[00:00:10] Ray Latif: Hello, friends, and thanks for tuning in to Taste Radio, the number one podcast for the food and beverage industry. I'm Ray Latif, the editor and producer of Taste Radio, and with my co-host for this episode, John Craven, Jacqui Brugliera, and Mike Schneider. In this episode, we feature an interview with Alan Kennedy, the Master Blender for Rye Ford Whiskey brand Redemption Whiskey discusses the brand's emphasis on premiumization of experience across its portfolio. Well, welcome back to me and to Mike. Yeah. Thanks, Ray. Welcome back to you. Thank you so much. Good to see everyone.
[00:00:47] John Craven: Are you allowed to be the person who welcomes if you were the person who was gone? I have to be. Yeah. Okay. You are the host.
[00:00:53] Jacqui Brugliera: Or we could, we could welcome you back. You know, we were holding, we were holding down the fort.
[00:00:57] Ray Latif: Let's see where this goes. You were holding down the fort.
[00:00:59] John Craven: How was it, Jackie?
[00:01:01] Jacqui Brugliera: It was nice, you know, we had a couple new hosts on, Brad and Melissa, so it was good. But we did miss you. We did miss you. Yeah, so much.
[00:01:10] Ray Latif: I feel like I should go on vacation more often though, because John, you held it down as the lead host. Your style is a little bit more straightforward, even keeled, steady than mine is. Mine is a little bit more chaotic. We'll just fix it in post kind of thing. We do a lot of fixing. We do a lot of fixing when I'm the lead host. John, I think the last one, at least the episode.
[00:01:29] Mike Schneider: I just did one take.
[00:01:32] John Craven: Joe said there were zero edits.
[00:01:34] Ray Latif: Yeah. Well, I reviewed a couple of things. I had to clip some things here and there while I was on vacation.
[00:01:40] John Craven: You know what though? He didn't accept them.
[00:01:42] Ray Latif: He didn't accept them. I got high marks from Joe. That's good. I mean, it was a perfect recording. Oh, well, if you get high marks from Joe, I am expecting that he's expecting a $10,000 raise. We'll edit that out. Redo that. You're trying to be mindful, you know, right?
[00:02:01] Jacqui Brugliera: You're on vacation. So we're like, no mess ups. We can't mess up.
[00:02:04] Ray Latif: Correct correct now. It was nice being away Mike.
[00:02:08] John Craven: I'm sure you had some fun being away on the Jersey Shore I did tell me you met the situation you got to hang out with them Snooki the situation you know Jim tan laundry every day Jim tan laundry, baby What's your favorite out of the three was a Jim Tanner laundry see more like a laundry kind of guy more of a gym guy Than tanning laundry.
[00:02:28] Ray Latif: Yeah. Yeah, look at him. Come on. Look at me. I'm just jacked But all those arsenal, you know jerseys you got to wash those once in a while, right?
[00:02:35] John Craven: Right?
[00:02:35] Ray Latif: You know what I discovered over the way you just buy new ones.
[00:02:37] John Craven: I discovered no I discovered some innovation over the weekend. You know the people from Richards they make Richards rainwater. You love that brand They're using their technology to capture my new favorite beverage which is Manchester United tears, I got plenty of that over the weekend.
[00:02:57] Ray Latif: So Here we go. That's cute. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I gotta tell you, you know, you want to try some when you probably had plenty of them when offside calls ruin an entire game that's These things happen where you end up with a can like that. Those are good. It's my new favorite beverage
[00:03:14] Jacqui Brugliera: This is what we were missing while you're gone.
[00:03:15] Mike Schneider: You know football talk God just gloating over like what is it like the third week of?
[00:03:22] Ray Latif: Premier League yeah fourth whatever I mean this is like Yeah, anyway, it is a bit straight early days. Yeah, yeah Well, you know, it was Labor Day weekend, and so everyone got an extra day of the weekend. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I was planning to go see the Barbie movie. Still haven't seen that yet. Has anyone seen that?
[00:03:43] Jacqui Brugliera: No, you haven't? No, I saw it. Yeah, of course.
[00:03:45] Ray Latif: Okay, so Jackie and Mike saw it. Was it good?
[00:03:49] Jacqui Brugliera: I loved it. I thought it was really good. I know that there's been like a lot of backlash lately, which is kind of weird, but it was fun. It was just really hyping up women and supporting women, which some men didn't like, I guess, but I loved it.
[00:04:06] Ray Latif: I thought it was great. The some men you're referring to, Jackie, are the losers, I will say, on Twitter, who have nothing better to do with their lives. I'm sorry if I'm offending people, but come on, come on. I mean, really, does everything have to be an issue? That's why I just have a problem with Twitter, because every time I log on to the platform... It's called X-Ray. I don't care. It's called X-Ray.
[00:04:27] Mike Schneider: Yeah, the proper lingo is every time you sign on an X to X or re-X someone or I don't know.
[00:04:35] Ray Latif: It's just so annoying. Even though like I'm only following like a handful of accounts, mostly soccer and football accounts, I still get this deluge of of people who are complaining about one thing or the other or trying to get attention by making some clever tweet about a movie that people seem to like, but you have a problem with it. I mean, come on, come on.
[00:04:54] Jacqui Brugliera: It's a sounding board, you know, it's where people go to troll and to, you know, feel like they're heard. So I don't know. It is a bit chaotic.
