Curious Elixir - The Science and Soul of Curious Elixir

Ramon Vela (00:02.382)
Welcome back everyone. This is Ramon Vela and I have an amazing guest today. have John or actually he let me use a different name or he prefers JW, which is fantastic. I always prefer it to be very casual. JW Wiseman, founder of Curious Elixir. Welcome to the show.

JW Wiseman (00:40.592)
Thanks for having me Ramon.

Ramon Vela (00:42.03)
Yeah. And by the way, that was Curious Elixirs, plural, is the name of the company. And we're going to give out the website in a second, but I just wanted to make sure because before I was using the singular, but it's the plural with an S, Curious Elixirs. And the website is actually CuriousElixirs.com. And we're going to go through that again in a sec. But JW, this is so, so wonderful. You and I had a great

pre-interview and I don't even know if I recorded it, but I should have if I didn't. But it was just such a great interview. We talked a lot about not just the business, but we talked a lot about our own personal lives and some of the similarities that we have like with our fathers and processing different events within our lives. And it was really great. And I appreciate having those conversations with people. There's something really special and it's actually

JW Wiseman (01:13.568)
you

Ramon Vela (01:41.494)
It's actually very hopeful from a humanity standpoint that two people who are strangers can put themselves in a situation where we speak to each other. And this has happened all the time. I you're taking the bus, the Metro, whatever, Uber. It happens all the time. And if we let it, we can have these really interesting conversations with people.

And you can open up about things and you can share things. And it feels really special when you do that. And it makes me hopeful. know maybe I'm reading too much into this, but from a philosophical. It just, it makes me hopeful. may, it kind of shows you that yeah, two strangers can really start sharing something and find some common ground and feel connected and have a really great conversation. And it just makes you think like, wow, it's like, why don't we all just try to do that? You know, like we all just try to.

JW Wiseman (02:19.088)
I totally agree. I totally agree with you.

Ramon Vela (02:38.559)
find that,

JW Wiseman (02:38.578)
Yeah. I think, you know, some people, you know, are a little afraid of being awkward at times. And sometimes you just need to embrace the awkward. And, you know, this is something I learned from a friend of mine. She said, the world is filled with friends you haven't met yet. And when you take that kind of philosophy, then every interaction that you have can be a potentially positive, hopeful, hopeful one. You're still going to, you know, meet some jerks.

Ramon Vela (02:56.152)
He

JW Wiseman (03:07.804)
But that's okay, those people aren't for you at that moment. They're going through their own story right then, you know? And the people that are hopeful are willing to share with you. And really, you the way that we got vulnerable with each other, I think is what made it such a meaningful conversation to me, is because we weren't afraid to share the tough stuff along with the good stuff. Because life is filled with both.

Ramon Vela (03:07.938)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (03:13.315)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (03:27.692)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, I agree. it's just, like I said, it's just very hopeful for me from humanity standpoint because a lot of times we...

we have those situations, we just don't utilize them, right? How many times have we, you know, been across from someone on a subway or whatever it is and really just sort of just looked on our phone or just kind of kept to ourselves and sometimes it's nice to be able to connect with people and I think that's what which is so wonderful. And speaking of good times.

I like to start off these interviews with a question of gratitude. And, you you and I talked about that during our pre-interview. And I think that may even spark the art conversation. But I sincerely believe in the power of gratitude as a way to relieve stress and anxiety. And I've used it in my own life when I've had my difficulties, some of which I talked to you about around my dad and others. But it's also, it's such a powerful tool and it's available to everyone.

JW Wiseman (04:17.301)
Okay.

Ramon Vela (04:31.54)
Just like what we talked about, connecting with people is available to everyone and it's available to everyone and it really helps to put things in context. It helps to remind you that sometimes our minds are just designed to find the negativity in things or to find the downside of things or see the, or protect you. Yeah. And so I think it's, it's important for you to spend some time sometimes just thinking about all the things that you do have and however small and, and, and,

JW Wiseman (04:48.286)
Yeah, to protect you, yeah.

Ramon Vela (05:00.598)
and different or whatever you might be grateful for. I think it's important. But I also ask this question in particular on this show and for those who are listening, I really want people to know that there's actual people behind these brands. And that sounds a little funny, but so many times we are just living our lives. We go to the market or we all go online and we see products on the shelf or online.

And we just think, you know, don't really think about the people behind these brands, the people who, who built, make these brands. A lot of times we just assume, it's just some faceless corporation. And many of them are, but there are these unique companies, especially the ones that we feature on the show, where there are real people who bleed sweat and tear over their product. And I want you to know them. I want you to know why they do what they do. And I also want you to know that they care.

JW Wiseman (05:38.13)
.

Ramon Vela (05:56.258)
and that they care about the consumer and about what they do and the quality and so forth. And this is some of the stuff that we're going to talk about in this interview, but I just really, you I want people to understand that this is a human journey that people are on and a great way to kind of get to know that human is by understanding what they're grateful for. so, JW, if you don't mind, share a moment or memory when someone did something for you that just made you feel grateful because it meant that they believed in you, your vision or your potential.

JW Wiseman (06:18.826)
You know, there's a couple moments.

that are popping up for me right now. One is from yesterday and one is from like nine years ago. So the one, the old one, the deep cut is the first time that we were pouring Curious Elixirs for a sommelier, for a wine professional at a Michelin star restaurant. And this is Victoria James at Coat, which is a Michelin star Korean steakhouse in Manhattan. And

Ramon Vela (06:34.574)
Hmm.

JW Wiseman (06:58.177)
After having so many different of these tastings where people didn't really get what we were doing, you know, they're thinking like, we're a restaurant. Why have some fancy non-alcoholic drink? That's what we make, fancy non-alcoholic cocktails and wine alternatives. And I was so thankful for Victoria James, the sommelier, because she instantly got that this added to the hospitality that she was already providing, you know, and she's like, great.

