Do you have C.O. Jones.......Tequila!

[00:00:00] Speaker A: All right. These videos keep getting more fun every time I do them. Tonight I get to interview Bob Potter and Cecilia Shea. Bob owned a phenomenal restaurant and tequila bar since the 90s in Connecticut, and Cecilia worked there. And they took their passion and love for Tequila to create this awesome additive free blanco called Silver Co Joan, stick around and hear their story about their love of tequila and how they came up with this phenomenal brand. I'm really excited to talk to Bob Potter and Cecilia Shea today about their new Tequila Co Jones. How you guys doing tonight? [00:00:52] Speaker B: Great. [00:00:53] Speaker C: Very good. How are you doing? [00:00:55] Speaker A: Great. So where are you guys at? [00:00:59] Speaker C: Connecticut. Milford. [00:01:00] Speaker A: You're in Connecticut. Okay. And has it been incredibly cold there? Like it has been here? [00:01:07] Speaker C: Yes. [00:01:08] Speaker B: Last week was very cold. It was in single digits, but it's warmed up a little bit. It's like mid-20s. [00:01:14] Speaker A: Yeah, we got to 37. So I. I almost went out and laid in the sun because we were like, like 12 below the other day. It was just ridiculous. I'm. I'm so ready for summertime to come already. [00:01:25] Speaker C: Please, bring it on. [00:01:26] Speaker A: Yeah, bring it on. For sure. Well, before we dive into the tequila part, before we talk about that, talk about kind of where you guys are from and what you guys did, did or do besides tequila. [00:01:39] Speaker B: So I've always been in hospitality business, in the restaurant business for the last 25 years, also in real estate. But restaurant business is what I really enjoy, and that's actually where Co Jones started. I opened the first tequila bar in Connecticut back in 1999. I'll just give you a brief history. So I went to visit a friend of mine in San Diego. We went to Old Town, took me to a Mexican restaurant. And I remember walking in and just seeing the upper wall had a shelf that was just lined with all these different tequila bottles. So back then I was big into bourbon. But I asked the waiter, I said, listen, from Connecticut, we drink 1800. We drink Cuervo Salza. Give me something that you think I might like, you know? So he brought me over two tequilas, tried both of them. They were great. And I asked him where I could get something like this. And he said, well, Old Town Liquors was right across the street, or close proximity, I can't really remember. So I went there and I bought four bottles. I took two of them on the plane with me in my overhead bag. And while I'm sitting in, you know, on the flight, I'm talking to the people around me and we're talking about Tequila. Tequila came up and everybody had like, this bad tequila story, right? So I say, well, I had some great tequilas when I was in old town. I go, let's, you know, try them. So I went up, I grabbed a bottle, and I started pouring for them. And they were like, wow, this is really good. So, you know, of course the people in front of me and in back of me kind of overheard our conversations. All of a sudden, I'm like the most popular guy on the plane. Everybody's walking to me and everybody's talking about all their tequila experiences and their stories, and none of it was good. So. And they all agreed that these tequilas were great, you know, kind of changing their ideas on what tequila is all about. So it really was on the plane, while I'm listening to people, I'm like, you know what? Maybe I should open a tequila bar just to kind of, you know, change people's thoughts on what tequila is all about. So I came back to Connecticut and I opened a tequila bar in New Haven. There weren't actually any tequila bars in Connecticut was the first one. And all I did was focus on trying to educate people and change their perception on what tequila is about. So I did samplers, we did tastings, we did special cocktails, we had trips down to Mexico. And I pretty much had bought every tequila that was available in the state that was registered. Plus I would go to San Diego and I'd bring back some bottles that were kind of unique at the time. And that's really how it started. So that was, you know, back in 99, 1999. So I had it for 17 years. And then about four years ago, Cecilia had worked with me for about seven years, and she was very knowledgeable on tequila. She loved tequila. And she had always said to me, she goes, why don't, you know, you do a tequila? And she said, wait a minute, hold on, why don't we do a tequila? And back then I was kind of like, you know, I went down to Mexico once and a lot of them, you know, they spoke English, but amongst themselves, they'd speak a lot Spanish, which didn't make me feel comfortable. So we had tried all these different tequilas. So it was like four years ago, all these different tequilas started coming out. You had, you know, a lot of celebrity backed tequilas. It just seemed like every two weeks something new was coming out. And we were trying and it just seemed like tequila was. Was starting to get farther and farther away from what I think it's supposed to or what I know it to be like. So I said, To Cecilia one day I said, listen, why don't we just do like an additive free tequila and we'll name it after the restaurant CO Jones. And we'll do what, you know, we had done years ago, which is try to educate people on tequila and help them overcome that stigma of those college days, or back in my time, high school days, when people used to really just drink tequila and swore they'd never drink it again. [00:06:04] Speaker A: Yeah, that's, that's the thing I feel like the most fun with is having people say, oh, my tequila almost killed me. I can't drink that stuff. And then give them this, you know, and they go, this doesn't taste anything like the tequila I got really sick on, you know, or explaining, you know, where's the worm? That's kind of the most common question to me, that the worm turned into celebrities and now those guys