[00:05:04] Ray Latif: It is a bit chaotic. I do enjoy the occasional tweet from BevNET Craven, who keeps me up to date on all things happening in the food and beverage industry. That's how I know what's going on, really. It's not from BevNET, it's not from Nosh, it's not from Taste Radio, it was from BevNET Craven on Twitter.
[00:05:19] Mike Schneider: I mean, I took the weekend off, so you learned nothing, unfortunately.
[00:05:23] Ray Latif: He was off as well. I was just... Why do you think he took time off? Somebody was like, what's going on in the industry? I was like, I have no idea. I've been offline for two days.
[00:05:32] Mike Schneider: I took a break over the weekend and my only posts were of the beverage cooler at Erewhon and a juiced a burrito, so That was my contribution to society you got an X you got an extra juice to breathe Is that what it is now when you instead of tweeting you act? I don't know okay confusing.
[00:05:49] Ray Latif: Are you on threads? Yeah, I love the threads.
[00:05:52] Mike Schneider: Yeah, really.
[00:05:53] Ray Latif: I don't know I mean I am on there Okay, I haven't threaded yet. Threads, for people who are not familiar, is the Facebook answer or Facebook's Meta's answer to Twitter. Old news, Ray. Yeah, well, I mean, not everyone knows what it is because I don't think many people are on it. No, yes, that's true.
[00:06:10] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I feel like a lot of us are still kind of creeping on it, seeing what happens, seeing how it pans out. Does it become Twitter? What is that platform going to be? I know I'm a creeper on there, but I haven't posted anything either.
[00:06:22] John Craven: A lurker, Jackie.
[00:06:23] Ray Latif: Well, it's it's it's bound to you know end up being another platform for people to Complain about things one more thing to post on.
[00:06:36] Mike Schneider: Yeah, I guess we all we all need that in our lives
[00:06:39] Ray Latif: Well, if I were to start posting more on... Why do you have a big Pepto-Bismol bottle? It's not a Pepto-Bismol bottle. If I were to start posting things on either of those platforms, I'd be posting this bottle of Pathwater that is wrapped in hot pink. and has the Barbie logo on the side. This is a limited edition, Pathwater's limited edition Barbie Bottles. For folks who are not familiar, you should be. Pathwater was featured in an episode of Taste Radio, at least the co-founder and CEO, Shadi Bakour, was in an episode a couple weeks ago. a maker of bottled water that is packaged in refillable aluminum containers, 16.9 ounce containers, that is. Pathwater has done a number of collaborations with pop culture brands, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SpongeBob, and now most recently Barbie. Love this bottle. I'm going to keep it. You can see it from space. You could see this from space.
[00:07:38] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it's nice and bright.
[00:07:40] Ray Latif: Yeah, I'm not sharing this. And I'm not sure what I'm going to crack it open, though, because I feel like this is a collector's item. Yeah, what's the point of cracking it open, really?
[00:07:47] John Craven: Isn't it a collector's item with or without the liquid? That's just water. Yeah. Right.
[00:07:52] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, it's cool to see just brands jumping into the Barbie trend and coming out with skews. I know Swoon has their, I think it's pink lemonade that's tied to Barbie and a bunch of other brands have done things too. It's just like a whole swell of pop culture. And it's been really fun to watch it play out. I mean, people are having Barbie parties. They're dressing up for the movie. It's not going away anytime soon. And I think it's kind of smart to jump on that.
[00:08:19] John Craven: We have any more collabs? We've already talked about two today.
[00:08:23] Ray Latif: I'm going to talk about a couple more collabs in a sec. I love the collabs. I was wondering, I was waiting for one of us, Jackie, you or me, to mess up and drop the R in Barbie. Because when we were growing up, it wasn't Barbie, it was Bobby. You got the Bobby dream house yet? No, no, I didn't get that. Yeah. Well, I got the dream car. Get the Bobby. I packed the dream car in front of the dream house. Yeah. Or if you're from Australia, it's Bobby, but that could be barbecue. We're way off topic right now. Anyway, we're so lost. We're so on topic.
[00:08:53] Jacqui Brugliera: It's Barbie. I had a bunch of weird Bobbies, you know, the ones in the movie where all the hairs chopped off, like losing limbs, things like that.
[00:09:02] John Craven: Wait, what?
[00:09:02] Mike Schneider: What were you doing in these Barbies I Don't know.
[00:09:10] Jacqui Brugliera: I got a little bored. I was trying to make some weird Barbies.
[00:09:14] Mike Schneider: I was getting creative Did you make them act out like a Gaelic football game or something?
[00:09:20] Jacqui Brugliera: I didn't know that existed yet, but I probably would have probably Fight Club or something but
[00:09:27] Ray Latif: The things you don't expect to hear on Taste Radio. I had a bunch of the weird Barbies. I was like, what is going on here? Sounds like Toy Story.
[00:09:36] Jacqui Brugliera: Anyway, well, they didn't like me.
[00:09:38] Ray Latif: I like two of the packages on the table, not the Manchester United Tears one, but I do like the one that's in front of John Craven. It's a package from Tetra Pak. It's a blue Tetra Pak carton. I don't know what's inside. Mystery beverage, right? Mystery beverage. But I do want to thank Tetra Pak as the presenting sponsor for this episode of Taste Radio. Tetra Pak is the pioneering packaging solutions company that provides safe, innovative, and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Learn more at tetrapak.com.
[00:10:12] John Craven: Thank you, Tetra Pak.