Ramon Vela (07:03.63)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (07:26.742)
let's put it on the menu. She tried Curious Number One and she understood right away that this was additive, that this could help her in her mission to serve guests. And I was so grateful in that moment because I had heard no so many times that it was great to hear somebody who's at the top of her game, you know, understanding that this can really help what she already does in her mission. And so was really grateful, you know, to her in that moment. And one from more recently,

Ramon Vela (07:36.942)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (07:56.407)
I was hosting a webinar yesterday for the Great Curious Cocktail Party. We're throwing 100 parties in 100 cities all on one night on May 14th. And we did this webinar for all the party hosts. So we have a couple million customers across the country, and we invited them all to apply to be party hosts, where we send them five cases of Curious Elixirs. And they host whatever kind of creative party they want, whether it's five people or 50, just

celebrate what being sober curious means to you. And I was so grateful for just the legion of different party hosts on this webinar. And they're, you know, they're saying like, Hey, hello from Oahu, hello from Nashville, hello from San Diego, and all of their different ideas for the creative parties that they were throwing. It was weird. And I was really grateful for seeing their creativity for something that was like a little germ of an idea in my brain three years ago.

And now seeing that they take that, you know, and they run with it and they make something new and different and exciting to help make their lives more colorful and inclusive. And that made me really grateful for all of them because, know, they're not getting paid. They're just getting some free elixirs to like help elevate their communities a little bit. And that just made me feel really grateful yesterday too.

Ramon Vela (09:16.462)
Wow. You know, and I can see where that can make you feel that way. And it does go to the heart of the question in that people are believing in you and believing in the product, which of course makes you feel like they're believing in you and your idea. And it's a little, like you said, this idea that you had so many years ago. now it's just really awesome to be able to see how it's moved forward.

and how people react to it. It's just really fun. And I think, you know, I think that's pretty amazing when you, mean, that's one of those, I mean, it really is a gratitude moment when you sit back and you just think like, wow, I can't believe this. You know, I can't believe that, you know, all this work that I've done is culminating in this, it's not the end of course, but it's culminating at this point in this event with all these people enjoying it, with participating.

doing it of their own free will because they want to, because they love, there's something about the brand, something about the product that they really love. Wow, that is amazing.

JW Wiseman (10:21.058)
Yeah. Yeah, they want to celebrate life for...

you know, for the myriad reasons that we're lucky to exist, you know? And that's what just made me so grateful is to see that they're doing this, you know, of their own volition, they're taking time out of their work and their lives just to say, hey, let's toast each other, let's get some people together and make something fun and new.

Ramon Vela (10:44.142)
Yeah. Well, I love that. And that's a great segue because maybe we, I'd love to find out a little bit about what the idea was. Like what was that, that conception point where it hits you because you've been at this quite a while. I know that this, please correct me if I'm wrong, but there's a trend right now. Obviously we see it more and more non-alcoholic brands are.

are being created and there's really a big movement and I think there's even a movement you see it in all sorts of different from from all sorts of different angles the stocks of some of these alcohol companies are going down they're feeling it they're feeling their sales going down and then there's a huge trend and a huge curious sober or sober curious movement there's just so many trends going on right now the writing's on the wall and you and I talked about this too it's like even with my

JW Wiseman (11:21.843)
Sure.

Ramon Vela (11:41.774)
teenage and a little bit older kids, they treat alcohol in a much different way than my generation did. And they're just, you know, and I can see it that they and their friends are changing. And it just doesn't look the same way that it once did. So there's definitely a movement, but you guys have been doing it for a little while before. I'm kind of curious. Yeah, 10 years. I mean, I'm wondering, what was the conception point for you? And then

JW Wiseman (12:03.41)
Yeah, over 10 years now. Yeah.

Ramon Vela (12:11.63)
what do you think people see in the brand? So I know this is kind of a deeper question early on, but I'm just curious based on your gratitude question, there's gotta be a reason there's in maybe we can just try to break it down. Why are people just so in love with this brand and with this movement and why do they wanna celebrate with curious lookser? And I mean that with all sincerity, it's like, I know there's gotta be something there. So.

JW Wiseman (12:38.191)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (12:38.346)
what the conception point is and then let's back into like why are these people so crazy about this in your words or in your thoughts.

JW Wiseman (12:44.195)
Sure. Well, yeah, I started Curious over 10 years ago now, but rewind even further, you know, to one of my most drunken nights ever in the winter of 2012, 2013. And basically I had a crazy night where I was chasing the dragon. I had 20 cocktails in one night. And the next day I woke up

without a hangover and that was really what scared me. I was like, wow, I can drink that much alcohol and be okay, that's not healthy. And that was a wake up call for me to say I need to radically transform my relationship with alcohol. Now for me, everybody's different in their relationship with substances. For me, it wasn't that hard for me to cut back on drinking, but...

The big difference was is that I felt super left out when I wasn't drinking with friends and there wasn't anything sophisticated or complex to drink. You I was a big cocktail nerd. I was an owner of a whiskey bar at the time. And whenever I would hang out with friends, there was nothing that had that adult angle to it. Something that had a beginning, middle, and an end to it when you're tasting it. You know, I love

cocktails and flavors. I kind of playfully refer to myself as a flavor slut. I love all of the flavors and I want something that is going to be exciting that has like a dash of nostalgia to it and a dash of something new. Whether you're eating at a fine dining restaurant or you're having like an incredible taco on the streets of Mexico City, you want something that is going to be the best of its kind.

and hopefully like just a little spin on something that you've had before. And that's what I wanted to do with all of our drinks. And that's why I started Curious is because I wanted something that would answer the question that I inevitably had, which was, what if I could make a non-alcoholic Negroni? But what if it wasn't just a non-alcoholic Negroni? What if it was sparkling, like a Negroni Spagliato? And what if that could actually

Ramon Vela (14:40.642)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (15:06.668)
have a finish like a dry lamb brusco, where a finish is kind of dry and bitter rather than a Negroni, which is like pretty sweet and bitter. And that led to more questions, Ramon. And the questions is where I think the heart and soul of curious is, and that's probably why it's so special to people, is because we're always having more questions and we have some answers, but not all of them. Like another question that came up for me was, what if

Ramon Vela (15:14.957)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (15:31.555)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (15:35.489)
We can not just make a non-alcoholic cocktail, but what if that could actually make my body feel better instead of worse? And that's why we infused adaptogens and functional herbs into our elixirs from day one. I came across this class of plants called adaptogens and I fell in love. I fell in love with rhodiola rosea and with ashwagandha and with American ginseng.

Ramon Vela (15:42.668)
Mmm.