are in everything, you know. [00:06:28] Speaker B: So, I mean, so we do tastings on a weekly basis, right? And when there's a lot of people that come, whether it's a package store or restaurant, a lot of people come in and we tell them it's a tequila, and they'll be like, no, no, no, we're, we're not interested. I'm like, listen, you have to try it. And I let Cecilia, Cecilia is, she's very knowledgeable on tequila. She really knows her stuff and she really loves it. I typically let Cecilia talk because, you know, it just comes across awesome. [00:07:00] Speaker A: Well, where does your love for tequila come from, Cecilia? [00:07:03] Speaker C: So. Well, you know what, I moved to United States about 25 years ago and I worked in Los Angeles and also in the hospitality. I work directly in Hollywood. Like I did Oscars, Grammys, saga, you know, events and things, always behind the scene. But, you know, getting yourself submerged in California, into the industry, you are surrounded by Mexican people. And so, you know, that was kind of like where my Oaxacan background comes from and my, my Jalisco background comes from, you know, all those things. Because I actually. And coincidentally, a lot of people that I worked with were from Jalisco or Guadalajara and, or from Oaxaca. And so it was like, you know, my roommate in California was from Nayarit, which is Puerto Vallarta. So, you know, I always had that, you know, and so plugged in with the Mexican culture right there, you know, in California was kind of like developing my American side as well as my Mexican side. And so, well, from there, you know, I just, you know, felt like, found the love for the spirit and necessarily all the way, you know, because I was in the industry where I was back then to Canada wasn't, you know, as booming as it is now. So I had, like, you know, wine expertise and beard and whiskey and whatnot. So then I ended up moving to Connecticut. I'm Venezuelan originally, so, you know, I've been in the States half my life, and I moved to Connecticut for, you know, family reasons. And then I ended up in Sear Jones restaurant. And rather quickly, from the time I moved to the state to the point I found SEO Jones, and, you know, I found Sear Jones, and I fell in love with the place immediately, and I was surrounded by all these tequilas, and quickly I moved my way up into, you know, stages, I guess, and I was in charge of the restaurant and then in charge of the bar. And then I used to clean a lot, and I just went wild and tasted every tequila that was in my hands, you know, like, why not, right? And so it just. It captures your palette, you know, and it definitely showed me a little bit of difference. Not that back then, you know, was so remarkable, but you can tell there's some tequilas and some tequila, right? And so then, you know, just like that, the bog in the shoe, you know, or, you know, the. In Spanish, we have a saying that goes, you know, the pineapple under your arm, which is pretty uncomfortable, right? So that was me, for Bob, trying to, like, let's do our tequila. Let's make a tequila. Why don't we do tequila? What does it take to make a tequila? And so just like that time went by, and then one day he called me and say, listen, I'm ready. And I'm like, oh, my God, me too. Oh, my. Always ready. And so we, you know, start the journey and sampling, you know, all the time. We gather either once, twice, or sometimes even three times a week to taste, sample, you know, blancos. I. I was a reposado person, but I understood quickly that I needed to get my palette, you know, trained for. For blanco. If we're endeavoring this journey, you know, you have a good blanco, you have. Everything else is good, good. So that's kind of like what we did. And then sample, sample, sample, taste, taste, taste. And we took notes. We define everything, you know, sort of like a. It wasn't a bland tasting, but it was, you know, trying to find those things. And then our first trip to Mexico came about, where we finally said, okay, let's go ahead. We're ready. And we came out to. To, you know, like, we. That's when the industry kind of, like, hit us I guess where we learned the industrialized side and then there's, you know, the handcraft inside. And so we decided to go forward with our tequila. For us, is this. So learning from the different brands we sample, we came up with our definition to what our profile will be like. And then we just went ahead and, you know, just start, like, digging, digging hard and working our ways in between the two different regions that we thought were the best for, you know, the product. And here we are today, you know, so with CO Jones. [00:11:26] Speaker B: So part of the process. So part of the process was. I mean, we spent a good two and a half to three years, even though I had been in the business. And we knew tequila really well. We did a lot of research and we used to follow Grover and Scarlett a lot, you know, and we really were impressed and really liked what they were doing and thought that, you know, they were definitely on the right path. And we really wanted to make sure that we did a tequila that was representative of what it really is supposed to be like. So we really enjoyed the process. You know, it was in. We were involved in start from start to finish, I would say. So we didn't hand it off to somebody as like a middleman. We were there from the time they dropped off, you know, the agave to the milling to the distillation to the fermentation bottling. And we wanted to make sure we were there from start to finish. We documented everything. And it was a great learning process as well. You know, it was just a great, you know, experience to learn about the tequila and the process and kind of the heritage, everything behind. [00:12:42] Speaker A: How did you end up at NOM 1588? Did you interview and go to a lot of different noms and distilleries to kind of get an idea of what you liked? Or did you just start with them and that was your place? [00:12:54] Speaker C: No, we. So we went