[00:10:13] Ray Latif: Well, while I was away, I was very lucky to receive a few packages that included some delicious, at least seemingly delicious, new products, including a new line from Dole, D-O-L-E. Most people know Dole for their pineapples, their little pineapple cups and things like that. John Craven brings in a pineapple cup every single day. Crush those, no, fruit cup, Ray. Fruit cup, excuse me. I like the Dole whip myself. That's his 1.23 p.m. treat. Don't bother John if you are thinking about trying to call email text John at 123 do not ray I actually have a minute time Don't bother met 440.
[00:10:51] Mike Schneider: I only I only drink the syrup and throw away the fruit So it only takes about 10 seconds. Nice.
[00:10:56] Jacqui Brugliera: Nice little shot.
[00:10:57] Ray Latif: Can you use the syrup like like the chickpea? What do they call that? What's the chicken? Can you make yes, you can make butter out of fruit?
[00:11:08] Jacqui Brugliera: I
[00:11:10] Ray Latif: I love it.
[00:11:11] Jacqui Brugliera: We should make a reel out of that. What can you make with the juice from a Dole fruit cup?
[00:11:15] Ray Latif: The things you learn on Taste Radio. I mean, people, you know, uh, anyway, so Dole Good Crunch are their new healthy snacks. They described as healthy snacks and now available nationally on Amazon. They come in these 1.4 ounce pouches. They include three varieties. They are pineapple bites. with chili pineapple bites that are original and banana bites. Do these have any kind of other flavor? No, just original as well. Just a banana. Basically, I assume I haven't opened these yet, but they're sort of rindish and rind being the dried fruit with the peel on. I feel like they're kind of rindish in that regard. Why don't we open them and find out? All right, I'm going to open up the the original pineapple bites here. Can we go for the spicy? Actually, they're not at all like grind. They're almost more like nugget like in nugget size like chicken nuggets Yes, they are.
[00:12:10] Jacqui Brugliera: See they're more like see are they crispy or dehydrated and like chewy John Craven you tell us so crispy
[00:12:18] Mike Schneider: Yeah, it's actually more like Jackie. You can't see it from here, but they're called dull good crunch.
[00:12:22] Ray Latif: This is more like a dehydrated Chooza Chooza the brand of Mexican style dried fruit snacks. But yeah, these are um, I haven't really seen it's like if you look at You know a pineapple bite from say a fruit cup. This just looks like it's dried to a crisp and That's the form they give it to you in these pouches. So it's pretty good. Yeah, I A marketing tip, just say they're crispy AF.
[00:12:49] John Craven: They're crispy AF.
[00:12:50] Ray Latif: I gotta tell you, you know, I think- Can I try the chili? I mean, it is called Crunch, Mike. Yeah, it's true. I gotta tell you, I think these big brands, these big companies are getting much better at packaging and branding. I feel like this Good Crunch, if you didn't know- There's a lot on it though. No, but if you didn't, if Dole wasn't in the upper right-hand corner next to Good Crunch, I would think that this is just an upstart brand. It does look pretty good.
[00:13:14] John Craven: It does look, I'll give it to him.
[00:13:15] Ray Latif: It looks like an entrepreneurial brand.
[00:13:16] John Craven: But I need to see the chili up close.
[00:13:18] Ray Latif: Okay, I will give you the pineapple bites with chili. There you go. Thank you. There is, however, a ton of copy on the back. You probably need to reduce a lot of that copy. It's just a lot going on there. Wow, there's a lot of lawyers to get through that.
[00:13:31] Jacqui Brugliera: I think like startup companies are just forcing them to be better. You know, the competition on shelf, they see what other brands are doing. They're definitely keeping an eye on trends if they're coming out with this product. So I think they're forced to be better.
[00:13:46] Ray Latif: It definitely feels like the marketing teams were working in overdrive to get as much as they could that's relevant to consumers on the front of the pack here. So they have in a small circle near the bottom of the pack, it says Planet Positive Snack. Everyone loves the planet, right? Or helping the planet. No added sugar. all-natural fruit, non-GMO, good source of potassium, that's at the top. So just hitting on a lot of those relevant trends for consumers in terms of sustainability, no added sugar, and a positive functional benefit in that it is a good source of potassium, at least the banana bites.
[00:14:19] John Craven: Six ingredients in this one, in the chili.
[00:14:21] Ray Latif: Yeah, six ingredients, that's not bad.
[00:14:23] Jacqui Brugliera: I'd be curious if there's any like food waste component to the product too. I mean, they are a massive supplier of just fruit, and I can guess that a lot of that goes to waste because it's going to go bad eventually, but... Yeah, well, it definitely... Do you think this is upcycled?
[00:14:39] Ray Latif: Well, on the back of the Banana Bites one, it says, good production with less waste. We repurpose banana skin into organic fertilizers. We also combat food waste by using a variety of bananas, including the, quote, imperfect ones that taste great, but would otherwise be thrown away. Jackie, you're right on top of it. Can we try these? Well, we're munching away at these things. Jackie, you got just a cornucopia of products in front of you as well.
[00:15:03] Jacqui Brugliera: I got a little pile up here. It's very colorful pile. And I think you all have this over there. Humate. We can sample together.
[00:15:16] Ray Latif: the power of video.
[00:15:17] Jacqui Brugliera: Yes. So Hami is a line of chickpea puffs. And it's very simple, like straight to the point on the package, you know what you're getting? It's cheese, peanut, and sweet corn. And when you open them, they're like little kind of like cocoa puffs. But giant cocoa puffs.
[00:15:37] Mike Schneider: Yeah, it is.