JW Wiseman (16:03.666)
and lion's mane mushrooms and all of these different plants and fungi. They're incredible supports to your body and they all adapt to you based on what's going on in your body. It's just mind blowing stuff. Like rhodiola for example, like if your cortisol level is too high, you know the stress hormone, it'll balance it and bring cortisol level down. If your cortisol level is too low, it'll actually raise it. And at the same time,

It's also increasing your absorption of serotonin and dopamine and all of these great things that help you feel good. And that's just one of the ingredients that was blowing my mind when we were creating Curious. And so that's kind of like the secret mission of Curious is not only to be the most flavorful and interesting, like world's best non-alcoholic drinks, but also help people to be able to experience these functional herbs and adaptogens and see which ones work for them.

because everybody's body is different. Some people can have caffeine, other people can't have caffeine at all. Some people can have alcohol, some people can't have alcohol at all. So that's kind of the secret mission. To your question about what is it that resonates with people, I think it's the fact that we're very serious about making drinks, but we don't take ourselves so seriously.

You know, we use humor, we want a dash of the fantastic, we want a dash of mystery and whimsy to everything that we do. You if you look at our Instagram, you know, our team is just cracking jokes and kind of like, you know, making fun of ourselves, you know? And I think that's a good way to be, you know? That's part of the reason why I think it resonates with people. Also, there's just kind of like a mystery around everything that we do. You know, like, when you look at our labels, you know, it's like curious zero.

Ramon Vela (17:42.264)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (17:55.475)
you know, our latest one for our 10th year. What does that even mean? You know, what does Curious Elixir number one mean? What does Curious Zero mean? Yeah, exactly. Like, what is going on with that? You have to lean in a little bit and actually take the time to see what it is you're drinking. It's not just saying, like, here's what I am, here's how I'm gonna taste. We're inviting people to come up with their own opinions and to experience it in a mysterious way in a world where

everything seems like it's surface level, we encourage you to dig deeper. So that's really, think, the heart and soul of why curious resonates with curious people.

Ramon Vela (18:28.289)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (18:34.124)
Yeah, well, I love that explanation. also, one of the things you said about when you started talking about the functional ingredients, you said you want to make people's their bodies feel better, right? Like you can feel better, not worse. And that is definitely one of the things that I think motivates people.

to stop drinking alcohol or just not to drink alcohol as much is that, know, and that's also important is to remember that a lot of this movement is people to stop drinking alcohol. Many of the people here just, they like to have an alternative or they like to have an opportunity where they can still enjoy a social setting and a drink with friends without it having.

JW Wiseman (19:07.078)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (19:28.898)
you know, any negative sort of effects or consequences because so many, you know, of us might wake up the next morning with a headache or with, you know, different, you know, not feeling sluggish, especially if you want to like work out or take a run or whatever. It's just kind of much harder to do any of that stuff. And, and so I love this aspect, you know, about, about making, making it feel better or, or having to not only providing

JW Wiseman (19:41.934)
Right.

Ramon Vela (19:57.782)
an alternative where you can socialize and have fun with your friends and not feel left out and all of that. But at the same time, wake up in the morning and just think, wow, yeah, I feel pretty good. Like I don't really, you I don't have to have that, that headache feeling. And I think that's what a lot of people are looking for nowadays is just an alternative, right? They don't want necessarily to stop drinking, but they just don't want to. And that's kind of like what for me, it's like I, I more or less stopped drinking and I don't really drink very much, but I haven't.

Like I haven't given it up completely, in that, I don't like, don't, I haven't done it in a while, but it's not like I wouldn't. It's just not, you know, I just don't feel it. Yeah.

JW Wiseman (20:37.493)
Right. Yeah, I'm in the same boat, Ramon. You know, I'm not a sober person, but I just... I have somewhere between one and five drinks a month, you know? And they better be spectacular. You know, I'm not just having something basic. It's got to be something that I've never had before.

Ramon Vela (20:52.558)
You

JW Wiseman (20:58.885)
or something that is just off the charts, best of its class. Like I went to a place not far from where I am now, and I'm in Williamsburg in Brooklyn at Club Curious, which is our little speakeasy here. And a couple blocks away, there's a 122-year-old Italian restaurant called Bimonti's. And they had a Sicilian Amaro called Marabella that I'd never heard of before. And it's the end of the meal, and I'm like,

Yeah, I asked them what Amaro's they had and they have, we have one, it's this one. And I was like, fantastic, never heard of it, would love to try it. And it knocked my socks off, it was so good. And I think that for me, that's what feels good and right is to save it for special occasions when I'm gonna be drinking or having something I've never had before. And I think a lot of people fit into that. There's also a lot of people who just don't drink at all anymore.

Ramon Vela (21:31.787)
Yeah.

JW Wiseman (21:56.929)
Also great, sobriety is a spectrum now. It used to be 20 years ago that it was like you kind of drank or you didn't drink, and it was very binary. And we've entered the age of the spectrum in a variety of different ways, but sobriety is one of them. And now with options like curious, you can choose where you want to be on that sober spectrum. Rather than having to kind of hide it or not go to social occasions where you would be pressured to drink, that...

Ramon Vela (22:18.604)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (22:26.593)
That is really core to our mission. Our mission is to transform how we drink socially so that 20 years from now, 40 years from now, when my daughter is going to a wedding, whether she raises a glass of champagne or a glass of curia number seven, it doesn't matter. Everybody's happy to celebrate each other. That's what it's about. That's what we're aiming for. And it's going to be a generational thing that we have to focus on. We're 10 years into a 40-year mission.

Ramon Vela (22:44.749)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (22:54.13)
yeah. Yeah. mean, I think you, you guys definitely started early, early on, which I think has its own sort of really cool merits. and as a consumer, I liked that fact that you guys are, were there before the trend. so I can tell that this is serious for you guys. Like you, this is like, this is something you guys take seriously. and yeah, you're in it for long haul.

JW Wiseman (23:14.998)
We're in it for the long haul, baby.

Ramon Vela (23:19.016)
And, and it is a generational thing, as I mentioned before, like with my kids, see their, their, mid twenties, early twenties, and then late teens and, or yeah, teens and they, they approach it all differently. And so I don't think they have the kind of pressure that, that, that I might have had. And I think people who are in their forties, fifties, know, both, you know, late thirties and above, they,

probably have had that pressure. And I know that I did when I kind of stopped, decided I didn't want to drink anymore. I spent half the night, people would ask me like, Hey, you sure you don't want to drink or is anything wrong? They would like turn to me and like, like, are you like, you know, like, as if I have like some disease or something like, you know, are you you have cancer or something? Are you like, why are you stopping drinking? What's wrong? Why was you know, like, and, and

JW Wiseman (24:04.391)
Right! There's a stigma. Yeah.

