This is our 24th episode of the Brain Brew Whisk(e)y Academy. We will discuss we will discuss deciding on the right brands and products: and the craft cocktail recipe - Lynx Pineapple Rush. This podcast episode features Whiskey Maker - Doug Hall and Whiskey Drinker - Tripp Babbitt.

 

Show Notes

[00:00:04] Brain Brew Whisk(e)y Academy

[00:00:25] How to Decide What Brands to Pursue

[00:01:53] Use Data to Make Decisions . . .

[00:02:12] . . . Then Move to Data and Vision

[00:03:19] Stay in Your (Purpose) Lane

[00:08:27] Craft Cocktail Recipe - Lynx Pineapple Rush

[00:09:01] Brain Brew Beach Bar

[00:09:39] Step 1

[00:09:41] Step 2

[00:09:43] Step 3

[00:09:47] Step 4

[00:12:28] Final Thoughts

 

 

Transcript

Tripp: [00:00:04] This is the Brain Brew Whisk(e)y Academy podcast where we're going to take you behind the scenes on what it takes to build a whiskey distillery business. The Eureka ranch team led by Doug Hall are creating a craft whisky company like has never been done before.

 

Tripp: [00:00:25] All right well let's move to the Brain Brew Whiskey Academy. How to decide what brands and products to pursue. I always I guess as as you've talked about the brain brew whiskey caddy in the past it kind of seemed like you started with something and then you kind of found your market and then I'm guessing that you go into your brand is that kind of the method or do I have it wrong.

 

Doug: [00:00:55] Yeah pretty much. But the challenge that we face is we have an overwhelming number of things that we can do and so we could approach it.

 

Doug: [00:01:03] You know I've talked about earlier on in this podcast know I've talked about you know mixologists who were kind of the precision people and then the bartenders who are you know connected to the customers under a much bigger heart and head and soul basis. And it's the same thing here. You know when we first started doing this stuff we used data the research we did just ridiculous hundreds of research studies and it was probably 80 percent was the data made the decision and our opinions and this is despite I've been in this business for 25 years and I know that when you push the edges of something new it's very hard to know is a new and different good or new and different bad. But now after having done all these tests we've kind of moved to the next level.

 

Doug: [00:01:53] So the first level is you use that you got to use the data to make the decisions because you don't know enough how people are going to react to the really new things. Then as you start to move up and you get more and more experience we've now moved to a higher level where we're saying OK I know how to make a product that consumers like I know how to make a conscious brand. The

 

Doug: [00:02:12] Interest people. That's not hard getting to so now we push the edges and we're looking at it's probably about half data that is an aid to our judgment it's not our judgment it is an aid to it and half is a vision for where are we trying to go. In other words we're building this incredible wall and we're building it a brick at a time as we're building it and we're saying okay what do we want to become.

 

Doug: [00:02:41] It's like I'm right in the process right now of changing one of our brands because my vision for what I want it to become as I was we're thinking down the road of what we want to be. I want to set this up so that I'm set up for what I want to be in the future. And so you know it's it's not just it is data but it's data and vision.

 

Doug: [00:03:04] Data and what we want to be. I mean this I remember working with Nike years ago there mentioning a big company and and at the time there was some shoes out for kids had lights in them and I talked to the Nike people. So what do you think they were really popular. So we think so.

 

Doug: [00:03:19] And it's fine but it's not us. We're about authentic performance. I mean Nike is the swish and the swish logo is the sound as you blow by somebody. And so it's just not what we are. And as you learn more and more about what you are and what you want to be there is ideas people come to me. And so like one of my rules is we don't use anything artificial. We don't use any chemicals you know we use jet 100 percent natural no additives. You know just wood and alcohol interacting together in clever ways. And that's just that's our policy. And and I understand that if I threw in flavors or I threw sugar in I could make it better. Yeah you're right you're right. But I'm I can do that cause I just. That's not what I want to be.

