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[00:00:52] Ray Latif: Hello, dear friends, and thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for anyone building a business in food or beverage. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio. And with my co-host for this episode, Jacqui Brugliera, Mike Schneider, and Melissa Traverse. Melissa, welcome back. Thank you so much. It's great to be here. I feel like this is your, it's a shared seat now. It's not just the Craven seat. It's the Travers seat as well. Yeah. It's like musical chairs. I'll just sit wherever someone isn't sitting. Yes, exactly. What are you doing, Mike? Forgot about us. We didn't even get welcomed.
[00:01:26] Jacqui Brugliera: I didn't welcome you. You went straight to Melissa. We're old news. I'm just a novelty.
[00:01:32] Ray Latif: Well, my point was that you're not a novelty, but then Mike was just like, I feel unwelcomed. I feel like I'm just like that. I felt attacked. Mike needs some love. I feel attacked and so did Jackie. I can sense it from San Diego. Let's try this again. It's good to see you, Melissa. And Mike and Jackie. Oh my gosh.
[00:01:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh my goodness. Good to see you.
[00:01:55] Ray Latif: Good to see you, right? It's been so long. No, not at all. John is OIO, as I like to call him. He's out in Orlando. So Melissa was very kind enough to say, you know what, I'll pop in and do my best John Craven impression, which I don't know how you would do one. Ooh, let's hear it. Um, I don't even know. Just call Mike a numpty and say, Ray, you're wrong. Mike, you're a numpty and Ray, you're wrong. There you go. Well done. Okay. That's a very good John Craven impression right there. It's more like ignoring Ray, but whatever.
[00:02:28] Jacqui Brugliera: Can I ignore that question?
[00:02:31] Ray Latif: Oh yeah. The New Beverage Showdown. That was not John's best moment. What was the point of that? I don't know. Ray, I'm going to ignore your question again. Anyway. And answer a better one. Yes. As most folks know, Melissa is the director of community at BevNET CPG Media, and she runs Base Mentality. And for those of you that are relatively new to the podcast or might just need a refresher on what Base Mentality is, Melissa, tell us all about that amazing platform. I would be very happy to do that. Base Mentality is BevNET's platform that integrates all of our verticals. And it's a place where you can find all kinds of helpful stuff. So we have a data hub there that you should absolutely check out for all of your data needs. We also have a partner directory so you can find all of the partners that you need, comans, design, whatever it is that you're looking for, you can find it there. We also have the Base Mentality podcast, which I host and produce. And that's sort of a, how I'm building this podcast. So we have brands like Chomps and Kite Hill and AO talking about how they specifically figured out a very particular part of business, whether it's operations or finance, sales and marketing, that kind of thing. We also talk to retailers like TikTok, Fair, and Wegmans. And then you should absolutely check out our education hub, which we launched in the last month or so. And we have some really amazing experts explaining all kinds of CPG topics like Arnulfo Ventura, Seth Goldman, Asha Abulaysia. And then coming up soon, we've got Ben Mand and Jack Acri. So definitely check out basementality.com to help you figure out whatever it is you're puzzling over. I also want to point out that you often bring on our suppliers and our service provider partners to just get into the ins and outs of what they do. And, you know, since they're so brilliant and you just bring it right out of them.
[00:04:35] Jacqui Brugliera: And that feels like a lot going on. I feel like the easiest way for people to kind of take a step in is maybe your weekly newsletter. Yep.