the first time and we visited a couple of distilleries in the beginning of our journey. And we visit a. Okay, distillery, I must say, and a great distillery. Right? And right there with those two visits, you know, it brought us into realization of what we are entering. And so we came back home and we're like, oh, my God, you know, so now what? And then we ended up, you know, researching and researching, also learning. In Mexico, it's not easy to visit a distillery. It's not easy to engage. So you kind of have to find your avenues to do that. And so we ended up, you know, getting, investigating and trying to get ourselves and where additive free is at, you know, how can we pursue that? And so we ended up making calling. It was a calling journey, you know, trying to put that, leaving that message, hoping to call you back. But finally we made, you know, connections with about eight distilleries and we visited them. We plan another trip, we visit each and every one of them, sat down with them, appreciated the products, learn very much from what they got to offer, and, you know, then we ended up visiting, I think, you know, 1588 was one of our last visits in the journey of that particular trip. And we fell in love with them. And I have to say, they gotta fall in love with you too. You know, we kind of like fell in love with them and so we wish that was our place. And so everything fell into place for us to be able to establish a business relationship. And we couldn't be any luckier. You know, I think that they're a great, you know, place to be at for sure. [00:14:38] Speaker A: That's awesome. I love the courtyard that they have at that distillery. It's like so pretty. It's really cool. [00:14:44] Speaker C: The whole thing is absolutely beautiful. [00:14:47] Speaker A: So did you work directly with the master distiller to kind of come up with your profile? [00:14:51] Speaker C: So we sat down and, you know, definitely structure what our profile, what we want it to be like. Right. And so coming down to, you know, with the people that we made our tequila, they were also extremely patient and very, very easy going. They cradle us in the sense we came into the business necessarily not knowing what to expect. Right. And they were very good hosts in that, in that sense. You know, they, we got you, like, so it made you feel like you're, you can trust you can you feel confident, you're. You're in good hands. And so we worked out our profile and what we want it to be like, and you're tasting it. [00:15:35] Speaker A: That's fantastic. I've been to several distilleries when we were down there last time, and the people behind the scenes of these really, they're, they're small, they're making a lot of product, they're big distilleries. It seems like they're such a small family. And I can see where they'd say, now look, we're going to make this with you. We got you. We'll make this happen. That's really cool. [00:15:57] Speaker B: I mean, they really make you feel like part of the family. So they were very hospitable. I mean, we really enjoyed being around them. They like the brand, they like our history, like the backstory, and they just made it Easy for us to, you know, work. Work with them. [00:16:16] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:16:17] Speaker A: Well, you said it. The brand. Now, let's talk about this name. Where did you come up with CO Jones? When I first seen it, I just seen CEO Jones. I didn't see anything else. So for all the people that haven't figured it out yet, they're going to here in a few minutes. [00:16:34] Speaker B: So. CO Joan. So here I'm going to open a tequila bar. One day I was sitting. It was very small. I mean, the dining room only sat, like, maybe 24, 26 people. And it's during construction. I'm sitting in the middle of the dining room. I've got guys working around me. So I'm trying to go through the process of figuring out a name. Came up with, like, the green. Let's see, the green lemon, the yellow lime. All these different names, and nothing really seemed to like, it's a tequila bar. One of the guys said, you know, it's a tequila bar. It's got to have something that, you know, has, you know, some cojones to it. Then one of the guys said, why don't you just call it cojones? I'm like, I can't call a bar cojones. And when I go through the process of the names, I would write them down on paper. So I like to see everything visually. So I wrote it down, but I spelled it C, A, J, O, N, E, S. And somebody pointed out. He goes, that's not how you spell it. He goes, it's C, O, J, O, N, E, S. So I crossed out the A. I put the O above it, and I'm just looking at it, and I'm like, call it C.O. jones. But it's really cojones. [00:17:51] Speaker A: Yeah, I love it. When I first seen it, I just saw CO Jones. And then I was talking to Brad, Agave Love and Lore, and he said, isn't that awesome that it's cojones? [00:18:04] Speaker B: People still don't, you know, even Spanish people don't get it. But I tell people, look, it's English, it's Spanish, it's easy to pronounce, it's easy to remember. And, you know, really, the marketing and the branding, I feel is a big, big part of it. So. [00:18:20] Speaker A: And I bet you get a lot of good comments, and you obviously have some cojones to start in the restaurant business and start a tequila bar where there wasn't any. And then, you know, jumping into the tequila business is not the easiest thing to do in the last five years. So, yeah, you. You've got. You've got all of the co Jones that are needed. [00:18:39] Speaker B: Well, we wanted something that, you know, I mean, for us, we feel that, you know, the quality of the product's really important, the packaging is important, the backstory is important, and. And the brand name. So we feel that those four things are really important to actually help a brand be successful. Plus, we've got a lot of good marketing behind us, too. So. I used to be in marketing, so that's what I went to school for. And Cecilia brings a lot of her vent, her Venezuelan culture