[00:15:40] Jacqui Brugliera: They're pretty good. Not bad. Yeah, like simple, nice, healthy snack. The ingredients are pretty simple, just chickpea flour, corn flour, and then some seasoning. So if you want something crunchy, you can have a delicious, nutritious snack. And I like the little characters. I think they're definitely like trying to target kids, families with these. I think it's a giraffe on the front.
[00:16:06] Ray Latif: Once again, no one seems to be using hand sanitizer. This is, uh, this, this vexes me.
[00:16:10] John Craven: I washed my hands before the show. There you go.
[00:16:12] Ray Latif: You can, I'll give you some hand sanitizer. Give me a little support. I should note that, um, for folks that are going to be attending our meetups, our BevNET, Nosh, Taste Radio meetups, they need three pumps of hand sanitizer before approaching Ray.
[00:16:25] Mike Schneider: Oh, and a Listerine strip.
[00:16:26] Ray Latif: In Newton, San Diego. In San Diego is happening on September 28th. In Newton is happening on... October 4th. October 4th. We will have plenty of hand sanitizer on hand so people can sample all the snacks that they want, all the snacks that will be available at said meetups. If you want to join us, and you definitely should if you live in Southern California or visiting the area, or if you're living in the Boston area or visiting the area, Head to BevNET.com or Nosh.com to learn more and meet with us and the community in the food and beverage industry.
[00:17:01] Mike Schneider: Can I share a product now? Yeah, you can share a product. Yes, my turn, finally. I've got these wasabi flavored cheese bits that we should try.
[00:17:10] Ray Latif: Cheese bits is the name of the brand?
[00:17:12] Mike Schneider: Cheez-Bits is the name of the brand. They have a bunch of different flavors. These are Mazza Mini Pearls bite-sized snacking Scamorza cheese. What? With wasabi flavoring. You know what? That's right up my alley right there. I mean, just pretend they look like chickpeas.
[00:17:30] Ray Latif: I am not. Thank you. Well, Mike will try them.
[00:17:33] Mike Schneider: They are actually quite tasty. Package is a little difficult to open here. We're going to kind of have to destroy it here.
[00:17:39] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I feel like wasabi and cheese isn't usually a combo, so I'd be curious to.
[00:17:45] Ray Latif: While while John is using his key to open up the package there Wow, I sanitized it, right? Don't worry Wasabi or is it horseradish that most of it and that is consumed is not actually I think it's wasabi, right? That's no most wasabi that is served in America. It's not actually wasabi. Yeah, it's like horseradish It's like food coloring right or added with added food coloring.
[00:18:10] John Craven: It's And Wasabi.
[00:18:11] Ray Latif: Oh I did have some incredible wasabi when I was in Copenhagen, though. It was actually wasabi. There was a remarkable difference between what we eat here and what I would serve.
[00:18:19] Jacqui Brugliera: So what's the difference? How would you compare it?
[00:18:21] Mike Schneider: These are the most authentic wasabi, Rae. I don't know about that, but they're pretty darn good. You have to eat a couple and then the spice hits you. Mike looks perplexed.
[00:18:32] Ray Latif: I'm just waiting for the spice the difference to answer your question Jackie is that there was a much more fresher and I guess nuanced flavor to what I ate versus just like the heat and the burn that you get from horseradish nose Exactly that you typically get from wasabi. That's consumed here.
[00:18:48] John Craven: I mean, that's like Wasabi 101 that's like beginner wasabi right there. That's pretty light pretty light and
[00:18:55] Ray Latif: But it's good. Okay. It's like the gateway wasabi those look like nice snacks I feel like I feel like they would be even better as like a much smaller snack But you could put into a lunchbox like a bit kids would love that um They'd only had like four or five like or maybe ten pearls instead of say 30 or 400 of them um I'm not sure it's a kid snack based on the flavors, but I don't think so.
[00:19:17] John Craven: It's pretty interesting stuff I like it pairs really well with my favorite beverage.
[00:19:20] Mike Schneider: Okay. Oh come on now I
[00:19:24] Ray Latif: All right, we'll stay on the cheese front for a second. I received a bunch of products from a brand called pops up Pops up P O P Z U P. They are a maker of popcorn products based in New Hampshire, New Hampshire. Nice. I almost said New Hampshire, Massachusetts.
[00:19:41] Mike Schneider: I was going to say, were you about to say New Hampshire, the state directly above Massachusetts and in between Vermont and Maine bordered by the Canadian province, Quebec. It would be really funny if I'm wrong.
[00:20:01] Ray Latif: I think it is Because I try to explain everything to do because I assume not everyone knows About everything we're talking.
[00:20:13] Mike Schneider: I mean I saw you with the Barbie water, too You were like, you know inside this bottles path water spring water water, which is you know, I Which is a couple of some hydrogen molecules hydrogen atoms and an oxygen all right?
[00:20:28] Ray Latif: So pops up their tagline as pops by hand with love they come in these Packages that are light brown. It's it's almost looks like a burlap sack Yeah, a little bit like that, but I tried their butter popcorn one. It's amazing. They're butter popcorn one It's made with sweet cream I mean, that actually looks like a microwave bag of popcorn.
[00:20:47] Mike Schneider: It does.
[00:20:47] Ray Latif: That's clearly what they're going for. They do have microwave popcorn. They do have microwave popcorn. But this is their cheesy herby popcorn variety. Herby. This is nacho cheese like taste. Better for you ingredients. So don't stick your hand all the way in the bag. I hate when people do that.
[00:21:02] John Craven: Herby.