[00:04:43] Ray Latif: Check out the Nonbase newsletter. Just go to basementality.com and head all the way to the bottom to sign up for that. We have a Q&A with anyone and everyone that you can think of in CPG there, which is a fun interview and a great way to get to know folks. So basementality.com. Now, obviously we're back from our LA events, which were spectacular. December 4th through the 11th, a bunch of us were out there the entire time. Melissa, you were out there from the 4th until, or was it really the 3rd until the 9th or the 10th? Yep, until the 10th and I headed home the 11th. Yes, the 10th and 11th, we held our Brewbound Live event in LA, which was really well received. You know, the beer industry and founders tackling beer adjacent categories like cider or hard seltzers or F&Bs. It's a space and it's an industry that is really complex and doesn't necessarily have a very clear path forward. And I think the content was just really, really well curated and thought through. Zoe Licata, Justin Fante from the editorial team, Justin Kendall, who couldn't be there, but congrats, Justin, on your new child. just did such a really great job addressing the biggest topics, the most pressing concerns that entrepreneurs are facing in that space. And in addition to that, the networking was just really amazing to see. It seemed like everyone was very interested and engaging and wanting to meet people that they haven't connected with in the past and Brewbound Live them that opportunity. So congrats again to the editorial team, our operations team, our marketing team, our events team, everybody who put that event together, because I heard from a lot of folks that not only are they coming back next year to the Brewbound Live event in Marina Del Rey, but they're bringing their friends. And I don't know what else to say. I was just really happy that the event went as well as it did.
[00:06:39] Jacqui Brugliera: The vibe was amazing at the event. You know, in the news, there's been some negative headlines about beer, alcohol, THC, but everyone was very hopeful. They were excited for what's next rather than just reading the headlines and being doom and gloom. It was like, how do we dig in deeper and figure out what can we actually do? How can we come together? How can you bring fun back into the category? I love the presentation with Robo bank where he's diving into why Gen Z is actually drinking less. And yeah. A lot of the stats are actually just made up based on the fact that they're not even legal drinking age yet. So there's a lot of things that need to be, you know, dug in deeper to really understand where we're going and what can happen within the industry. So those presentations are awesome and everyone can watch them at brewbond.com slash video.
[00:07:27] Ray Latif: Well, you just took the words out of my mouth because I was going to say, if you miss the event, or if you were an attendee of the event and want to refresh yourself on the content, you can do so. And you can do so if you went to BevNetLive or NoshLive. And the way to do that, Jackie, is simply to go to the websites.
[00:07:47] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. Go to the websites, bet not.com slash video Nosh.com slash video. You do have to be an insider to watch those replays, but it's pretty easy to do. You just go to bet not.com slash insider.
[00:07:59] Ray Latif: And if all the videos aren't up at the time that this podcast is published, don't worry. Our team is still getting to it and they'll get everything out there as soon as possible. But everything from our Taste Radio studio interviews to main stage interviews to our Pitch Slam competitions, it's all on the site. But you got to be an insider of BevNET and Nosh or Brewbound to do so. You can actually be an insider for all three websites. It's a pretty easy process. All-access that's what it that's what it's called. I already have all access, so I don't yeah You don't really need to know what it's called cuz I have all access I mean you are an a-list industry celebrity, so I am definitely not a celebrity. I'm I'll call myself a list in Cute cute cute. Yeah, Q list. Oh Q list Where's the list I was hoping for V, but I think you because like you're above me. That's that's true The Q rating is that what you're talking about. You know there is a Q rating out there. Yeah, you never heard of that No, oh, there's like a Q rating for people who are actually celebrities really Q. Yeah cute that low I only think of a and B. That's what I don't know to tell you once you're C. You know you're dead to me, okay? I wanted to say that, um, speaking of celebrities, there was a Bob Ross happy little accident that led to like a beautiful moment when we kind of had a little glitch with the reveal of the Pitch Slam winner. Oh, geez. He didn't quite, I don't think it was anyone's fault, but it was just like, all right, we're just going to get on with it. You're talking about the Brewbound Pitch Slam. Yeah, the Brewbound Pitch Slam. And the graphic went up before Ray knew and, and everyone starts cheering and the founder didn't know. And then he stands up and he's like, yeah! It was so awesome. Yeah. Well, I tried to extend the anxiety a little bit longer than I probably should have. And all of a sudden everyone started drumming on their cables like that. And I was like, Oh, that's cool.