and her background. So we've come up with some fun things, and we really enjoy. It's gotta be. It kind of is a reflection of what the restaurant was like. The restaurant was very popular back in the day, so people loved it. In fact, when we do tastings, like, they go, like, is this, like, cojones, like the restaurant? And we're like, yeah. And most, I would say 90, 99% of the people really, like, have good memories of the restaurant. So it was a lot of fun. [00:19:44] Speaker A: That's awesome. A good restaurant becomes fabric of our life. You know, we have our Christmas Eve dinners there every Christmas Eve. Like, that's so restaurants and good bars are really cool. [00:19:54] Speaker C: SEO Jones, for sure, was a staple of our town and. Or the town where it was located. And, you know, people have nothing but good memories. We used to say, what happens? And Seal Jones stays at Seal Jones. [00:20:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:08] Speaker C: And so we had a lot, a lot of fun. And because it was such a tiny place, you know, it was not just. It was a small, but it was very cozy. So embracing everyone in the same room. So it was almost very difficult not to be a part of X or Y celebration. Whether it was a quiet couple celebrating their anniversary. And all of a sudden, the next door, you know, table will find out they're celebrating their anniversary. And that became a reason to celebrate. Let's do shots, you know, let's do something. So there was always something that would make somebody the quietest person to be embraced and the loudest person to be, you know, part of it. Like, it was just really, really nice. So everybody remembers that. And they're like, every time they come to a sampling and they remember SEO Jones, the restaurant, they're like, you guys are, why? Oh, my God, I won that place. Open it again. We went, SEO Jones, why did you close it? You know, it's like, it's cool to. [00:21:06] Speaker A: Hear that, you know, I want to go there. I know. [00:21:11] Speaker C: Well, but, you know, you couldn't have a Restaurant with the name and then have a tequila after the restaurant. So by CRT laws and regulations. So it was kind of like beneficial in a way for us that the restaurant wasn't open so we could come out with the tequila. [00:21:29] Speaker A: You know, that's a rule I did not know. So you can't have a restaurant name the same as your tequila brand. [00:21:36] Speaker C: You can have a tequila and then open a restaurant name after your tequila. [00:21:41] Speaker A: Gotcha. [00:21:41] Speaker C: You cannot do it vice versa. And they do research and they do find out when they come out after you and tell you. What is this like? Oh, no, don't worry about it. [00:21:51] Speaker A: They can find that, but they can't find the additives. That's just amazing, isn't it? That's awesome. All right, so let's dig into it a little bit because I had it tonight for the first time. I let it rest for a little while before I had it. It's. It's a really fresh, clean, blanco. It's nice. And swee Wheat. I get a really good cooked agave in the taste. I get a little bit of mineral earthiness, which I really like. Not. Not quite that Pedrichore wet concrete, but I get, like some really good minerals on the back side. And it has a nice. Wasn't like a really hard finish. This nice, sweet, peppery finish that I thought was really great. And. And I'm not in the best sinus place that I normally am, so I. I can't wait to be opened up a little more and taste it again because it was really good with. With my palate, you know, kind of muted to where my normal palate is. So I look forward to drinking it more. It does have a great sweetness and it's so, so clean, and it's got this bright punch to it that's really good. So great job. And I also want to compliment you on your. Your packaging, because you've got a great clear bottle, but then to be able to put the things on the back of the label that you see through the bottle and, you know, people won't really be able to see it on the video, so they have to go buy a bottle to check it out. But I think it's really cool. Like, you have all of these things, and I have a feeling they all mean something because you gotta. You got a cactus with. With something on the bottom of it. I don't know what that is for sure. You got that cool bull skeleton and then. And then there's a cowboy hat on the back and there's a prickly pear in the bottom. And I, I don't know. That looks like a ufo. [00:23:35] Speaker B: I don't know what that is thinking they exactly. The aliens just trying to take the blue agave to wherever they're coming from. [00:23:45] Speaker A: There it is. At first I thought it was something from the Illuminati. I don't know. We're going to get killed in this interview. So very, very cool. Is that a bra hanging on the cactus? Is that what that is? [00:23:57] Speaker B: Okay, just a little bit. I mean, the name's a little bit different. You know, it's all about fun. So, you know, having quality product but then being a little bit different as far as the branding and the marketing goes. You know, we also have a couple reposados that are coming out and, you know, each label is a little bit different. But, you know, it's again, like Cecilia said, it's all about having fun. You know, Co Jones was a great bar that, you know, we helped reshape people's ideas of what tequila is. So we wanted to do something that kind of caught people's eye as far as, you know, labels go and branding. [00:24:39] Speaker A: So I seen in there estate agave. So these are all Highland agaves, is that right? [00:24:45] Speaker C: Yes. Six and a half year old agave plants. You know, we're about 25 sugar breaks in our content of the agave plants and Deathly highlands, we tour like half of our tour was in the, in the tequila, you know, the lowlands and then the half of us in the highlands. And we definitely enjoy very much the highlands. Kind of like when they, the Mexicans figured out the highlands was a great region to produce tequila. You know, we