Second Summit Hard Cider Co.
Address: 4010 South Main Street
Telephone: 801-261-9623
Website: secondsummitcider.com
District: Millcreek
“Utah is my eighth state,” Joe Bott admitted laughing as if even he still finds it hard to believe. “We moved constantly for my mom’s job. But somehow this ended up being the place that made the most sense to come back to.” Joe’s journey is as winding as the story behind Second Summit Hard Cider Co., which he owns in partnership with his mother, Vicki.
Born in Arizona, Joe spent his childhood following his mother’s career in corporate banking. The Bott family hopscotched from Arizona to Southern California, then to Iowa, Austin, Northern Virginia, back to Iowa, and finally to Ohio for college. Vicki worked long hours in mortgage banking and compliance with Wells Fargo, Wachovia, Citibank, and later the government, while Joe’s father stayed home with the children until earning a degree and becoming a teacher. Joe grew up in what he describes as a reverse household for the era - working mom, stay-at-home dad - and it shaped all three siblings in unexpected ways.
Throughout every move, the constant was swimming. Joe, his older sister, and younger brother trained year-round wherever they landed. That meant Joe could always enter a new town with at least one built-in community - other swimmers who became instant friends. He attended three different high schools before graduating in 2012. Joe went on to swim competitively at the University of Cincinnati, majoring in environmental studies with a biology minor.
After college, uncertain of his path, Joe returned to Iowa, the place that felt most like home of all the states he had lived in. A study-abroad program had once taken him to Iceland, and his mom - who always encouraged big thinking - nudged him to consider graduate school there. He moved to Reykjavík in 2017 to pursue sustainable energy studies, staying until the end of 2019. A university opportunity then took him to Indonesia to complete his thesis, but COVID cut his stay to just forty-five days. He found himself back in Iowa on St. Patrick’s Day 2020, just as the world shut down.
By that summer, Joe had accepted a year-long AmeriCorps placement in Duluth, Minnesota, weatherizing homes for families who could not afford to do it themselves. To make ends meet - AmeriCorps pays only at the poverty level - he picked up a second job bartending at a cidery that happened to be the closest establishment to his house. It would end up changing the entire course of his life.
Meanwhile, Vicki’s story was looping its way back toward Utah. Born in a military hospital, she moved often as a child because her father served in the Army. Hill Air Force Base brought the family to Ogden, where Vicki attended second grade through high school. She attended Utah State, where she met Julie - now Vicki and Joe's silent partner in the cidery. Their families remained lifelong friends despite multiple moves. The name Second Summit Hard is derived from the founders' shared love for outdoor activities and the idea that it is never too late to pursue a dream or goal.
By the time Joe returned from Indonesia in 2020, Vicki had been splitting her time between Dallas and Salt Lake City for work. She purchased a home here, reconnected with high school friends, and rediscovered her affection for the area. Her aging parents relocated from Prescott, Arizona, to Draper soon after, making Utah the new family hub.
When Joe told her he was working in a cidery in Duluth, it sparked a curiosity in Vicki - then an idea. “It went from ‘That’s interesting’ to ‘What do you think about starting a cidery in Salt Lake?’,” Joe remembered. He assumed the idea would end right there. It did not.
By the time Joe visited Utah eight months later, Vicki already had meetings lined up with consultants. He moved to Salt Lake in April 2022, planning to bartend somewhere in town to learn local liquor laws, but within sixty days he had found the building that would become Second Summit. A lease was signed by July. Together, they spent the next year immersed in architects, permits, design decisions, deconstruction, and construction. They opened their doors on June 2, 2023.
For the cider itself, they knew from the start that they needed a seasoned maker. They hired Brandon Buza, who had already accumulated well over a decade of experience and joined the team in October 2022. Joe and Brandon built large portions of the bar, did the teardown work, installed the cooler, and shaped the space piece by piece. Brandon now leads production, experimenting with flavors that range from straightforward to wildly imaginative, while Joe tastes, weighs in, and occasionally throws him a creative challenge.
Today, Second Summit produces four year-round ciders - Off Dry, Cherry, Ginger Sumac, and Hopped - along with a rotating lineup of seasonal and experimental batches. Their ciders lean intentionally dry, letting the apple shine. Ginger Sumac and Off Dry have become their two top sellers and are the ones stocked in state liquor stores. Between the four flagships, the seasonal releases, and the one-off experiments (like coconut-hopped chocolate cider or a special batch pressed from Montana apples), the tanks behind the bar are always bubbling with something new.
Second Summit is not just a cidery, though - it is a destination. Set in an industrial section of Millcreek where you would never simply stumble upon it, the space is casual, open, and unpretentious. Inside, concrete floors, high ceilings, and glass garage doors keep everything feeling airy and bright. The bar itself is handmade - Joe and Brandon built the structure, a local woodworker crafted the top. Nothing is hidden, guests can see straight into the production space. Tables are constantly shifting to accommodate groups big and small. Two carts in the room are overflowing with puzzles and stacked high with board games. Natural light floods the room. The lanterns hanging above change seasonally - many of them created during craft events led by Vicki.
The moment the weather allows, the garage doors open, blurring the line between indoors and out. And outside is where Second Summit becomes something unforgettable. The back patio spans nearly three-quarters of an acre. There are four fully lit pickleball courts, heated seating, cornhole, ping pong, live music, and ample room for dogs, markets, tournaments, and any gathering imaginable. Corporate groups come, families come, leagues come, and friends come simply to play on a warm night with cider in hand. It is active, relaxed, and fun - a place designed for hours, not minutes.
Food is intentionally simple but satisfying: sandwiches, flatbreads, pretzel bites, grilled cheese, and enough choices to make it a reliable option whether someone is grabbing a snack or staying for dinner. The bar is fully licensed, serving their own cider, local beer, cocktails, wine, and non-alcoholic options.
Their clientele, like the space, is wonderfully mixed. Joe has seen everything from twenty-first birthdays to fifty-year high school reunions, and he loves the way pickleball brings generations together. Though they cannot allow minors inside due to Utah law, adult children regularly bring visiting parents, college students introduce their families to the cidery, groups of friends gather for league play, and strangers join tournaments and leave knowing each other’s names.
Through all of this, Joe and Vicki have shared the workload almost evenly. One of them is in the building nearly every hour the business is open. They each cover for the other, trade off responsibilities, and recognize when the other needs a break - even if a true day off is rare. Joe lives in 9th & 9th, Vicki in Sugar House, and they have built a rhythm that only a parent-child partnership could sustain.
What they have created together is deeply personal. “Customers are her favorite part,” Joe told me about Vicki. “They make the place come alive.” For Joe, the joy is the same. He is animated when talking about events, festivals, meeting people around town, and teaching anyone who asks about the business. “I think everyone dreams of opening a bar at some point,” he said. “We actually did it. And yeah, it’s a ton of work. But the best part is still being out with the customers, talking with them, seeing them enjoy what we built. That’s the whole reason we’re here.”