[00:09:57] Mike Schneider: Let that go.
[00:09:59] Ray Latif: As soon as I heard people start cheering, I was like, I haven't said anything yet. And they had shown the graphic that said Ikasu Brewing, the founder who is Masa Kitano, Ikasu Brewing had won the competition. And he jumped up and he was jumping up, arms flying up in the air. And he ran up on, he jumped up onto the stage from the front of the stage. I thought he was going to do a flip. He was very happy. I love that kind of enthusiasm when people win the Pitch Slam. It was a really cool moment because the tension built. He didn't realize he'd won. And then afterwards he's like, I didn't realize what had happened. Yeah, I think people were slapping him on the back and being like, congratulations. But yeah, congratulations to Masa Kitano, the founder of Ikasu Brewing. Melissa, do you get a lot of questions about whether brands should incorporate regenerative ingredients into their products? It feels like that's a term that's been having a moment for some time. I mean, people always, obviously their organic is known. It seems like there's a lot of demand for that, but it seems like regenerative organic and regenerative farming has been bubbling up for a while. Yeah, for sure. And I think folks are still not sure which certification to go with, how to word it, what the hierarchy should be if it's, you know, among other differentiators. I think there are a lot of questions around it, but I also see a lot of interest, not only with retailers, but more and more with consumers being interested in especially now with some of the rollbacks that we're seeing, regenerative, I think, has maybe even more potential than it has in the last few years. Yeah, I think one of the hardest parts about regenerative agriculture is that it's not very clear what it is. I think essentially it's about protecting the soil that farmers are using. We're using it in a sustainable way as opposed to clearing it out and just replacing it with sod or new soil each time. It's intended to protect the health of our lands as much as it is to grow ingredients that taste good and have the nutrient density that we have come to want in our foods, I guess have always wanted in our foods. And one of the things that's been hard is that you're right, Melissa Traverse's all these different kinds of certification programs out there, and it's not necessarily clear as to which one brand should latch onto. And so people have been waiting for the USDA, the US Department of Agriculture to say, okay, well, here's a clear certification process, just like USDA organic is. When you see that seal, you know, you can trust that the product is organic. So last week I saw this in the news on Nosh, Adrianne DeLuca, our dear colleague who writes for Nosh, why are you doing a penguin thing?
[00:12:41] Mike Schneider: What was that all about?
[00:12:41] Ray Latif: I was doing a seal. A seal, okay. What for? Because you mentioned a seal. Oh, for crying out loud. Adrianne DeLuca wrote this story where she wrote that the USDA this week unveiled the regenerative pilot program. an initiative that claims we'll put $700 million towards assisting American farmers in the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices to improve soil and water quality, boost productivity, and strengthen the U.S. food and fiber supplies. So I feel like at a time when we're not hearing a lot of great headlines coming from the government, this seems to be a good one. And hopefully it leads to great things and hopefully and eventually a certification program that's sort of an umbrella for all the other certifications that we're seeing out there. You know, I think such a great example of a regeneratively centered product is Lil Bucks. Emily was at Notch Live and actually that was one of the products that I ate. I ate two bags. Emily Griffith is a maker of, or is the founder of a brand called Lil Bucks. They're a maker of buckwheat snacks, which is a buckwheat based snacks. Yeah. And so buckwheat is a cover crop. It's something that farmers plant to put nitrogen back into the soil. And she's using the buckwheat itself for her product. And I think it's such a great example because it makes so much sense. It's not hard to understand the regenerative principle when you look at a brand like Lil Bucks's. And it's so good. It's not hard to understand now. I mean, she's done so much work. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, we never recommend that a brand is the educator and that is a brand that has required, you know, her to be a big time educator and it's worked for them. And this new packaging is absolutely stunning. It's gorgeous. And the product itself has had a bit of an evolution. And I think that the one that she's settled on now where it's clusters. Cluster bucks. They're so good. That's so funny. Yeah, I don't necessarily look for products that are made with regenerative ingredients, but I hope that it becomes more of a standard than it is sort of the exception to the rule.