like the fresher notes, you know, like you said, clean, crisp. You know, we wanted that in our palate. We wanted to come up with a product that was friendly to the female because not just guys are already there. Guys are robust. Guys will, you know, the, the meaner the better, so to speak, you know, as to a woman is looking forward to something a little more pale, sweeter or friendlier. Right. And so for us, we wanted to, I am a lady and he's a gentleman. And we needed to find the midpoint for, for it all and trying to conquer our market, you know, the best we can. And so making a product that will touch every note in your palette and deliver that clean after, you know, after the finish. Right. So the ladies will want to come back for more. And not only that, but also, as you know, you know, this, the spirits in Mexico are lower, you know, alcohol volume and so you see more females definitely sipping on a tequila, which in, in the States, females are more intimidated by it. And so we wanted to break that, you know, because you don't have to, you, you could certainly. I am a female and I drink, you know, straight up spirits. So you definitely can't find your way into it. It's just fine. It's just a matter of finding something that can set you off. And then from there you just escalate as far as you want to go. And so we did that. So six and a half year old agave plants and then we have, we use proprietary yeast and we fermented for 92 hours, which is around five days. And then from there we distilled. And I was proud, proudly have to say that I was part of the, every step of the way. But my favorite part was the distillation process. In the distillation you got to be very, very careful with your temperatures. And you know, you just, you just let it sweat, which is quite the challenge. And so for me was very important because I want it to be as smooth as possible. And learning through the process of making tequila, you learn that number one, you don't need to distill more than twice, as long as you do it the right way. And number two, that your temperature control is the key for that. And so learning that and being there and being a part of it and it's so exciting and so stimulating, you know. And the smell in the distillation room to me was the best smell you can perceive when you're making tequila, which is, it's funny because I call it the plantation. It's kind of like my grandparents, my grandparents of mango, avocados, plantains. Right. And when you walk into the, the plantain plantation smell was so delicious, like sweet and her bushes and floral. And it's just got this mix and in my grandparents and it was red soil as well. So it was similar to that. So every time I enter the distillation room was like this smells. [00:28:25] Speaker A: So that's awesome. [00:28:27] Speaker C: So yeah, you know, and then, you know, interesting that that, that aroma in the distillation room, you know, was captured into our product. Yes. So you feel that plantation like that plantain sweet aroma from just the leaf of it, you know, and so that was just key for us and we got there. So I think that our product in a way is balanced in the sense of, you know, have it touching every note. You know, you're, you're sweet, your, your citrus, the bitter, the spicy, some spices, some minerality and Then what works its way out and then leaves you wanting for another sip. [00:29:09] Speaker A: It's very, it's a very approachable blanco. So it's so I love a good approachable blanco with a good cooked agave flavor in it, you know, so you've, you've, you've really kind of hit all of the buttons. Crushing method, I believe it's a roller mill. Is that right? [00:29:25] Speaker C: It's a roller mill. Six times. [00:29:27] Speaker A: Six. Six pass. [00:29:29] Speaker C: Yeah. And we squeeze the bejesus out of that cooked agave and you know, then it goes into open fermentation process, no fibers included. And then we do the proprietary yeast and we just let it, you know, mingle in there. As you are familiar with, you know, they play classical music to our, you know, our production and you know, helping out that yeast to do its job. And so from there we just, you know, distill, like I said, twice at a very, very, very soft, subtle temperatures. And here we go with it. And then for us, to people that are in the non additive side. Right. Like us, you know, you're going to now finally taste your product and they tell you, so does this meet your criteria, what you're looking for? And so if not, then you err a little bit. Maybe you can cut one more time for, to, to adjust those notes that you want, maybe enhance some, diminish some. Right. But for the most part, all we needed was just a little aeration into it and it brought the spirit to the point that we wanted to be at. So, you know, I think I feel confident that it's a mission accomplished for what we're looking for. [00:30:48] Speaker A: I would think so. [00:30:49] Speaker C: Yeah, I think. Right. Thank you. I appreciate that. [00:30:52] Speaker B: So we used an autoclave at a very low temperature. So it was kind of a, you know, low and slow is how we cook the agave. So. And you know, I don't know if you've ever had cooked agave, but like coming right off the line, like, it's absolutely delicious. It's like, it's the best. [00:31:11] Speaker A: Hard to explain to people. [00:31:12] Speaker B: It is, it is. [00:31:14] Speaker A: It's like sweet potato kinda with this magical flavor behind it. You know, the texture so good. [00:31:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:23] Speaker C: You don't get tired of the flavor? It's impressive. Like, it doesn't, the sweetness of it doesn't overwhelm you, your palate. It's not like you get tired. I don't want this anymore. It's like. Can I have some more? [00:31:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:37] Speaker C: Oh my God, me too. [00:31:38] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, we took some home with, I mean, we Just froze it. We have it in the freezer like it's