and I remember thinking what an amazing, bright spectacle it all was. It’s incredible to think that our company name will soon be on display here.”

“Absolutely,” Dan added, “and we look forward to sharing the coming season’s games with the whole Atlas team: our family, friends, distributors, accounts, and, of course, our amazing employees. They have all done so much to help us get here.” Atlas cider has grown from a small operation just starting out in Bend four years ago to producing almost a quarter million gallons of cider last year and appearing on shelves all over the Northwest and as far away as Japan. The Atlas team, like our Portland Trail Blazers, is on the rise and headed for a bright future.

Atlas Cider Company is based in Bend, Oregon and was forged by Dan and Samantha McCoy in 2013 with a clear mission: to create a new Pacific Northwest tradition of flavorful, locally sourced hard cider. Our inspiration and passion for cider was born from our connections to two different worlds- the Pacific Northwest and Europe. Through our roots in England, and our travels throughout Europe, we discovered a world of cider flavors and varieties absent in America. And through our love of the outdoors and life here in the Pacific Northwest, we discovered a region with the soil and seasons to grow apples better than any other place on Earth! Atlas Cider Company is now proud to be at the forefront of a new revolution in locally sourced craft cider. Atlas Cider: NW to the core!