Ramon Vela (24:12.494)
I would like sit and talk to people. like, no, I just don't feel like drinking. I just want to enjoy the time. But that also for me highlighted the lack of really good drinks because it's not so much I didn't want to drink, but I didn't want to drink alcohol. And the options, especially if you go to a bar or restaurant, are very limited. I mean, I would end up drinking either soda, which I didn't like because I don't really love soda.

or I'd have to have, a seltzer water, which is okay, but I don't love it to always be so bubbly. or cranberry juice or a mix of the two. Do you know I mean? It's like, there wasn't really anything for you to drink. And so you're kind of left out and. You know, if someone enjoys a drink, enjoys that sort of concoction, you know, a mixture of different things that make your, make you feel different things. You're kind of shit out a lot.

JW Wiseman (25:07.812)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (25:08.11)
I mean, unfortunately in a lot of places. And so hopefully that's changing and I know that it is more and more, but the feeling of the mixture, the cocktail, the drink, I think it's much more sophisticated than what people think because in a lot of people's minds they think, it's...

you know, it's just, it doesn't have any alcohol. So it's just, you know, it's a juice. What is it? It's just this, it's just, you know what mean? Like they don't realize that this is a very fine tune mixture of things that are meant to make you feel something, to have you enjoy the drink, to have the taste that maybe you recognize or a feeling in your throat or you know I mean? Like it's much more sophisticated drink than what people realize. And I think,

JW Wiseman (25:56.994)
Yes.

Ramon Vela (26:01.794)
I think people who discover it and learn about it, they see it. But I think a lot of people are still on the fence thinking like, okay, I don't get it, there's no alcohol and so forth. But they don't realize that, you you start drinking these things, you almost forget that there's no alcohol in some cases. I know that sometimes even with yours, I started drinking it and I kind of just forget that I'm not drinking alcohol. I'm just like, I'm having a good time, talking to my friends, I feel good. You know, there's something.

psychological about it, just, you you start feeling good and you almost forget like, Hey, there's no alcohol in this. Like, I feel pretty good. Like, I feel like I have a little buzz going on. but you know what mean? But it's just, you know, it's the, the, mixtures.

JW Wiseman (26:37.956)
Mm-hmm

JW Wiseman (26:43.765)
Yeah, well it's something new that people haven't had experience with yet. You know, when we created our first Elixir, there definitely was that, and there still is, I think, with many millions of people, this kind of awareness gap. You know, if you take, you know, one of the bottles you have there, Curious Number 2, that one is inspired by two different cocktails. You know, the Pineapple Margarita and the Dark and Stormy. And so people are like, what is this? Is this just juice? And I'm like...

Ramon Vela (27:02.574)
you

JW Wiseman (27:12.068)
It does have juice in it. We get organic pineapples and we mix that with orange and lime. But where does the craft come in? The craft comes in in making custom non-alcoholic extracts of ancho chilies and jalapenos and smoked sea salt and Damiana, which is an herb that helps you unwind and organic ginger so that you get a little bit of that burn.

Star anise so there's like a touch of almost like fennel to it and then finding the right balance between all of these things and there's a few other herbs and spices in there too, but so that when you first drink it you're like, I get the bright fresh pineapple first then it goes into the burn of the jalapeno and the ginger at the back of your throat and then you're getting some of the tartness from the lime and the smoked sea salt is mixing in with it and then finally the star anise at the end

so that you've got all these different things kind of weaving their way through your mouth. And it has a length to it. The difference between Curious Elixirs and a juice is like the difference between American football and cricket. It's wildly different. They're totally different sports. They have their own benefits. when you have a fresh squeezed orange, that is a perfect drink. It is so good, but it is one note.

Ramon Vela (28:24.002)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (28:37.144)
What we're doing is 10 notes in one drink. So that is really what the difference is. Also, when you look at bartenders, they're not gonna have, you know, anchovy chili extract behind the bar. They're not gonna have, they might have a smoked sea salt if it's a really fancy place. But the different ingredients that we source from all over the world, they're never gonna be able to make that on the spot for you, you know, because...

Ramon Vela (28:40.11)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (28:51.907)
Thank

Ramon Vela (29:02.647)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (29:04.108)
is so highly specific and then the calibration for making the balance work takes years. It literally takes, each one of these takes 18 months to two years to make.

Ramon Vela (29:14.702)
Wow. And that's what I wanted to just emphasize to people is that for those who have not tried a non-alcoholic drink and or curious elixirs, it really is night and day. And that's what I mean. It's like when you talked about that burn, when you're drinking a cocktail, when you're drinking alcohol, sometimes you feel the warmness, you feel the burn, feel, and you have created

Drinks that feels are different, but also feel familiar in how they make you feel within your taste buds, within your mouth and your throat. And I think that's, that is the, that is the expertise. Like that's the craft, as you mentioned, that's truly it's a craft. And what sets you guys apart from so many other folks, it's like, really is an experience in your mouth, right? And in your body.

JW Wiseman (29:55.384)
Yes.

JW Wiseman (30:12.176)
It is. It is. And I have to give due gratitude as well to one of the bar professionals that I spoke with, Katie from Blue Hill. When I was first talking to her about Curious Elixir, she was like, make sure you don't make a soda. You know? And so what that keyed in for me was make something that is spicy or make something that is smoky or make something that has bitterness to it so that you can add different layers of things to it that feel adult, feel sophisticated.

Ramon Vela (30:12.897)
And it is.

JW Wiseman (30:42.007)
because there's plenty of sweet drinks out there and that's just not what we do. That's not filling a need. And so, do gratitude to Katie from Blue Hill for helping to spark that in me and to make something that was different. Still delicious, but very different.

Ramon Vela (30:44.088)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (30:58.85)
Yeah. And, know, take us back to those days because when you started, there wasn't really anyone. There was no. Yeah.