[00:14:58] Jacqui Brugliera: Just like with organic, I feel like consumers didn't even know what that was. And then that became, you know, a new standard for produce, for products. And I think this could be another standard to level up from organic even. And I think the USDA putting money into it is just going to help everyone. I think a lot of companies have been doing it like themselves and really trying to invest in that. But to have just a baseline of support, I think would be really helpful for just that movement.
[00:15:29] Ray Latif: To your point, though, Rae, I'm still not sure that the majority of consumers would choose a product that has, even if it has a regenerative certification on it, but I think if they buy the product because they like it, then you feel good about buying it a little more because it does have that aspect to it. Yeah, most likely you're going to find these types of products at places you'd expect to find them in, Whole Foods, or Sprouts, and Erewhon, what have you. But as soon as they get into more mainstream and mass retailers, I think consumers are going to be a little bit more aware of the certification or the ingredients and what regenerative means. I think, again, that's to the benefit of everyone. So continue to follow that story on Nosh.com and certainly on devnet.com as well. The best way to do so is to become an insider, and we already talked about that. Mike is over here, just like bursting at the seams, ready to talk about all the wonderful products he bought, he brought. You didn't buy them, did you? Not today. Not today. Okay. These were sent to us. You got some, you got some, uh, some festive, some festive beverages there. I have been sipping on a Recess Zero Proof Pepper Bartini. Pepper bark teeny yeah, do they trademark that I mean I really holiday mocktail with nuts of candy cane and chocolate slightly sparkling zero ABV 30 calories 12% juice Pretty spectacular, actually. So Recess, as we know, is a maker of beverages that are intended to calm or chill you. And they have their Recess, what are they called? Moods. Recess mood beverages that are- Magnesium? Yes. Infused with magnesium. And they also are makers of zero-proof cocktails. This Peppermint Barktini. Looks pretty good. Does it taste like chocolate? It does. Okay. It tastes, it's got a little, uh, I mean, it tastes like peppermint chocolate. It's exactly what you'd want it to taste like. But there's, there's no creaminess to it. There's a little creaminess to it. It's, there's no cream, but it's got a little creaminess to it. Interesting.
[00:17:27] Mike Schneider: Okay.
[00:17:27] Ray Latif: It's, uh, yeah, it's one of those beverages that you look at it, you get an idea of what it's going to taste like, and then it tastes exactly like that. I mean, I wonder if it's from the caroling pod. Yeah, okay, good stuff. Well done, Recess. And now you've got some, oh, candy dates. Smood Sweets, candy dates. Nice.
[00:17:46] Jacqui Brugliera: They're green.
[00:17:46] Ray Latif: Unfortunately, I destroyed the sweet berry fish yesterday, which are kind of a take on Swedish fish, and those are incredible. So these are not too dissimilar from the True Dates. Remember the True Dates that we were all gushing about at Expo West where they're dates, but they're candy flavored. Although the difference with these is there's a candy shell. It's like an M&M candy shell around the date. I just had the peach. This looks amazing. It's fantastic. It really does taste like candy. I just had the watermelon. I'm going for bubblegum. I'm a little skeptical about this one, but I'm going to do it anyway. The sour watermelon, it seems like it's right up my alley.
[00:18:22] Mike Schneider: So are you, Melissa.
