Did you know The Jungle Jim's Podcast is syndicated on The Oasis FM here in Cincinnati? You should tune in on Sunday mornings when we do a special version of the Jungle Jim's Podcast for their show! Thankfully, a long time friend of mine works at Oasis and handles all their production and his name is Jason Newton! Jason, who you may know from his YEARS and years of experience in Cincinnati media production as "Notorious," or from the many excellent concerts he's booked and promoted in the area. Jason is responsible for so many great times in my personal life that I thought it would be great to celebrate his hard work, dive into the ins and outs of our local media scene, all while celebrating his birthday with an excellent Boston Cream Cake made RIGHT HERE in the Jungle Jim's bakery. Cool stuff.

This week, I'm kicking it off by reminiscing about FizzFest, one of my favorite festivals that has ever happened at Jungle Jim's. I met this week's guest at FizzFest and fell in love, but only let them know about that love in person during THIS interview. I was super stoked to have Karma Water on because I believe in their product and think it tastes awesome, especially with some of the new offerings that they've has brought to the lineup recently. To give you a little info on their current lineup: Karma Probiotic Water delivers more than 10X the active probiotic cultures than yogurt. With 2 billion cultures, 100% of 6 essential vitamins, and only 20 calories, Karma Probiotic Water optimizes digestive health and immune support, and Karma Energy Water offers a proprietary blend of natural caffeine and the patented nootropic, Cognizin® Citicoline, to provide you with the push of energy and mental acuity you need to get through the day. Plus, Karma Energy Water is made without any artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors, or preservatives, and it offers 100% of your daily value of Vitamin C and B-Complex. Between their energy waters and their probiotic drinks, there is a little something for everyone. I still need to try the Raspberry Peach one. Karma Water is also launching a whole new line of products that will both come into Jungle Jim's as well as be available direct to consumer and I am hyped to try their upcoming packets you can use on any refillable bottle. Awesome stuff. Learn more in the meantime at https://drinkkarma.com/ - All that and more on the Jungle Jim's podcast!

We kick this episode off with a segment I personally call 'the Quest for the Best,' where we try to find the best things in the store - this time, we were looking to try the ultimate apple cider! We tried Beiersdorfers, Fowler Farms, and Burnham Orchards - all sold in Jungle Jim's. Then, I threw a wrench in the works by bringing in my favorite apple cider in the world, courtesy of Delicious Orchards out of Colt's Neck, New Jersey. I think we should totally carry it here and I bet you'll agree after this segment! THEN, Sahra from Nguyen Coffee joins us to teach us all about Vietnamese coffee. Nguyen Coffee has a huge line of products, and they've just launched their ready-to-drink (or RTD if you're in!) coffees in Jungle Jim's. The great news? They're amazing. Sahra is awesome for a billion reasons like amplifying Asian voices through both her coffee company and her time making documentary films like 'Deported' for NBC! You really need to try these coffees! All that and more on the Jungle Jim's Podcast!

This week, I'm checking out the new expansion here at Jungle Jim's and interrupting International Super Star Jim B. from finishing setting up the international holiday section. It's coming along awesome, Jim! Then, I'm joined by Brad, Kevin, and Jami from the Purple Monkey Project. If you're unfamiliar with the Purple Monkey Project and what they do, let me share dirrectly from them: "Reagan, or "Rey", as she was known, was a ray of sunshine who lit up every room – she was fun-loving, energetic, sassy, sweet, and spunky. She loved dancing, the musical 'Hamilton', her family, and her purple monkey.

Reagan tragically lost her life in an accident in May of 2021, and the world stopped spinning for those who loved her – it was unfathomable that someone so wonderful was no longer here. But even in the midst of their grief, Reagan's loved ones were overwhelmed by love as their community came together to celebrate her life and to support them in the days, weeks, and months that followed.

That love and support helped form the idea for Purple Monkey Project, so named for Reagan's favorite stuffed animal. Purple Monkey Project's goal is to honor Reagan's beautiful spirit by being a "Rey" of light in the world – supporting local youth and youth-centered charities and "paying it forward" by promoting random acts of kindness, all in the name of our Reagan." It's an excellent organization and they're doing cool things for Fairfield and beyond - including their upcoming lip synching event THIS Saturday, November 2nd! Details at https://www.purplemonkeyproject.org

We kick the episode off with a visit from our pal Karl Spaeth. Karl is a comedian who once thought I called him Ted. He was wrong, but now I'm going to call him Ted. We talk about Karl's upcoming comedy special being taped RIGHT HERE in Cincinnati on November 2nd and 3rd at MOTR Pub. He's even bringing along great local comedians like Ossia Dwyer and Blake Hammond. Karl and I dive into what we dislike about social media, while trying some of his favorite road snacks. I am glad to finally find another fan of Utz brand snacks - Karl got us hooked on the special dark pretzels today. Don't forget to come in and try Live More Smoothies which we're running a special on right now too! Someone bring me a blender!