JW Wiseman (31:06.359)
Yeah, there was nothing. was literally nothing. I mean, we're the first craft non-alcoholic brand that I know of in America. You know, that was it. You know, there was literally nothing out there. Now there's a few hundred brands. And that's a great thing because it's starting to change culture. You know, if we were just one company doing it, it'd be hard to make a dent. But now that there's hundreds of brands doing it, it's really starting to change things. But that's why it's been 10 years for us to help.

make this change is, but it was such a huge untapped market, literally. You know, when I was doing the research on it, when I was first tinkering in my kitchen, I saw some research from 2015 that said 75 million adult Americans don't drink alcohol at all. And another 90 million adult Americans drink two or fewer drinks a week. That's 165 million adults who

Ramon Vela (31:42.552)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (32:01.12)
you

JW Wiseman (32:06.641)
might want to drink curious and might want to have something adult when they're out with friends, when they're celebrating or they're having a bar mitzvah or a graduation or going to a comedy club or a show at the theater. And so that was really where I was like, whoa, this is much bigger than I think it is. And this is going to be an entire industry. So that's why we focused from day one on making the world's best non-alcoholic drinks, because there's plenty of stuff that's come up now that's like,

made with suspect ingredients and maybe not done super well and is kind of like a soda, you know, using natural flavors and preservatives and stuff like that. And that's fine. That's just not what we do at all. And so that's one thing I would say to people is be sure that you're reading your ingredient labels too and seeing what it is that you're putting in your body because just because it's not alcoholic doesn't mean that it's good for you.

Ramon Vela (32:41.528)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (33:02.604)
Yeah. And then also I think people need to ask themselves is, you want an elevated experience? Like, do you want a craft, a craft drink versus just something with no alcohol in it? And I think that's where companies like yours, and what I was going to say earlier that you guys were the first is that all these little things that we're talking about right now,

JW Wiseman (33:13.822)
Yes.

Ramon Vela (33:31.2)
You know, you guys had to discover them on your own. Like I know that brands that are coming out now in the last year or two, they have the benefit of knowing, of seeing what brands like yours went through. Like seeing, you know, that you need to create an elevated experience when you want to create a drink. can't just be, you know,

these simple ingredients and boom, it's done. There's no alcohol and that's what makes it a non-alcoholic drink. It's like, really feel like what makes it a non-alcoholic drink is the whole formulation. I guess if that's what you call it, the formulation or the mixture, the cocktail, whatever. It's like, is it providing an elevated experience? Either one that is both familiar but also different.

JW Wiseman (34:19.579)
Yes.

Ramon Vela (34:21.268)
Or is it a different experience altogether? you have to have these like really, like you were saying, it takes 18 months to create one of these things. It's like, because you have to get the spices correct. You have to get the feeling correct. Does it provide a burn in your throat? Does it feel warm when it's coming down, you know, down the, you your body? All these things you have to take into consideration, but you guys were doing that before, or you guys were starting doing that before.

pretty much everyone else was doing it.

JW Wiseman (34:51.9)
Absolutely. And it takes a long time to parse those things out and to figure out

how to make something truly great. And this is kind of an open secret, but we're never done tinkering. Even though we have our formulations, every batch we're trying to make it a little bit better and a little bit better and a little bit better and a little bit better. And that's the 10 year head start that we have on everybody else that's doing this. And plus our drinks are very specific. You might not like every single Curious Elixir for your particular palette, but you're gonna find one that you love.

Ramon Vela (35:29.816)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (35:30.223)
you know, because they're all different. know, number one is bitter and herbaceous and refreshing and, you know, zero all the way at the end of the line is like my ode to my father. You know, it's like a, it's like a craft lager that helps lift your libido and boost your brain. And, you know, I used to make beer with my dad and that was one of the things that, you know, I wanted to have as an homage to him as we kind of completed our cycle of 10 drinks.

was to have something that would be for beer drinkers, but not be a beer, if that makes sense. Because everything we do, it's like we're kind of doing our own thing. They might have some nods and winks to drinks that you've had before, like this one, Curious Zero, has Yakima hops from the Pacific Northwest. So it's got a touch of hops to it, but it's also got this roasted barley and this golden apple to it that is just super refreshing.

Ramon Vela (36:05.325)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (36:26.063)
So it's got a little bit of a dash of kind of like a Mexican lager vibe to it also. you know, they're a little bit of like, our drinks are a bit of shape shifters. They're a bit chameleonic in that way. And it's just super fun to see how people also mess with them in their own homes. Cause we encourage people to tinker and to garnish how they like. You know, if you're going to have, you know, Curious Zero, you can use like a lemon or a lime if you want to increase the acidity.

I even had some people mix different elixirs together and sometimes those experiments work great and sometimes they don't work at all. But my point is that it's a bit of choose your own adventure and we encourage that with our customers is to kind of let us know how it's working for you, what you're doing with it and let us know how we can do a little bit better every day.

Ramon Vela (36:57.902)
Thank

Ramon Vela (37:13.614)
Wow. I love how you describe stuff. I can hear you talk about this all day, your words and how you describe what's in the ingredients and all of that. You have a way with words. it also while you were speaking, it occurred to me that this is probably like, if it wasn't someone like you, and I'm sure like your other teammates and so forth,

You guys love the whole process of like the cocktails and the drinks and making like the beer you just mentioned, you know, making beer with your dad and so forth. Like you guys love that. Like it feels like that's like a passion for you already. And what you've done is you've taken this passion and this love for creating these mixtures in these cocktails and these concoctions and everything else. And

You've now applied it to this non-alcoholic space, but that doesn't mean that, you you have, you're not, you don't have the same passion or, mean, you have the same passion. You're just doing it a little differently than maybe you were doing it before all of this, but that passion is still there. So if someone is like, I don't even know what you call, you know, someone who's a foodie, you know, I guess is related to food, but whatever the equivalent of foodie is, but in the cocktail world, like that's you guys.

And I think that's, but that's what I'm saying. It's like, I think that this is, this is why you guys were doing it so long because you, I mean, I'm speaking for you, so please correct me if I'm It feels like.

JW Wiseman (38:42.701)
Yeah, I'm a cocktail nerd. Yeah, definitely.