just every once in a while. Yeah, because we like to, we like to educate people, telling them the difference between mass produced tequila. We always tell people, like, look, there's a huge difference in taste. It's really important that you know what the differences are and you know how it affects you. I mean, Cecilia likes to talks about, you know, the food you eat, you know, additive free. You know, you don't want something with a lot of preservatives or additives in it. You know, if you're going to try to eat a clean, clean balanced diet, you know, why wouldn't you drink the same, you know? [00:32:18] Speaker A: Right, yeah, 100%. [00:32:20] Speaker C: I don't try to divert people from what they like. I always say to people in our samplings, listen, we all gonna die of something, so might as well die of what makes you happy. But if you want to last a little longer and stretch those celebration moments, I, you know, I think that you should go mindful about your drinking. You know, we have, it has taken us over 20, a little bit over 20 years to educate the mind of the consumer as far as what you eat with a non GMO organic farm raised right natural. And then, you know, now learning the industry and how intoxicated it is. You know, I prefer to go to bed tonight after drinking some tequila with you and then wake up tomorrow morning feeling like I'm ready to go to work, no problem. So, so good. And I like, it was nothing, so. And that's, that's an achievement with this product too, you know, so I was tired of going, I could drink two glass of wine and then wake up the next day and I felt like I drank two bottles of wine and I'm like, you know, dark circles, puffiness, just this uncomfortable feelings or digestive system. And so I'm like, what is going on? And so. Well, tequila thankfully brought us to the place where we, we uncovered those whys and said, okay, you know what, now I know. So now we're gonna go into this bound and make it unaffordable for people to be able to know and break the stigma that you need to spend big bucks into a product just to be a premium quality is unnecessary. I always tell people also that those handcrafters, you know, have become the underdogs and the industry, industry. And so to be a part of an alliance or be a part of a movement like this where you are promoting and pushing for something that is much better for you, why not? You know, and There is a consumer for everything. You know, I'm not intimidated or concerned about that. You have to be humble and you have to know that, you know, eventually people will make a decision. And you know what, we're gonna be drinking this. On the other thing. It doesn't matter to me, but if you want to endeavor, listen, I always encourage people, look for your best additive free wine. Find the best additive free bourbon, whiskey, anything. Because the truth is, we're drinking bad stuff. So. [00:34:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree with you 100%. It's. I wish it would not make me forget when I wake up in the morning, did the chiefs win last night or not? I'm going to have to go check the news. Yes, they did. That is fantastic. All right. You mentioned this repo. I'm excited about it because from what I understand, you don't just have one repo coming out. You have two. Am I right? [00:35:07] Speaker B: Yeah. So we couldn't. She liked one, I like the other. So, of course, you know, like a good guy or, you know, we compromise. We. We will do. [00:35:19] Speaker C: We're a couple in the business, so. [00:35:22] Speaker B: We decided to do both. So did one age an American oak. That's a number two char. It's a little bit more aggressive as far as it's a little bit more like a bourbon, which is kind of what I like. And then we also did a French oak, which is a number two toast. A little bit lighter, a little bit mellower, but, you know, it's got a little bit of caramelized flavor to it and, you know, a little bit different. Different in color, but they're both. We like them both. And we just thought that, I mean, we both like reposados, so we thought that, you know, we would do like a short run and see which one we like the best and then go from there. [00:36:08] Speaker A: So same blanco is the repo. Right? Same tequila went right into barrels. [00:36:12] Speaker B: Correct. [00:36:13] Speaker A: And then did they barrel that at a higher proof and then proofing it down after it comes out of the barrel, or did they proof it down before they put it in the barrel? [00:36:21] Speaker C: They proof that down before. [00:36:22] Speaker A: They proof it down before. [00:36:24] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:36:25] Speaker A: And when are those going to be showing up where people can go find them? [00:36:31] Speaker C: We're, you know, the beginning of the spring. [00:36:34] Speaker B: You know, we're probably two to three months. [00:36:37] Speaker A: Gotcha. You know, any plans of bringing out an anejo? [00:36:41] Speaker B: So we really haven't talked about that. We just feel that the blanco and the reposados are the ones that most people are interested in. We have talked about an anejo or maybe doing a high proof, okay. Tequila. But we haven't really decided exactly what we want to do. There's also a lot of good breweries in Connecticut and there's a couple good distilleries. We're in talks with them about possibly using some of their barrels and sending them down to Mexico and doing some kind of single barrel interpretations that have been used for either barrel aging a beer or barrel aging a bourbon or something like that. [00:37:28] Speaker A: That's. Those things are so fun to me. [00:37:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:37:31] Speaker A: And you get me every time I get fomo, I don't want to miss out on anything. And then I say I get faux row. It's fear of running out. So then I. I only drink about half of it because I'm like, I can't get it again. [00:37:44] Speaker B: Yeah, we want to do some fun things. You know, like Cecilia said, the blanco is