 

Doug: [00:04:09] And so that's off the table whether you like it or not it's off the table. And but you can't start with that sometimes people start with that. They put all these boxes around themselves and they can never get going. You have to get into the game first and you have to try some things. You have to experiment.

 

Doug: [00:04:23] And I think it evolves at the good companies people that start out with these rock solid things that the front yeah maybe they're right maybe they're wrong. But I think you have to get in the game first before you can do that.

 

Tripp: [00:04:39] So as you talked and you talk about the mixologist to the bartender and I'm trying to equate that to some of things that you're talking about here the mixologist being you know the creation of amazing drinks. Is it that you start out as a whiskey maker then as a mixologist and you want to become a bartender is that is it is that kind of the continuum you're talking about here or is that.

 

[00:05:07] That's well said. I think that that could well be the case is that you start out technically doing it. It's just like when you learn to play tennis you know they they teach you how to hold the racquet step swing and you're thinking so consciously of it and then eventually you get that you can put the spin on it and that kind of stuff because you don't have to worry about this fundamental. So that's why I said that that could very well be the case. You have to start. How do you learn to play jazz. You learn to play the scales first. You know and you play the trumpet. You play the scales over and over again and then that teaches you how to do it. You know how to improvise.

 

Tripp: [00:05:48] You know there's a there's a there was a book and I think it was back in the 70s that was called Inner tennis. Did you ever read that book by chance.

 

Doug: [00:05:57] No. OK.

 

Tripp: [00:05:58] So there's a book called Inner tennis it's actually a video of this guy. I can't remember his name right now but the guy that wrote the book. But he actually did things really differently when he taught people how to play tennis as opposed to you know teaching all the skill. And this is just kind of throwing out random thoughts that enter my head. But what he what he learned was people get tied down too much in the technical to the point that they weren't able to play and then they actually became it. You talk about fear you became an inhibitor. So he picks this one lady in this video after send you the video. It's it's it's quite amazing. Does it look athletic at all. Takes a tennis racket. Know how to hold it doesn't know really know what to do and he just starts throwing balls at her and just kind of the reaction and then how he goes about and works with the person on there.

 

[00:06:56] Her innate instincts basically to hit the ball as opposed to all kind of all the the technical stuff. Now technical stuff then enters later but it's just a very fascinating approach and very different than than anything that I had seen at that time or since. As far as a purchase to hitting it. But I you know I remember even with my kids when we played golf you know they'd worry about you know how do I am I holding the way you hold the club dad or you know those types of things I said don't worry about hit the ball you know if you can get the hand eye coordination going type of thing. So how much is it. You know it starts to make me wonder how much of it becomes technical and how much of it becomes innate to what you do. Or am I talking apples and oranges because I'm talking about sport versus a whisky.

 

Doug: [00:07:46] Oh I think there is a fundamental set you need to understand and then you have to make it your own. OK. And I think that's I think that's the case in everything. I think there is a fundamental that we begin with. And and then we start to learn what we're doing. I mean I really do think that that's that's the way the system works. And so you have to get those those basic things to start with and then then you go from there. I just I think that's the way it works.

 

Tripp: [00:08:16] Okay. All right. Very good. So moving from a mixologist to a bartender in the whiskey business. Yes it applies. Yes.

 

Tripp: [00:08:27] So what's talk about your craft cocktail recipe. The Lynx Pineapple Rush it's got it's trademarked as this one that's been around a while or did you trademark it.

 

Doug: [00:08:40] It's the links and and then this takes the classic gold rush and it makes it up the people and for the people. So the gold rush uses lemon and honey water and it it's a bit it has a pucker to it because of the lemon to it.

 

Doug: [00:09:01] And in this case here we switch out and this was inspired down at our Brain Brew beach bar in spring Brook Prince Edward Island in Canada. And I am I am now excited as I say I look forward. You know we hope the time has changed the light is changed. We're looking forward now to the joy of summer and winter is passed and so I figured it was time to start to look towards summer drinks and at least in hopes that we don't get another dump here. And so we're taking honey water we're adding some pineapple juice to it instead of the lemon.