JW Wiseman (38:56.638)
No, you're absolutely right. If I were just doing this for money, we would have a ton of investors and probably would have exited by now. But I don't have an interest in that. I think that that could actually be at odds with the mission to transform how we drink socially. I love making these. They're so much fun to work on. And it's so much fun to see them out in the world and just kind of brightening everybody's day a little bit. When I get a review, I look at every single review that comes in, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Ramon Vela (39:05.774)
Yeah.

JW Wiseman (39:26.037)
But when I get the ones that are heartfelt, like, you know, I've replaced my nightly glass of wine with a Curious Elixir, and now my husband is even stealing my bottles of Curious, then you know that like they're being playful with each other, it's adding a little bit of something to their life. And that just, that feels so meaningful to our whole team. You know, and I share those reviews with the team and they're just like, yeah, that's why we do this is because we try to have this kind of Japanese

Ramon Vela (39:35.095)
you

JW Wiseman (39:55.774)
hospitality mindset, is called omotenashi, which is open-hearted hospitality. And it's really great. It's like meeting people where they are. So like if somebody comes into your restaurant or bar, or in the case of Curious, if somebody gets their drinks and their box is damaged or something like that, you know, because UPS wasn't super gentle, then we have to meet them where they are and try and help them out and figure out how to make it a little bit better.

And we love to have that open-hearted hospitality, both digitally and also when we serve people, you know, here at our little speakeasy. And I think it's important for so many of us that work in hospitality to get back to those roots, because so many people today in the kind of post-pandemic world, in the hospitality world, are being forced to do more with less. They don't have enough staff. They don't have enough hours in the day.

And that's part of why Curious works so well for them is because they don't need to take six things from behind the bar to make something special for a guest who isn't drinking. They just chill it, flip it, and sip it. You're done. Add a garnish and a nice glass, you're ready to go. And that's our way of serving the hospitality community and enabling them to have that open-hearted hospitality, to be connecting here eye to eye with their guests instead of running around trying to do something new for them. Does that make sense?

Ramon Vela (41:20.66)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, I love that and you make me want to visit your Club curious I Mean just you make it sound so so wonderful and I love that Japanese hospital that open-hearted hospitality. It's such a great phrase So I want to start talking a little bit about the products one of the things I wanted to find out is that you you and I were talking about this before and I always

JW Wiseman (41:28.398)
You are invited. You are invited.

Ramon Vela (41:48.846)
before we start recording, I always want to make sure that someone walks away with a couple of things from these interviews. And one of them is, well, there's several things, but, I think we've covered a lot of it, is I really want people to understand the uniqueness of these products. And we've talked about how your passion and love for creating these mixtures and these formulations and so forth.

JW Wiseman (42:08.232)
Amen.

Ramon Vela (42:16.126)
And I want them to know what those things do for them. And we'll talk a little bit about the products right now. But I also want them to know or hear things that they wouldn't see on the packaging, on the labels, on the website. Because after however many interviews, a thousand interviews I've done, it's like there are things that you do.

And maybe it's the hours of formulation, maybe it's the 18 months, but there are things that you do in the backend to just never really make it to the front end, right? That people don't realize that you do. And I don't know, I just feel very sincere. feel sincerely that if you share some of these things, the blood, the sweat and the tears for the audience, uh, you know, make them really appreciate this whole process. And so is there anything that you can, that comes to mind to you that you're just really proud of?

JW Wiseman (42:51.827)
Hmm.

Ramon Vela (43:14.158)
You're proud of what you do. You're proud of what your team does. You're proud of the process that you've built that just, it's not necessarily shouted out on social media or whatever, but it's just something you're proud of and that you really want the consumer and the people listening to know about.

JW Wiseman (43:17.826)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm really proud of our small but mighty team and specifically the team culture of mutual support that we've built here.

We've had two instances in the past six weeks, three instances now that I'm thinking of it, where people had either family emergencies or like a flood in their basement or shit just going wrong in their life and they needed to go and focus on their family or their friends. And we've built a company culture where everybody supports each other in those moments. You know, whether somebody's going off and getting married or you have that...

flood or somebody needs to be taken to the hospital, that is what I'm really proud of right now is the team supporting each other through those moments so that when they're like, hey, I need to go take care of this right now, another team member is saying, I've got your back. know, because like, there's nothing more important than taking care of your friends and your family, whether it's chosen family or blood. There's nothing more important than that. Like business can wait, you know, and I want everybody to know that.

Ramon Vela (44:27.438)
Hmm.

JW Wiseman (44:41.154)
you know, that's out there that might be a customer is that, yeah, we try to get back to everybody in 24 hours, you know, and we're gonna try and resolve your problem. But sometimes stuff like that comes up and we need to take care of our family first and then we're gonna help you with your problem too. But don't worry, we're not gonna forget about you and please check your spam filters because sometimes the emails get lost. But that's the thing that I'm really proud of our team right now and the culture of mutual support.

Ramon Vela (45:10.146)
Yeah, no, I love that. it's good to hear that too, because, know, I, everything I've heard so far is, it's just really impressive, you know, like in how you, the care and the feeding you take in creating these products and the thought that goes behind it. It's not just throwing these ingredients around, but it's really careful, you know, down to the spice, you know, like how much, how much spices you put in there with the percentages and all of that.

And I know that takes a lot of time and it takes a lot of iterations and so forth. And so I love that caring. So to hear you also take that care with your team is also just makes me want to support you even more. It's like, I just, I feel that. And by the way, just so everyone knows, I actually had to reschedule and I felt really bad about rescheduling. Cause I had to do some, I had some personal stuff I got to deal with and you were just so flexible. And I felt really bad because I was thinking.

JW Wiseman (46:07.778)
Likewise, and thanks for letting me know that you're like, life is happening right now, I gotta go take care of some stuff. And I was like,

Ramon Vela (46:08.042)
Wow, our pre interview went so well and here I am, like I have to like move this interview, but I appreciate your flexibility. And it goes to show that you've extended that to me too. you realize I had to do some, some stuff as well. So thank you for that. And again, it's just very impressive that this is how you run your company and I truly appreciate it. So thank you.

JW Wiseman (46:36.583)
no problem, know? Like that's, the conversation is still going to be here, you know?