[00:21:02] Ray Latif: Just dump out a few kernels. What the heck? Just dump out a few kernels into your hand.
[00:21:09] John Craven: Don't jam your hand in there.
[00:21:13] Ray Latif: Another PSA on Taster. Don't jam your hand into the chip or popcorn bag.
[00:21:18] Jacqui Brugliera: Proper eating etiquette.
[00:21:19] Ray Latif: You have to pour it into your hand or Ray will not try it. You open a corner of it and you put your hand out. You open the conic head. You dump out a few popcorn kernels in there.
[00:21:30] Mike Schneider: Well, right, I mean just a tip for when you're having these large gatherings where you have a communal popcorn bag You could just put in a bowl No, sorry, I'd be the person over the bowl George was you know scolded for dipping and then dipping again.
[00:21:52] Ray Latif: Oh
[00:21:52] John Craven: Double dipping?
[00:21:53] Ray Latif: No double dipping.
[00:21:55] John Craven: No. That's a no-no.
[00:21:55] Ray Latif: That is not okay. Alright, here we go, Mike. That's not okay. I wish I could get some. These look delicious. The kernels here. Are you gonna eat some? Pop this up. I'm gonna eat some later. After I wash my hands thoroughly.
[00:22:08] John Craven: Here's the bag.
[00:22:10] Ray Latif: Okay. Thank you But yeah, I mean, I'm I really like these your popcorn feels like it's a pretty tough Category because there's just so many brands out there and so many big brands, but I mean, I love Is this some vegan cheese or real cheese? It is Nacho cheese-like taste. Oh, interesting. There is no, yeah. I don't see any dairy here.
[00:22:35] John Craven: It tastes good, but it's, it definitely gives you a, what is that?
[00:22:39] Ray Latif: Yeah, it says nacho cheesy-like taste. But anyway, I mean, I like these little upstart regional artisanal brands, like a Pipcorn. Pipcorn is more nationally distributed, but it's, it has that kind of vibe to it, just like Pops Up does. So really well done. Love this brand.
[00:22:58] Jacqui Brugliera: And I have another product over here. It is a beverage. And I would say this is like really interesting. That's happening in functional beverages. I'm seeing a couple more of these where it's focused on chakras. So I saw one beverage at Expo West that was focused on each skew was supposed to benefit like a different chakra. And this one is for your third chakra power, your solar plexus and your pancreas. And this is an Ayurvedic super drink. So they have a bunch of different SKUs. I know we kind of talked about this in the previous episode, just how functional beverages sometimes have a different SKU for a different, you know, benefit. And I think this one does have like a lot going on and it's for consumers, it might be a lot to take in. I think a lot of people don't understand chakras. How does that work? Why is that beneficial to me?
[00:23:53] John Craven: I heard there are cases of that buried in the mud at Burning Man. Sorry.
[00:24:01] Jacqui Brugliera: But the name of the brand is Chakra Chai. And they do have, I think like seven different SKUs. I honestly don't know how many chakras there are, but they have one SKU per chakra. And they also are donating to educate our children. That's a big piece on the side of the bottle.
[00:24:16] John Craven: So what's the function of that one in your hand?
[00:24:19] Jacqui Brugliera: Power. So it's supposed to support your solar plexus and make you feel powerful.
[00:24:26] John Craven: Awesome.
[00:24:27] Ray Latif: I like it. It's kind of like one of the infinity stones. It's the power stone. The power stone.
[00:24:33] SPEAKER_??: Yeah.
[00:24:33] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah, I think a lot of people still don't believe in chakras. It's still, you know, some people do, some people don't. I'm curious to see how this sticks.
[00:24:42] Mike Schneider: I mean, I think I believe in swordfish. Nice. It's gotta be less about believe and more about first and fall education because I don't even know what all those things are.
[00:24:53] John Craven: So there is a lot of, uh, onion to peel back there to get to the power. That's why I was asking is the drink tasty.
[00:25:01] Jacqui Brugliera: Uh, I haven't tried it. Let me try it.
[00:25:03] John Craven: Oh, here she goes. She's so intrigued and spent so much time reading the novel.
[00:25:08] Jacqui Brugliera: I know. It actually is really nice. It's like a turmeric chai latte taste. So it's really tasty. Like I would drink it just for the taste and then hopefully it opens my third chakra.
[00:25:19] Ray Latif: I can see it from here. It looks like it's just a ton of turmeric in there. Like it feels like it's something we'd like. Yeah.
[00:25:28] Jacqui Brugliera: It doesn't need to be refrigerated? It has to be refrigerated. And the description as far as what's in it, top note of French lavender, strengthening body of turmeric and sandalwood with a glorious ginger finish.
[00:25:39] John Craven: Okay. This sounds awesome. I'm sorry for making a little bit of fun. Please send to 65 Chapel Street.
[00:25:46] Mike Schneider: Well, I mean, I think you're I think you're your point of questioning though is valid, which is like You know, those are ingredients that we like. Well, and I think there's already awareness that they're healthful ingredients. So, you know, I don't have the package in front of me, but I think sometimes there's too much pushing of some sort of, I don't know, different, more complicated message when, like, the ingredients and the liquid might just be enough.
[00:26:16] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. I mean, I think there's just a lot going on because it says power. It says third chakra. It says the ingredients right on the front. And then it also says this is for renewal, drive, immune system, digestive health. It's like, okay, it's doing a lot here. I don't know what to focus on.