This week, we're joined by Koji from Asianati as we kick off Cincinnati's one-of-a-kind art event, Blink! It's a cool visual arts festival that takes over downtown and Asianati is opening an Asian Night Market with food, toys, and so much more for people to explore! Then, we're joined by Mike from Native Audio as well as our returning friend, Tyler of St. Mary St. Michael. We're talking all about the Indigenous history that inspired Mike to create his incredible guitar pedals, and the story behind it. But the best part? His mom made us fry bread to eat in support of his brand new addition to the lineup, the Fry Bread Fuzz pedal. We live for the unique here at Jungle Jim's! All that and more on the show!

Jayna from the deli comes back on the show to help show off a bunch of new awesome products she brought in from Greenridge Naturals. From beef sticks, to our favorite chicken sausages, there are SO many. We tried the classic Bavarian brand frankfurter, the spinach and feta cheese chicken sausage, the smoked bratwurst, the black forest with pepper jack cheese, along with their excellent, organic spicy brown mustard, and their champagne honey mustard. There are so many options to choose from. In the meantime, we do traditional podcast things like say snarky things to one another. It's a fun time! Come in and check out the line from Greenridge Naturals and learn more at https://greenridgenaturals.com/

We kick the show off with returning guest, Johnny Catalano of The Plaza Theatre and the Catalano Film Festival to talk about an upcoming event we're putting on, where I will be hosting a screening of the fun 1996 movie, "The Frighteners!" Don't worry, we'll be back after we chat with St. Elmo's at the end of the episode to dive into more nerdy film stuff. Speaking of, we finally get Tyler from St. Elmo's on the show. St. Elmo Steak House has been a landmark in downtown Indianapolis since 1902. It is the oldest Indianapolis steakhouse in its original location, and has earned a national reputation for its excellent steaks, seafood, chops and professional service. They now have a huge line of products that we carry here at Jungle Jim's, from their incredible cocktail sauce, all the way to their new line of ready-to-drink cocktails and spirits! Their espresso martini was a huge hit in the office, and I can't say enough great things about their sauces. Shout out to their Root Beer Glaze, which we did not feature on this episode, even though I love it too much. As promised, Johnny and I return to chat about Peter Jackson and how he went from being a weird indie director, rising through the failure of The Frighteners, only to turn around and make the Lord of the Rings trilogy. All over a delicious glass of St. Elmo's Elmo Cola. All that and more on the Jungle Jim's Podcast!

Jungle Jim's and Third Eye Brewing have come together to make a delicious double New England IPA beer and it's pretty amazing. Using unique hops from New Zealand to create a tropical and juicy mouthfeel, curbing the bitterness oft associated with IPAs, this one is a real treat for the beer fanatics out there. We're joined by Third Eye's brew team - one of which recently joined from New Zealand so he drops some international knowledge on all of us. Sounds like a follow up episode is in the works. The beer lands THIS Friday at Jungle Jim's (both locations) and come try it at the Fairfield store's pint night on Friday from 5-9pm!

This week kicks off with me hopping on my soap box to talk about high prices at the competition that I experienced during my leave this summer. Don't worry, I'm still mad about having to pay almost $10 for a bottle of body wash that is 3.99 here. Jump past the ranting about 15 minutes into the show to get to the main focus. Speaking of, the main focus this week is a new product to Jungle Jim's, from one of the coolest groups of people in town - Mom 'N' Em coffee! They've got two locations in the Cincinnati area and we're one of the best places to come pick up their beans to make it at home. We sit down with the Ferrari Bros, Austen and Tony, as well as their brilliant roaster Colin to talk about all aspects of the coffee business. From Tony and Austen building the space for their first location and all the changes that went in there, from the incredibly detailed discussion from Colin about how your beans get to be as good as they are. We talk about some of their seasonal flavors and some upcoming offerings as well. I got so cranked up on coffee, I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but obviously not enough to not-type it into this episode description. GET SOME BEANS ALREADY!