Ramon Vela (46:42.99)
Yeah. Well, I always tell people when, when people have to reschedule for me, I always tell them, Hey, no worries. Like, don't even worry about it. I have, you know, my, my, priorities I always put our family, family, you know, loved ones, business, and then podcasts. like, Hey, you got to reschedule it. You got to reschedule. That's okay. Um, so let's talk a little bit about the product. So, um, let me make sure that people understand where the website is, or if you want to go visit the website is curious elixirs.com. So two words.

Curious and then the second word is elixirs.com and elixirs just so in case you don't know it's spelled e l i x i r s.com elixirs.com Is the website and we'll make sure to have that on our podcast description as well as your social media and so forth But why don't we talk a little bit about what they're gonna find. So my my thought is people like

love what they've been hearing. They like your care and feeding and your passion and your love for creating these. And they love the fact that you've been doing it for so long. And really, again, that's just a testament of how much you care and love about what you're doing. They want to know more about this thing that you care so much about these products. We've shown them a few of them, but walk us through some of them. And if you want, you can maybe talk high level about just the overall ingredients, because on the website,

JW Wiseman (48:00.139)
Okay.

Ramon Vela (48:10.968)
You've got these great shout outs and call outs around adaptogens. You've got call outs around ingredients and so forth. So feel free to talk about any of those, but walk us through some of them. Feel free to talk about all of them, but if there's some that you want to highlight, please do so.

JW Wiseman (48:25.457)
Mm-hmm. Sure. And one thing I'll note is when you go to the website, there's a great way to take our flavor quiz to see kind of which ones might vibe with your palate. And it's done in a fun way. It's a fun quiz.

We've got great great copywriters. And then also we've got the Curious Cocktail Club which is kind of like our way of doing a tasting menu where we're like, hey trust us, we're gonna send you a box of our three favorites for this time of year and the next month you'll get a different box with three more and then next month you get a different box with three more. So you kind of get to taste most of the elixirs within three months. And that's kind of like a fun thing. It's almost like a throwback to you know when you had

you know, like our parents, you know, our parents' generations, where they're doing like jam to the month club and stuff like that, where you're getting different stuff in the mail and you never know what you're going to get. And it's just kind of a fun whimsical way to try Curious. But with the different flavors, you know, some of them, I mean, all of them are inspired by my experience drinking some of the best cocktails and wines across the world. You know, whether it's Curious number three, which is inspired by both, you know,

Italian gin-based drinks and also Japanese cocktail culture, while also using an adaptogen ashwagandha from India. So it's kind of like this amazing melange of different cultures, but in something that is just really refreshing, perfect for springtime, that's our Juniper Cucumber Collins, Curious Number 3. Now if you want something refreshing and kind of more in lines of summer in the garden, that's a great one to have.

If you want to have something that's more spicy, you would have kind of Curious Elixir number two, the one that I talked about before. If you want something that's kind of classic, know, kind of Negroni Spagliato, Curious number one is Delicious. That one's going to have Rodeola, which is going to give you a boost. And another great one for summertime or really any time of year is going to be Curious number nine, which is our Sparkling Rosé. And that one has Kana from South Africa.

JW Wiseman (50:42.618)
which is an incredible adaptogen, it basically keeps your levels of serotonin and dopamine high. So you get this natural lift, this natural glow. If you have a full bottle of that, you're not gonna feel high or anything, but you're gonna feel good. And that's kind of what we're aiming for with all of these is that they have little differences in how you wanna feel.

Ramon Vela (50:49.71)
Hmm.

JW Wiseman (51:05.851)
And when you get your first box, we have a little card that kind of goes through all of the different elixirs and all of their different flavors and functions. And so that's a really nice thing to check out as well. If you're more into kind of like whiskey adjacent drinks, this is for like people who like smoky drinks. Curious number five is probably the weirdest and most challenging one that we have.

Ramon Vela (51:29.591)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (51:35.605)
Thank

JW Wiseman (51:35.854)
which is a smoked cherry chocolate old fashioned. So it's got a lot going on in there. And I will say it's not for everybody. If you don't like smoky things, you probably shouldn't have Curious Number 5. You should probably do something more approachable like Curious Number 1 or Curious Number 4, which is our Blood Orange Sicilian Spritz. That one is a classic drink. If you like something that is bright and citrusy, but with a touch of tartness and bitterness,

Ramon Vela (51:40.344)
Hmm.

JW Wiseman (52:05.572)
That one's fantastic and that has American ginseng to give you an energy boost, but also has holy basil to kind of help your body unwind. So all of these are helping your body to kind of achieve balance. That's the key thing is like we want the flavor to be balanced and the function to be balanced with your body. They're all promoting homeostasis. And that's the amazing thing about adaptogens. That's what they do. We co-evolved with these plants. So your body is primed to...

Ramon Vela (52:31.244)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (52:35.072)
respond to them. That's most of them. And then the latest one that I mentioned, you know, as well, curious zero, that's for people who are like into something that's got like a touch of hops. I, like to say it's not a beer, it's a boost. It definitely with the maca root, you're going to be feeling like energized and the lion's mane is good for your brain. So that one's been tapping into a lot of new customers for us. So, and it's just nice to have something like, you know, in a bottle.

Ramon Vela (52:48.952)
Hehehe.

Ramon Vela (52:54.338)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (53:04.607)
A lot of the non-alcoholic beers these days, or non-alcoholic brews as we call them, they're in a can. And no shade at cans, we like being fancy at Curious. It's nice to be able to have a glass in your hand.

Ramon Vela (53:15.16)
Yeah.

Ramon Vela (53:19.042)
Yeah. And that's, that's extra. Obviously, I I think that is, that is a nice touch and it adds to the, the, what's the word I'm looking for? Ambience or the, you know, like you're, you're, you, you've taken so much care and feeding into creating this formulation and these, and putting all these different things in there to make, to not only have a taste, but have you feel something and, and

the bottle and the glass, I know that it's probably more expensive and all of that and more costly, but at the same time though, let's be honest, it does sort of add a, it adds to it. It adds to the, what's the word I'm looking for? The up level, the enhancement, the, you're like drinking something special, right?

JW Wiseman (53:54.239)
It is.

JW Wiseman (54:15.317)
Yes.

Ramon Vela (54:15.532)
You have that glass. makes it, it adds to the whole, the whole thing. so this is, this is fantastic and everything sounds fantastic. and let's see. And just the flavors are just really, really, really interesting. like that number five that you mentioned, I was like, wow, that's, that's kind of, that's kind of interesting. Yeah, no, I love this. and yeah, I.