[00:26:30] John Craven: I totally get wanting to be a lifestyle brand, but you can't be a lifestyle brand front of pack day one. I don't think, I think that's difficult to do. I don't think I'm not to say you can't is wrong, but, but it's difficult.
[00:26:43] Ray Latif: I mean, I think it's enough to know what you want to do with your brand. And I don't think they're expecting this to be a widely distributed, scalable brand. It just doesn't seem like that for a million different reasons. This definitely seems likely would appeal to certain people in certain parts of the country. I mean, look, some things are just made for Erewhon and, you know, you'll probably do pretty well in Erewhon and, you know, not many other places. But hey, if you can create a good business, you know, a reasonable business with a little bit of profit for yourself.
[00:27:13] Jacqui Brugliera: And it tastes great. So if someone tries it, I would drink this again. Yeah. I think that's key.
[00:27:19] Ray Latif: There you go. From chakras to twist and mix cocktails. You can't really do a segue there.
[00:27:28] Mike Schneider: How about from uppers to downers?
[00:27:31] Ray Latif: Come on, man. The Glenlivet, which is a well-known brand of scotch whiskey, recently dipped their toes, or maybe took the plunge, into the category of ready-to-drink cocktails. Really? Although these are a bit more ready to serve, maybe ready to mix. Ready to pour, Ray. Ready to pour, but they're not really ready to pour because you've got to twist and mix. So Glenn Livett introduced their twist and mix cocktails. They have two varieties. They have an old fashioned and a new Manhattan. It's actually described as a new Manhattan. And these have cocktail ingredients or flavorings in the cap of the bottle. So it's akin to the brands Activate and Caramel Water, where the flavors and functional vitamins are in the cap, you twist it, it goes into the water, you shake it up, and there's your functional drink. In this case, you twist the cap, the cocktail ingredients come down, you shake it up. and you have your ready-to-pour cocktail. So interesting stuff from The Glenlivet. I appreciate the fact that they are trying to minimize the amount of time that the cocktail flavorings are actually in the whiskey.
[00:28:40] Mike Schneider: Does it make a difference? I wonder if it does. And I guess if I just take this cap off and throw it away, I got a little bottle The Glenlivet.
[00:28:48] Ray Latif: I think your logic holds. Yes interesting yeah, so we're not gonna try these right now, but I think No, I'm not gonna drink any of these right now, but maybe we can you don't want to scotch Manhattan right before lunch Anyway, I mean I feel like This is an interesting entry into the business of RTD cocktails. Talk about usage, occasion, I'm not sure. Maybe this is like great in hotels, great for hotels.
[00:29:28] Mike Schneider: I mean, if this were in your hotel room, that would be a rough night or rough morning.
[00:29:32] John Craven: Well, that's a lot of whiskey.
[00:29:34] Mike Schneider: Cause this is a 375 mil bottle. You should definitely not drink that much scotch. I hope you're sharing.
[00:29:41] Ray Latif: Well, it says pour and share. So like if you go to the website, it says twist the cap, watch it mix, pour and share. It does say perfect for sharing. Yes.
[00:29:49] John Craven: So they don't want you to drink that whole thing.
[00:29:52] Jacqui Brugliera: Yeah. It sounds like a party trick. You know, you're hosting a party, you want to bring out something cool, different, and then you share it with your friends. Because I don't think I would, I mean, people aren't going to drink that by themselves. It's too much alcohol and it's just a little bit different. So I don't know.
[00:30:09] Ray Latif: Well, at our last cocktail showdown competition in December of 2022, it was interesting. One of the judges pointed out that the vast majority of RTD cocktails are still consumed at home. And it's because most people just don't want to go through the process of making their own cocktails or just don't feel comfortable or brave enough to do it correctly. So, you know, something like this at home where, let's say you were to drink this over the course of a couple weeks, I assume it would still be fine to do so. Like, you know, you twist, mix, pour some and then put it back in the fridge or put it into the fridge. It would be fine for at least a couple of weeks. It feels like this is a pretty good option for folks like that.
[00:30:47] John Craven: It's just also a play to get to not have to age the scotch for as long? Because I can't tell anywhere where it says how, usually when it's not, when the age isn't mentioned on the scotch, it's like under 10 years old. So I'm just wondering about that part, you know, to try to make younger scotch taste better or what, what's the deal?
[00:31:05] Ray Latif: You know, that's a good question. I don't have the answer, but I will, I will look into this and get back to you on that.
[00:31:10] John Craven: Yeah, because Glenlivet, that's quality scotch there, and I don't tend to be somebody who puts anything in my scotch. No? No. When was the last time you had scotch? Like, an hour ago? I had some on the Jersey Shore. I had some good space-side scotch with my father-in-law.
[00:31:28] Ray Latif: Oh, that seems nice. Yeah, it's nice. And the situation was involved, too?
[00:31:32] John Craven: Yeah. The Sitch and Snooki had some, too.
[00:31:33] Ray Latif: The Sitch and scotch. Yeah. I call him the Sitch.
[00:31:36] John Craven: I just call him Sitch. DJ Pauly D. First name, bassist, I like it.