[00:18:24] Ray Latif: Sweet peach and they've got sweet. Oh you destroy the sweet berry fish gum Beach is really good Not a fan of the bubble gum, but I see what they're going for. I like it Do you think kids are gonna eat this stuff or is it really just for adults? That's a good question. I'm not sure. I mean, I think if you're a Swedish fish fan, for instance, that these sweet berry fish hit almost the same note. So kids would like them. But the question is, are they going to pick them up? The answer is probably not. I think it's how restrictive are you with your children and how much sugar they're allowed to have? Because if you are, then they'll probably love them. Yeah. Well, there's three servings per pouch. Each pouch contains three ounces. There's four pieces per serving. And each serving contains 80 calories and 13 grams of sugar, which is not terrible for candy or at least confectionery. And dates are naturally more low glycemic as I understand it. I'll take your word for it. But the pitted dates, it says they're grown in California, so you can appreciate the fact that you're buying a U.S. product, if that's important to you. No artificial flavors or colors. Yeah, I would buy these, depending on the price. If these were like four bucks, I'd definitely buy these. If they're six bucks, I'd hesitate. I'd hesitate, but I probably still would do it. Good stuff, Smood Sweets. This seems like a great airport snack, too. I definitely want this to take on the plane with me. These are great. Or if you're like Monica and you run marathons, I bet this would be a great marathon snack. Monica Watrous, the managing editor, if not, she runs a lot of marathons. A lot of marathons. Very impressive. She just ran another half. Yeah. I don't think I could. I mean, I know you have to train for marathons. This seems like a lot. Yeah, I couldn't do it. No, and what do you do? Like when you're running a marathon, do you listen to music? Do you just like focus on the road? I don't know. I guess, you know, you have to be an extraordinary human to run a marathon and we're not. We'll leave that to Monica. There you go. Jackie, have you run? I'm actually Jackie.
[00:20:26] Jacqui Brugliera: I'm not a runner. I'm a sprinter, not a runner. I need to like chase something. I'm like a dog. I need to run for miles and miles and miles.
[00:20:35] Ray Latif: I've seen you run, Jackie. So the funny thing about Jackie, she's like, I'm not a runner. And then she does great in a 5k.
[00:20:40] Jacqui Brugliera: Okay. Also, I haven't ran a 5k in like 10 years. And then you were like, let's run a 5k. And I was like, why not? And then I was hurting for weeks.
[00:20:49] Ray Latif: But when did you run a 5k? Last year we did the Santa Monica Christmas run, which was tragically moved to the day after we left.
[00:20:58] Jacqui Brugliera: Darn it! She's so sad, look.
[00:21:02] Ray Latif: I didn't know you didn't like it, sorry.
[00:21:04] Jacqui Brugliera: The tears are streaming down her face. It was really fine, my body just didn't like it.
[00:21:09] Ray Latif: I understand. Was it because we had been at JJ the night before?
[00:21:13] Jacqui Brugliera: Is that why you were hurting or it's just... No, we weren't. I was just trying to keep up with Mike, so I was just running really fast.
[00:21:21] Ray Latif: Okay, okay. Peak physical condition Mike versus, you know... Peak physical condition Jackie, but just not for running. I hear you. All right. So more beverages there, Mike. There were two extraordinary beverages that I want to shout out. I mean, there were a lot of extraordinary beverages at BevNET Live, but I want to shout out the founders of Hippie Water, Sasha Spivoda and Sasha Patersehu. I really enjoyed that product. It was the exact thing that I needed after a day of just being like, ah. You know wait Hippie Water. She's the founders pretty well known isn't she she is yes The CEO is on a show that you might know called pretty little liars, okay? I didn't know I didn't know I didn't know I was scrolling through the attendee list. I'm like what's this Hippie Water stuff and then I looked up the founder whose name is well. She's the co-founder Sasha Pieterse Schaefer yeah, and so She's she's got 18 million followers on the grams I mean all I know is they were two really nice people who had a beverage and they were trying to figure out how to sample it and I helped him figure that out and then Jackie tried it and It was really good. Okay. Just hit the spot and It had just the right amount of THC to oh you gave me one. I think yeah. Yeah, it was good Yeah, she was the undercover celebrity at bed night live. I guess so her in Ryan Phillippe. Oh Chloe Kardashian. Sasha was telling me that she was not in recovery. They can't walk down the street without somebody asking for a picture of Sasha. And I'm like, is it because she looks like Wednesday Addams? And she laughed. And I think it was like I was being serious. The Addams family? Yeah. Oh, you just called someone Wednesday Addams? Is that what? I thought she had a little bit of that vibe going, which is good, by the way.