really the, you know, the driving force and everything else is kind of to enhance it, you know, as long as whatever barrel we put it in is, you know, additive free. So we don't want to kind of cross that line. That's like very important to us. So we want it to, you know, tastes like an additive free product. And, you know, having, having some different notes as far as flavor goes is also important to us as well. [00:38:18] Speaker A: I'm glad that you have that passion for it. I know you come from traditional tequila. Those ones you tasted were real good, old school tequila. And, and to me, it's kind of disappointing to have those tequilas that we did love change so much. So here's a question for you. This is for both of you. This is a question I like to ask everybody. If you could sit down with anybody. No, no time. Live dead, celebrity friend, grandparent, whatever. If you could sit down with them and get to share your tequila and tell them the story of how you did this, who would you pick to sit down and share that tequila with? [00:38:56] Speaker C: That's. That's why I got a. I'm right here. Yes, right here. My partner. My partner. No. You know, what if I had the opportunity to sit down and share this with somebody? Well, I actually do have somebody already that, you know, to share this with is my mother, you know, watching me develop this project. And just so you know, my background, I got no plugs into the business side. This is my very first endeavor into entrepreneurial ship. Right. And having my spirit to be, you know, I can share with my mother is priceless. Unfortunately, I can share with my children too, but my children are, you Know they don't have that palette yet. However, they're learning, which is actually also rewarding, you know, to identify additive free stuff and stick to the good things, which is great because you don't learn that so young. And, you know, if I could bring my grandfather back from, you know, heaven, I would love to sip this with my grandpa because he will appreciate it for sure. And one last person, my roommate from Mexico, that from Rajari, from Puerto Vallarta. He was, he would be thrilled and excited. He was actually there with us on our first journey, the first visit to Mexico, when we visited those two distilleries. He was there with us and he would have been absolutely static to finally sip it with me, you know, from being from there, from the land he knows. [00:40:35] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:40:36] Speaker C: So those are my people. Yes. [00:40:38] Speaker B: And for me it'd probably be my, my parents, I mean, they, they've, they passed away a while ago. But it'd be great to sit down with them because this is something they'd never ever think that would happen. You know, it would just be fun to share it with them and, you know, just kind of talk about the process. [00:41:03] Speaker A: You know, people that haven't created something don't understand how this becomes a part of your life. And it's like a baby, right? You have a love and a hate for it because you got all the work put in it, right. It's like anything that you work really, really hard to be successful at, there's times that you look back and the journey for me of everything I've done, business wise, this success hasn't been getting it, having it, the success is getting it here. The journey and all the things that you learn through the process. And that's why I asked that question. So you kind of open up and think about, wow, this has been so amazing to get to this point. And really you're just getting started. I think your points of product are going to come, you know, so many more with your ideas of mixing it with some of the beer places and the bourbon places that are in your area and doing single barrels and experimenting already. Having a base love of the product is going to just really probably bring some amazing things to, to the tequila market. I'm kind of excited about it. [00:42:02] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, we just really, I mean the whole thing is just, I mean, it's work, but it's fun, you know, I mean, you're never going to find us ever complaining about it. Like this is just what you do, so. And it's fun to create something I mean, it's just, you know, it's your brand that you've put. Like we did, you know, we put all this work into it. And this is, you know, like Cecilia said, it's like, it's like giving birth to a kid. No, it's our firstborn. [00:42:33] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. [00:42:35] Speaker C: And you know what? It's quite. It's nerve wracking. I'm not gonna lie. We. I always say, you know, making the product. He always said actually that making the product is a fun part. Absolutely. I mean, going to Mexico, getting blended into the culture, you know, just. Just getting appreciating all those little things that you might not be mindful of, but because you are in this journey, then you become mindful of when we hiked that first hike and we did it, made it there, the product is here. Now we're hiking the second hike, which is, you know, making it till people's, you know, tables, pallets, bars, and everything in between. But I, I am inspired. You know, I think this is fun. As Bob said, it's absolutely fun to be in this industry. As the challenges that you might be aware of the. It brings to your plate. Right. Being a three, a three tier system, you know, it's quite a challenge. But. But it's been fun. You know, it's been fun. It's been. Even the frustrations have been fun frustrations because, you know, you just learn through the process, take deep breath, you know, keep on going. Sip on some tequila and then, hey, we'll cross that bridge when you get there. [00:43:51] Speaker A: Well, you brought a tequila into the world, and if everything goes right, this tequila will probably bring some new people into the world as well. [00:43:58] Speaker B: Yeah, it's obviously a boy, too. [00:44:00] Speaker C: So I like to say that who doesn't drink tequila doesn't have