[00:31:40] Ray Latif: Well, a cocktail or two will likely be had at the 2023 Natural Products Expo East show, which runs from September 20th to the 23rd. If you're exhibiting at the show and featuring a new product line, package revamp, brand extension, or anything else news-wise, make sure to let us know. For beverage companies, go to BevNET.com and click on the Submit News button at the top of the homepage. For food companies, please do the same via Nosh.com. I'd also say that expo exhibitors would do well to check out a company called Renogy, R-E-N-O-G-Y, which makes portable power stations. If your booth requires you to chill, cook, heat up, or microwave food, or if you need juice for better lighting, yes, everyone knows what I'm talking about, and lacking sufficient electrical access, that's where Renogy can come in and help. Of note, the company's PowerStation 1000 is a powerful tool for on-the-go energy. Equipped with four USB ports and six AC inlets, it can power up to 12 devices at a time. At full capacity, the Renogy 1000 can fully charge 15 laptops, power a portable refrigerator for over 30 hours, keep a 10 watt light bulb shining for three and a half days, and run Master Blender for three hours. Charging the device is quick. The power station can be recharged from 0 to 80% in as little as one hour with a wall outlet. Users can manage the device via its Bluetooth module and can track real-time power status, turn on or off ambient lights, set auto-off timers, and even adjust the recharging speed. Definitely worth checking out. Head to Renogy.com, R-E-N-O-G-Y.com. Alright, it's time to get to our conversation with Alan Kennedy, who as I mentioned at the top of the episode, is the Master Blender for Redemption Whiskey, an award-winning spirit brand that describes itself as leading the rye revival in America. Alan joined Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, the owner of Redemption, in November 2022 and oversees all aspects of production and innovation for the brand. Two decades of experience in the culinary, hospitality, wine, and spirits industries gives Allen an uncommon perspective on distilling and blending, yet one that remains focused on delivering consumers a premium and quality experience at every sip, a topic he expounded upon in this interview. Hey folks, it's Ray with Taste Radio. Right now I'm in New Orleans, Louisiana for Tales of the Cocktail 2023. And sitting down with me right now is Alan Kennedy, the Master Blender for Redemption Whiskey. Alan, great to see you. Thanks for having me. I feel like This is the perfect place and the perfect setting to sit down with you. Here we are at a event drenched with alcohol. However, we are in this beautiful room.
[00:34:37] Barbie Bottles: Responsibly.
[00:34:37] Ray Latif: Yes, responsibly. We're in this beautiful room at the Ritz-Carlton where all the main sessions or main educational sessions of Tales are being held. And everything's so elegant, and I feel like Redemption, to me, fits the elegance of our setting here. Oh, thank you very much. Yeah, but it's not intended to be a product or a brand that is limiting to people. In fact, in so many ways, I feel like Redemption wants to bring everyone in to appreciate the beauty of Rai.
[00:35:08] Barbie Bottles: What we're looking to do with Redemption Whiskey about bringing back the heritage of Rai, the pre-Prohibition heritage of it, in multiple ways. We want to be there for multiple experiences throughout this. We have our base Rai's that are there for every experience. You get off work, you need a cocktail, we're there for you. We make our cognac finished bourbon because it's one of those, you're sitting by the fire, you want something really beautiful to warm your heart, we're there for you. I have a rum finished rye that just brings sunshine into a glass. We made a pina colada with it the other day and it was just, it was beautiful and brought this whole new experience. We try to bring elegance in every level, but not something that's a gatekeeping thing. It's something that should be enjoyed by all people, all times. If you're having a low alcohol cocktail, we want to be that half an ounce in there that's going to brighten it up. If you're having a non-alcoholic one, we want to be there for the experience next time you're enjoying. It's something that we want to be there. part of the experience, part of your family, part of your friends. And we want to be there with you and grow with it. And we want to make products that you're proud of enjoying. Absolutely.
[00:36:16] Ray Latif: Before we hopped in the mics, we were chatting about Redemption as being a brand focused on quality first and foremost. And even though Redemption's entry whiskey, I don't know if entry whiskey is right. We call them our cores. Core whiskey is actually quite affordable for premium whiskey. There's something about educating the consumer from the get-go that we are a brand that represents this. And anything you try beyond that is gonna be the same level of quality, just a different experience. Different experience, yeah.
[00:36:53] Barbie Bottles: Right. It's a way I like to look at it, and my team likes to look at it, is it's about premonitization of experience, but not always premonitization of the wallet, you know? Like, it's not always about hey, we're gonna make this thing to get another dollar out of somebody, because that's not why you're here long term, it's how can we make something that makes your experience premium. Even our cores, they're gonna be a range of different years, so we get all those different notes. With Redemption Rye, it's three to seven years in a base product that's $25, $26, $27. Because I want you to feel all that, I want you to have all those notes, and I want you to experience it with me. I have a lot of love and soul when I make these things and I try to put that into what I make. So I hope people feel it with me.
[00:37:39] Ray Latif: Your job is quite important because it's not just about blending the whiskey that you bring in. And again, Redemption Whiskey not a distilled brand per se. Well, it's a distilled brand, obviously, but you don't do the distilling. Correct. So your job is important in two ways. I guess that's the way I would look at it in that one, you're really responsible for the liquid, but two, you're really responsible for the relationships that you have with your distilling partners and with the suppliers to those distilling partners. Yes. Talk about how you manage and enhance those relationships.