[00:23:12] Mike Schneider: Right.
[00:23:12] Ray Latif: I think that's a positive thing. Also, I didn't know. And then, you know, later they followed me on Instagram and I was like, 17 point how many? 17.6 million followers, and only 1,552 that Sasha's following, so you're one of the very, yeah. Yeah, she'll figure that out soon enough and unfollow me, but. Maybe her PR team, oh no, she's following Craven too, I just saw this. Craven, she's following Mike. But they were saying, like, the event was great, they had a good time, and they were just, you know, they're walking around, having great conversations, and they really enjoyed the event, so I was like, I was, you know, eating that, of course. Also got she's also following Kevin Bacon. So you're like on the same.
[00:23:54] Mike Schneider: Oh, yeah.
[00:23:55] Ray Latif: Yeah six degrees. Yeah, not six degrees I'm just saying you and oh, I might be two degrees now Forget the degrees go on to Julie. Well, this is not Julie. It's called giggly actually, okay, but old people like you and me oh who remember that terrible film, Geely, see this and go, no, but it's actually giggly. And this part here is a smile, right? And that's- It looks like a tongue. They're making it look more like a smile in later revisions. But the important thing here is that it's very colorful. The THC call out is super clear and the flavors are great. I've got Blood Orange Margarita, Raspberry Mule, Pineapple Mojito in my hand here. And I think I'm going to go in. And so this brand was founded by Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, right? Hopefully it has a better outcome than that movie because that movie bombed Yeah, yeah, this is I mean the bar is low for Gigli, but this is Gigli which the bar is high for so this is really tasty stuff. It's got real juice in it and Really hits the spot. How many calories in it? only 70 Not bad. Not bad. Not bad indeed. Not bad. I mean, it's supposed to be an indulgence, right? Absolutely.
[00:25:07] Mike Schneider: 70 calories is nothing for an indulgence.
[00:25:08] Ray Latif: It's a lot less than a, you know, margarita.
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[00:26:23] Ray Latif: All right, Jackie, what's new on the West Coast?
[00:26:26] Jacqui Brugliera: I have another product that people were sipping at the official party at BevNET Live, which is Vivi.
[00:26:33] Ray Latif: Oh yeah.
[00:26:34] Jacqui Brugliera: This was like a fan favorite of the team.
[00:26:36] Ray Latif: Yeah.
[00:26:38] Jacqui Brugliera: V I V Y Vivian on our team. I think she was a little biased, but everyone else loved it too. And it's kind of fun. It's in like a pouch and this is their pineapple martini. It's a vodka cocktail and it comes with a straw and it's just very simple. It's just a vodka cocktail, 9% alcohol, gluten-free made with natural flavors. And everyone that I was talking to really enjoyed it.
[00:27:03] Ray Latif: It's the Adult Capri Sun pretty much.
[00:27:05] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:27:06] Ray Latif: Yeah, definitely leans more towards women Do you think Viviana was biased because of the name or because it was her third alcoholic drink ever? You all met at the one-to-one booth, right So if you did any of the one-to-ones at any of the events you met Viana, yeah, just keep it up for one on track Yep, and I do have some more alcohol because it is the holiday season, huh?
[00:27:35] Jacqui Brugliera: I have Summer Club, which, you know, it's getting cold out. I guess I would want something to make me feel like it's summertime. And this is their lychee or lychee cooler. And then they also have a Pogmosa. So some cool flavors. The Pogmosa is passion fruit, orange, guava. These are wine spritzers with fruit juice and 6.4% alcohol.