 

Doug: [00:09:39] So it's a half ounce of honey water.

 

Doug: [00:09:41] Half ounce of pineapple juice.

 

Doug: [00:09:43] And an ounce and a half of our Paddle Wheel whiskey.

 

Doug: [00:09:47] And a splash of champagne or and if you don't have champagne you can use 7 up or diet 7 up if you want. And that little bit of sparkling gives us that kind of a beach drink which is very unique for a whiskey to be able to get kind of a beach drink out of whiskey in fact if you take the exact same thing and you make it with vodka you can go man. That is very good. The whiskey really gives it the backbone and and it's just it's a fun light drink.

 

Doug: [00:10:17] If you shake at the pineapple frosts a little bit serve it in a champagne scoop if you want and it just it's elegant it's fun it's light and fresh and if you don't like whiskey you're going to love this one if you like whiskey you're gonna love this one.

 

Tripp: [00:10:38] I see a common theme here in the paddle wheel seems to be your go to mix mix whiskey. Ah no I'm sorry. Keel Boat is and when the well usually Yeah.

 

Doug: [00:10:49] So this one here I've gone to Paddle Wheel. It uses the 200 year wood so it's got a little bit more depth to it and it's a little bit richer and so it stands up to the pineapple and the champagne and it just has a better balance.

 

Tripp: [00:11:02] I think you know so that's interesting. As far as far as those and we haven't talked about it in a while now. But but you might want to share with the audience the the the four that you're making now you have the Keel boat the Paddle Wheel the Tall Stacks and I always forget the other one.

 

Doug: [00:11:18] Deck hand. Yeah yeah. So we've got four four products and four different whiskeys and easy drinking a 200 year would bourbon five wood Rye which is crazy complexity and then tall stacks which is a triple wood smoked a nutty product that bakes in and get ready folks through the summer you're going to you're going to see a whole lot of recipes here. Tiki get ready. We're taking Tiki. You're gonna take it to a new place and with it wonderful smoke cloud in it. We're gonna do some cool stuff about this summer so cool.

 

Tripp: [00:11:52] And then we won't see you in Cincinnati for three months or something right.

 

Doug: [00:11:58] Yeah that's right. You're gonna think migratory patterns like the birds go in a different beach and take all your tall stacks and your paddle wheel in their cool boat and then you have to figure out do we record or do we take a summer hiatus. I think we're going into summer hiatus. I think we're going to do. But we'll figure that out as soon as we get there.

 

Tripp: [00:12:22] So okay. Very good. Any other final comments on Brain Brew Whiskey Academy.

 

Doug: [00:12:28] Yes. I mean the big thing is folks you got to get in the game. Okay. And and the way you make decisions at the start will be different when you have a few thousand bottles under your belt.

 

Doug: [00:12:43] You gotta get in you gotta get in and don't overthink this stuff. Just get started. Just get started. Make some stuff. Sell some stuff. Do it crappy and then do it better that's how it works. The challenges as people spend so much time preparing for their opening. When you're ready to open. You better have at least 50 percent of your energy your mental and physical energy because the start is just the start. Now you're in the race now you're in the race and that's where you really need the energy.

 

Doug: [00:13:17] And so manage that I've dealt tell my teams all the time and we're introducing weather software for the Eureka ranch or new training programs or inventing things I said keep your energy for the end. And you know the game is one running through the tape at the end. And too many people blow all their energy. They get started and they got no resources no money left. You just got to because once you get in then you can start. That's when the fun part begins

 

Tripp: [00:13:52] Brain brew. Whiskey is looking for pioneers like existing distillers or entrepreneurs interested in our custom whiskey and craft cocktail experiences. These experiences provide consumers bartenders corporations nonprofits and celebrities the ability to craft whiskey to their tastes and preferences. Our system also enables the creation of limited edition prestige whiskeys for weddings birthdays or other celebratory events. If you'd like to learn more go to brain brew whiskey dot com and share with us what you are interested in. In the forum provided.