[00:38:12] Barbie Bottles: It's becoming a situation where, for us, we want to work with partners. We always work with partners that are part of the relationship as a whole. It's not about just, you know, this is the PO number on ordering the whiskey. I want to know. I know the names of their wives. I know their kids. We check in on each other as humans. With the farms that we use, we want to know the families that are growing these. I know the Cooperage guys. I know all the way through. I know the people that manage the rickhouses, and we use multiple rickhouses in multiple states. I know them. We check in on them as humans beyond just a business transaction, because it's important to us to remember what we do. In the end of the day, we're looking to make enjoyment. We're making sympathy. We're making experiences, as I always say. And that starts with our partners as much as it starts with us. We are not alone in what we do. No brand is just them. You know, you look at any brand, for the most part, there's a few exceptions, but like, you know, we don't own the Coopridge. So the exception, there are a few that own their Coopridges, but most guys don't. So I want to know those. I want to know the farmers. You know, right now we're working with them to try to get to know the people that are growing, you know, who have the oak farms. You know, the forest, those, we're trying to get to that point where we can understand how can we help as a brand because it's the sustainability of everything we do starts there. You know, there's a lot of ecological things that are going on and we have to work together as a team. It's generational knowledge being passed through and all of us work together from redemption to, you know, every one of our partners, we all work together as a group to pass that on to each other and to hopefully, you know, make a better product in the end of the day for all of us.
[00:40:02] Ray Latif: It's really important for you and for the Redemption team. How important is it to the end consumer, that of your relationships with your farmers?
[00:40:10] Barbie Bottles: I don't want the end consumer thinking about it every day. Every time you open a bottle of Redemption, I don't, you know, it's not something someone should be worried about. but it is something we would like them to know that we are worried about. It is our job to be the custodians of this, to make sure that what we are doing from our glass producers to our cooperages, to our farmers, to our distillers, that we're handling not only the relationship, but we're making sure that sustainability is there as much as humanly possible, that we're looking forwards in time on what this industry can be so that they can just lovingly enjoy the product without those worries.
[00:40:47] Ray Latif: Again, when I think about Redemption and that core offering, I feel like there is almost a disconnect to how delicious the product is, how high of a quality product it is. The price point in Massachusetts is about $30, and I know it changes from state to state. Why is the price point where it is right now? Because I know you could be charging more for it.
[00:41:10] Barbie Bottles: Oh, we could. I turn the question back and why would we? It's not about making every buck everywhere we can. Our goal at Redemption Whiskey is to make whiskey that is beautiful, that expresses experience, as I always talk about, that shows the nuances of what it's going to, but is also available there for all types, for all experiences, for all moments. I'm sure you remember those times when we were all younger that you were getting into this. We all had a starting place, but most of us when we had that starting place, we couldn't afford the 70, 80, $90 whiskeys right off the bat. So those that are starting, we wanna be there to show you this is the beauty of whiskey and begin that journey with them. Because then we can be part of the journey continuing. Redemption Whiskey is a vital step in learning and understanding how good, responsible whiskey can be made.
[00:42:13] Ray Latif: Your background is that of someone who has a broad range of experience in hospitality and in beverage alcohol. Does it help you as Master Blender in your role to have that broad expertise or to have that broad experience in doing what you do?
[00:42:34] Barbie Bottles: Oh, 100%. Hospitality is core to the way I view what we do. When we are making new innovation, Use cases always always comes in like how is someone going to enjoy this? But because I've had those experiences in the bars in the restaurants I have a slightly different view The culinary background that I have allows me to start and the mixology side allows me to start to connect flavors in my mind it helps me with the understanding of where I'm building and And being a sommelier for years allows me to evaluate in a different way, in a different light. I have mentors that are winemakers as well, so it's even to this day, learning new evaluation techniques on what we're trying to pull out. Redemption Whiskey the revival. We're looking to be the revival of rye and the revival of whiskey. Being from hospitality and being all that, I'm also Southern, so revival has different feelings, different meanings to me, but it allows me to be that herald and that passion that you get from hospitality. I get to herald that in whiskey, and it's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing and it's a beautiful bottle that you brought with you.
[00:43:45] Ray Latif: This is a one-off. Yes, just for Tails. Just for Tails. And I appreciate you bringing it. Tell us about this one-off, Tails-specific bottle of whiskey.
[00:43:59] Barbie Bottles: So we were doing an activation here at Tails where you got to be immersed into Redemption Whiskey and immersed in the Prohibition times. And we wanted to bring something fun to enjoy at the end of that. We had cocktails and tastings of our higher marks throughout. And then when you got to the back, I was back there with a barrel, and you got to enjoy this, which is a barrel of our high rye bourbon, so our 36% rye, from 2009. So it's 14 years. We very simply handled this, because we wanted that momentary expression of a single barrel. So it's filtered through cloth and then a slight aeration to it. It comes out about 115.1 proof. And what we heard a lot is you won't necessarily feel that, because it's just buttery and beautiful. And all the oak is there in the perfect amount. You get that vanilla coming through, but you still get that spice of the rye. It's a beautifully engaging whiskey, and I was very happy to be able to share that with the bar and the press and the spirit-loving world here at Tales of the Cocktail.
[00:44:59] Ray Latif: Well, once again, I appreciate you bringing it. It is before noon, but I know consumption of alcohol happens quite a bit before noon here at Tales. That's like it never stops here in New Orleans. In New Orleans, yeah, for sure. But I'm looking forward to cracking that open. But I've been really happy to have this time to sit down with you, Alan.
[00:45:15] Barbie Bottles: Thank you. Thank you so much. Please enjoy it with your family and friends.
[00:45:17] Ray Latif: No, I'm going to keep this to myself.
[00:45:20] Barbie Bottles: That's a fair answer too.
[00:45:20] Ray Latif: I'm not sharing, to be clear. No, in all seriousness, this has been great. Thanks so much for taking the time. Congrats on everything that's going on with Redemption and I look forward to hearing more about the brand in the future. Thanks. 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.
[00:46:25] Alan Kennedy: you