[00:27:57] Ray Latif: Pineapple, orange, guava, Pog. Pog, yeah, sounds yummy. There you go.
[00:28:01] Jacqui Brugliera: Sounds tropical.
[00:28:02] Ray Latif: Yeah, well, I mean, that looks like a refreshing beverage. I think that definitely feels like it's something I would sip on in the summer.
[00:28:09] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah.
[00:28:10] Ray Latif: Hopefully it isn't something that people avoid in the winter.
[00:28:15] Jacqui Brugliera: I know that was the only thing with the name is, do you think people would not pick it up if it's wintertime and they see refreshing?
[00:28:24] Ray Latif: I think if it was Winter Club, people would not pick it up in the summer. But I think Summer Club, nobody ever says, I wish it wasn't summer. I hate summer.
[00:28:34] Jacqui Brugliera: Oh no, it's summertime. You never hear that. You're like, oh, winter. I wish it was summer. The top does say summertime anytime. So they're trying to bring summer all year long.
[00:28:45] Ray Latif: I think they're onto something there. I would love to try that. How do we join the club? If we have any in the office, I will be looking for that product. And Melissa, anything in your pockets there that you want to share? Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Unfortunately, I don't have one in my pocket because I didn't take it home from California. But I actually had an opportunity to interview Alda from Skinnergy. And I'm really into the brand. It's Icelandic marine collagen. And of course, it's supposed to promote skin, hair and nail health. It's a combination of caffeine, collagen, and vitamin C. And Aldo was talking about marine collagen, which I thought was so interesting. They process the fish skins and her family in Iceland, actually, they're a family of fishermen. So they do that themselves. And as she was talking about marine collagen and how it's easier for your body to process it, I think when I'm done with my vital proteins, bovine collagen, which I mix into my coffee, I think I'm switching to a marine collagen. That beverage was so tasty and her presentation was extraordinary. I want to get my hands on that brand. I mean, it has a lot of potential to, you know, be a great brand with a few tweaks, I think. It really does. Right now they're DTC, but she's here to launch it in the United States. So hopefully I can go buy some and drink it. And my skin is just going to be glowing. You guys are going to have to wear sunglasses. Well, more than usual. You should definitely share your experience with marine collagen with the community. I think with Jackie too, do you use marine collagen? Cause you're not eating bovine.
[00:30:25] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I don't use bovine, I use marine. And why did you switch or why do you use marine instead of bovine? Well, I am pescatarian, so that's number one. And then, yeah, I don't know. I do find that I digest it easier too. It's easier on the stomach. Well sign me up and it doesn't even taste like fish.
[00:30:51] Ray Latif: Not even a little bit. The other product I did bring back from the Taste Radio live stream studio at BevNET Live, I tatted with Brian from the brand Ka-X. This was a really interesting product. They have these packets of powder. It's a bioactive substance for athletes that has all kinds of vitamins and minerals. They also have a ready to drink version, which is a bottle with liquid in it. And then it has a cap that has powder and you push a button and you release the powder into the liquid. And the reason that you do that is because if you had mixed those things previously and it's sitting on the shelf for a while or in transit, the effectiveness of the vitamins and minerals are diminished. And I thought it was really interesting to see and hear about this now, because with the creatine craze that's going on, I think we're all hearing about how you have to mix the creatine in the powder right before you consume it. Otherwise, It's not an active product. So I thought that timing on this was really interesting. It's a cortisol stress reducer. So the idea being that you work out and your body produces this cortisol, this helps quell that and it helps restore glycogen. And I guess it boosts muscle growth and it reduces DOMS, which is a couple of days after you exercise and you can't walk up the stairs. If it helps that then. you know, who isn't in. Jackie, you could have had this for your 5k and you would have been fine. Only they weren't there last year. They were only here this year. KAX, K-A-E-X. It's described as a cortisol stress reducer. Everybody wants something that's going to reduce stress. You have a reducer too, don't you? What's that? Don't you have a reducer over here? I do actually. And this is the last brand we're going to be talking about. And I feel like this is the brand that we needed to close the show on. I was upstairs with Captain Colin, the now world famous Captain Colin, because everyone saw him at the events and he's, because he was everywhere. He was just everywhere and doing everything. All the time. He never went to sleep. The captain of sampling. No, he ran our samples and he was just helping out everywhere he could, Colin Steadgrew. He handed me this bottle. It's a short white bottle, I believe. Looks like a mushroom. It's glass, but it almost feels like a, Kind of one of those like clay jars. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, it's got this really weird closure. It almost looks like one of these candy dates. It looks like Toad from Super Mario Brothers. Yeah, I think it looks like a mushroom almost. Yeah, it's mushroomy. And the name of the brand, I couldn't tell if it's Santa or Sanza. It could be Sanza, because if it is, then they have two different S's. The A's are the same, so I think it's Santa.
