One of the main reasons Riff Cold Brewed had a taproom was to develop new flavors and new products and solicit customer feedback in a real-time setting.

Doing hands-on research and development requires a volume of customers that hasn’t been achievable in the middle of a pandemic where businesses are restricted on the number of customers they can serve indoors. The forced closures and social-distancing requirements imposed to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus proved to be too much to keep open the cold brew taproom in The Box Factory on NW Arizona Avenue.

Beginning Feb. 12, Stoller Wines took over Riff’s space and the remaining three years on the lease. Riff will continue production and distribution direct to consumers and in grocery stores.

“We decided that the taproom wasn’t serving the brand, and we decided to get out of the lease because it was too much time and energy to run to keep in the guidance,” said Paul Evers, co-founder of Riff Cold Brewed, formerly of TBD Agency and Crux Fermentation Project co-founder. “Our forecast at the start of 2020 was continued growth and then COVID hit. That has led to significant ongoing challenges.”

Since the pandemic began nearly a year ago, Oregon’s governor has ordered businesses shuttered, had them operate at 25% capacity for indoor dining or only offer carryout service. Not all businesses have been able to maintain operations due to these restrictions. Among those businesses that closed recently are Foxtail Bakeshop & Kitchen in Bend, also located in the Box Factory, and the Ochoco Brewing Co. in Prineville.

Evers and his team decided to find other alternatives and to focus on their core business: wholesaling its cold-brew products to shops and grocery outlets. The Riff founding team includes Nate Armbrust, a former Stumptown Coffee Roasters cold brewer from Portland; Kevin Smyth, a brand strategist; Bobby Evers, Evers’ son and craft beverage creative; and Steve Barham, former LinkedIn executive who has since died.

The closure created an opportunity for Stoller Wines, which had wanted to open a wine bar in Bend for a while, said Tracy Timmins, vice president of consumer sales. It operated first as a pop-up business for several months to test out the market and served on the patio and offered take out, Timmins said.

“Bend was an expansion for us,” Timmins said. “It wasn’t super ideal to open in the middle of a pandemic, but we were excited to open and go after it. It’s worked out pretty well.”

The Stoller Wine Group is the parent company for Stoller Family Estate, Chehalem, Chemistry, Canned Oregon, and History. The Oregon-based group was formed in 2018. Chehalem Winery was founded in 1990 and Stoller in 1993.

The Bend wine bar is in proximity to Bledsoe Family Winery and the Elixir Wine Brand.

“We absolutely see it as a good thing to have Bledsoe and Elixir,” Timmins said. “Bend has been known as the beer trail, and we’re excited to start the wine trail as well. We’ve had an overwhelming response from people who wanted an alternative to beer.”

This is Stoller’s fourth tasting room: two at the Stoller Family Estate property in Dayton and one in downtown Newberg.

Evers said that stepping back from the taproom has reenergized the company. It’s planning to launch a new product in March, which is a re-engineered version of Alter Ego, using up-cycled coffee fruit beverage and cascara, the dried skins of the coffee cherries.

“Alter Ego was doing well, but not well enough,” Evers said. “We’re a purpose-driven company. If we can create a beverage that appeals to a broad audience we can reverse coffee’s contribution to climate change. We’re translating that into a beverage before it’s taken to a landfill, which can create great economic profitability for coffee farmers.”

Cold-brewed coffee is a growing market, Evers said. Starting in May, Riff’s products will be in Fred Meyer stores and starting in March in Safeway stores in Portland, he said.

“It’s growing, and we’re expecting additional growth when there’s a return to college campus life.”