cojones. [00:44:05] Speaker A: I agree with that. That's awesome. So where can people find your product today? Where can someone go buy a bottle of this? [00:44:14] Speaker B: So right now it's only available in Connecticut, but we're looking to be in Total Wine, so hopefully we'll have more coverage across the country. But right now it's just in Connecticut. [00:44:27] Speaker A: Is there any outlets there that people can order it and have it shipped to them? Or is it. We got to come to Connecticut to get it? [00:44:34] Speaker C: Well, so right now we do still have. We're locked up in Connecticut because we're working since we're so new. You know, we've been out in the market just three months, so we are setting up our avenues for the online shoppers. You know, to get there. And we're just trying to find the most efficient, you know, market for the online shoppers because there's quite a bit also. And in. In there all have their, you know, escalation of, you know, levels and whatnot. But we're. We're close. We're close to that. So don't. [00:45:06] Speaker B: Just, just. [00:45:07] Speaker C: Just bear with us. [00:45:08] Speaker B: Message. Message us. [00:45:09] Speaker C: And message us. Yes. Yes. [00:45:11] Speaker A: I'll put a placard at the end that'll show people where all of your social media is and your website. You have a great website. It's very informative. It's very interactive, where you can go through and lear story and see the tequila and it talks about each of your stories independently and your process. I think that's really neat. And there's an awesome video at the beginning of your website, and I'm gonna steal that video off your website and I'm gonna integrate it into this video because I think it is very cool. So it'll probably be right here at the end because I won't edit this out. We'll talk about then. That will make people stay around even longer to watch the video. But I think it's very cool. You guys are doing a great job and I appreciate you taking your time. I know you're not just sitting at home twiddling your thumbs with nothing to do, so I appreciate you taking your time with me. And one other thing. [00:45:56] Speaker B: Yeah, the shirt. [00:45:57] Speaker A: Where can people get these awesome shirts? You make the movies, I'll make the tequila. Keep your cajones out of my tequila. Yeah. Are you going to have these available on the Internet for people to buy too? Yeah. [00:46:10] Speaker B: So I was trying to find a printer, so they're not. It's more of a stencil on there, you know, So I was trying to get them printed. I mean, I have some, but we're getting some more made. Yeah. If somebody wants to, you know, send me a private message or whatever. But people do like the shirts. We've got some other ones that are really good too, but they haven't come out yet. I mean, we've. I applied for, you know, try to try to brand the trademark and everything, because I think it's. It's a subtle. It's just a subtle jab, you know, nothing. Nothing hard or anything. It's just more tongue in cheek humor, which kind of goes with the brand. Yeah, I saw that somebody posted on your comment or one of your videos that they liked your. Yeah, yeah. [00:46:59] Speaker C: And the shirts will be available in our Website, you know, once we have all that production going on, they'll be available. [00:47:06] Speaker A: Yeah, you need, you need some hats, you need some shirts. People will be all over this. I'm telling you. It's awesome. [00:47:12] Speaker C: That's a hat. [00:47:17] Speaker B: We've got a couple things that we're working on. You know, it's just track style. [00:47:23] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. [00:47:25] Speaker C: Mesh, I guess. Yeah. [00:47:26] Speaker B: I mean, so it's really just the two of us. So this is kind of a self funded thing. So we don't have any investors. So we're, you know, we're trying to see where we're going to be putting our money. We've got a lot of different, we've got different branding, but until we're really, we have good placement and we're in a couple different states, then we really want to start rolling out the merchandise because we really think that it's, it's good and it's different and you know, people, I don't know, we're, we're, we're giving, we're given advice by a lot of different people as far as where to spend your money and what not to spend your money on. And we were told not to spend your money on merchandise, so that's true. [00:48:09] Speaker A: But you have to know your lane. Are you going to open a merchandise business? Are you a tequila company? Right, I get that. [00:48:15] Speaker C: Well, I really merchandise us help. You know, the merchandise helps on the brand awareness. You know, our merchandise is coming out the more we storm about it and we come up with little things like this. You know, this hat was kind of like an accident, but it just came out looking like nice and new. We're like, oh my God, that's great. Right. And so we are trial and error trying to error and see which ones are best fit. You know, what kind of market, who's going to wear it that those Interrog, Anza. But I believe that Seal Jones has a great platform for attire because of what it reveals without revealing. Right. And so it gives you room for all those things. So. And I have been. My children are teenagers or my coaches. That's kind of tired like to do, do this, do that, the other thing anymore, please. And so, you know, they keep it fun for me, I guess. [00:49:12] Speaker A: That's awesome. Well, I do, I do appreciate you guys spending your time tonight with me and this was a lot of fun and I appreciate the tequila. It's very good. And I will be one of the first ordering it as soon as you say it's available to order. So I really appreciate it. So than taking your time and putting your heart into this. [00:49:30] Speaker B: Thanks a lot. [00:49:31] Speaker C: Thanks a lot. We appreciate you. [00:49:34] Speaker A: No problem. I appreciate you guys. So have a great night. Thanks for coming on.