[00:33:38] Mike Schneider: Yeah, maybe it's Santa.
[00:33:39] Ray Latif: The bottle is white, the closure is bright red, like a nose, almost like Rudolph's nose. And it's described, incredibly, as a noise-canceling tonic. What'd you say? Stop. A noise-canceling tonic. What? What in the heck is the noise-canceling tonic? It's a really beautiful package. Who needs a noise-canceling tonic? I don't know.
[00:34:04] Jacqui Brugliera: Does it mean actual like sound or like the noise in your head, like makes you calm?
[00:34:09] Ray Latif: No idea. It is Drink Santa. I mean, it is Santa because we have to go to drinksanta.com. Let's take a look at this. Oh, shoot. You have to be 21 to proceed. So what's in here? Uh oh. It says it's a first-of-its-kind tonic powered by the Amanita muscaria mushroom for calm, blissful, clear energy without the jitters or crash. A spicy, sweet tonic that helps you zone in on what matters and tune out everything else. It's for focus and fun. What did you say? It's described as a coffee alternative. It's non-psychedelic and alcohol-free, but why does it have to be, why do you have to be 21 plus? Is it a psychoactive mushroom? It says non-psychedelic. Two bottles is 35 bucks. Six bottles is only $59. So it says it's for anyone seeking clear focus, calm energy, and a blissful mood. Oh, it has kava in it.
[00:35:01] Mike Schneider: Okay.
[00:35:02] Ray Latif: Okay. So that's, that's probably why. And it also has muscimol, which is a naturally extracted GABA alpha agonist with distinct relaxing and focusing effects. Interesting stuff. I'm gonna have to get some more data on some of this stuff before I drink that. Yeah. probably should do that. But for those of you who are familiar with gabun, kavun, beta alanine, maybe this is the right product for you. I just don't know. Noise canceling tonic doesn't seem like a, doesn't seem like a description or descriptor that a lot of people are going to understand or really need. It sounds like a way to say it, like the noise in your brain canceling, but it takes a little bit of a while to get there. We'll let you know on the next episode of Taste Radio. That brings us to the end of this episode of Taste Radio. Thank you so much for listening. Taste Radio is a production of BevNET.com, Incorporated. Our audio engineer for Taste Radio is Joe Cracci. Our technical director is Joshua Pratt, and our video editor is Ryan Galang. Our social marketing manager is Amanda Smerlinski, and our designer is Amanda Huang. Just a reminder, if you like what you hear on Taste Radio, please share the podcast with friends and colleagues. And of course, we would love it if you could review us on the Apple Podcasts app or your listening platform of choice. Check us out on Instagram. Our handle is bevnettasteradio. As always, for questions, comments, ideas for future podcasts, please send us an email to ask at Taste Radio.com. On behalf of the entire Taste Radio team, thank you for listening, and we'll talk to you next time. you