JW Wiseman (54:36.968)
Yeah, that one's out there. That one is definitely out there.

Ramon Vela (54:44.526)
I can appreciate it. So basically, it almost sounds like the best place to start is maybe your Curious Cocktail Club. Because

JW Wiseman (54:57.119)
Definitely. It's definitely the most cost effective way to do it too. And it's kind of the most fun. But for people who know what they already like in terms of like flavor profiles, go for it. You can choose different flavors and create yourself a bundle. But we find that well over 50 % of our customers are in the Curious Cocktail Club. And they just, they love getting something different and new every month. And...

Ramon Vela (55:24.267)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (55:25.641)
And it's a great way for us to get feedback as well. Because people are going to let you know what they like and what they don't like. And that's one of the feedback loops that we use in order to continue making our drinks better and better.

Ramon Vela (55:37.792)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, and like I said, it allows you to kind of, there's so many here that sound really great and it's hard to choose. Obviously, people will have a preference for it. However, at the same time though, think it's, if you wanted to get a variety and you wanted to sort of try them all, is the Curious Cocktail Club. It looks like it's probably the best deal there. This has been fantastic. I want to be respectful of your time.

We've already, think we may have even gone over a lot of time, but I want to make sure that people know where to get a hold of it. So what are your suggestions? Obviously the website, but what else? Is there any partners, any places that you can direct them to online, both online and offline? And then...

JW Wiseman (56:30.419)
Yeah, mean the best place to find us, you know, is going to be on CuriousElixirs.com and then also on Instagram at CuriousElixirs. And we do on our website also have a list of stockists and places where you can find Curious, but it's not an exhaustive list. It's just some of the some of the best places to find Curious in terms of, you know, fancy restaurants and things like that. One place I'd highlight, you know, right now that's super hot if you're coming to New York City in the summertime.

Ramon Vela (56:53.294)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (57:00.445)
There's a fantastic new restaurant called La Tete Dior, the Head of Gold by Daniel Balloud, one of the most famous chefs in the world. And that steakhouse is selling like 20 cases a month of Curious now, and they just opened a couple of months ago. So that would be one that I would definitely recommend. You're gonna find us in your better restaurants, but we have a long way to go there too. So we'd love to hear from people of like, you know, I would love if Curious were served in

Ramon Vela (57:17.71)
Wow.

JW Wiseman (57:30.051)
XYZ place in my hometown. We love hearing that and we love getting recommendations from people on where we should be. We've got a small but mighty team and their job is to get curious out into the world so that it makes it more inclusive for people who don't drink. And shout out to the James Beard Foundation. They took us on as their official non-alcoholic drinks. And that's something that has really been opening a lot of doors for us as well.

Ramon Vela (57:48.622)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (57:59.857)
And good to see that they're appreciating that true hospitality means making it inclusive for people of all different flavors.

Ramon Vela (58:07.95)
Yeah, and then you have a wholesale button I notice on your navigation. So if someone is listening to this and you own a bar or are associated with a bar or a restaurant and you're interested in having this elevated experience, please reach out to the UW.

JW Wiseman (58:24.846)
Yeah, any local business that is interested in this, whether it's a cheese shop, yoga studio, comedy club, we love being in any place where people are socializing or enjoying life. It's just, we want to be a supporting character in creative people's lives. That's kind of like the through line of where you'll find curious.

Ramon Vela (58:45.89)
Yeah, no, this is fantastic. And then remind us what the Instagram account is.

JW Wiseman (58:52.46)
at Curious

Ramon Vela (58:54.062)
Okay, great. And we'll make sure to have that on our podcast description, the social media, as well as the website and all of that. But JW, this has been fantastic, man. There's so much I could talk to you about. Like you and I had, like I mentioned early on, you and I had such a great conversation. I feel like I can talk to you about a lot of stuff much deeper than just the brand side, but I wanted to make sure that people really got a great introduction to your brand, to you, to your process and to your products.

Because I think highly of it and I think highly of you and I just want to make sure people are aware of that But you are welcome back anytime next time. Maybe we'll talk about some other more deeper Subjects around philosophy and humanity and all of that

JW Wiseman (59:36.143)
Oh yeah, we didn't talk too much about death today, so we're gonna have to get into it and the afterlife and spiritual practices. But I shout out to you for, you know, for hosting this and for highlighting so many incredible stories. And one of the things that I'm really grateful to you for is you have this breathing practice at the beginning of, you know, before we get started. And that was just so helpful to center us. And, you know, I just want to thank you for that and reminding me to.

Ramon Vela (59:38.902)
Yeah. yeah.

Ramon Vela (59:58.894)
Mm-hmm.

JW Wiseman (01:00:04.608)
You know, it's so helpful.

Ramon Vela (01:00:05.726)
yeah. yeah. People don't realize this is so simple tool because we don't really think about breathing. We think, you know, we just take it for granted, but the reality is that we actually don't take enough oxygen into our bodies. And so it's a great way to just become present, just focus on the breathing and to kind of reboot yourself a little bit. you guys should be doing, you should do it sitting down because the oxygen to your brain,

kind of creates a little bit of a high in your brain, a little euphoria in your brain. And it's really your brain just telling you, thank you, thank you for the oxygen. And, and it's just, just so helpful. I do it before meetings and so forth. And the funny thing is I've actually, did it, I, interviewed, a brand called Sarah Belli and it was a new CEO who had just started at this brand or like a baby food company. And after we did it, he turned to me and he was like,

Hey, know, at Whole Foods, we would do this all the time. Like this is like part of our, before our meetings, we would do breathing exercises. And I was like, wow, I guess, you know, that's pretty cool. I didn't realize that. But thank you for that. Thank you for the shout out. And I appreciate it, man. You are more than welcome back anytime, especially as you guys get new products and any other updates. And then, ooh, one last thing. Can people still participate in these 100?

JW Wiseman (01:01:13.55)
Ramon Vela (01:01:32.334)
The May 4th event? Yeah.

JW Wiseman (01:01:33.097)
The 100 parties? Yeah. Yeah, great curious cocktail party, absolutely. You know, the best way to do that is to follow us on Instagram. We're gonna be having a toast, a nationwide toast from coast to coast at 9 p.m. Eastern time, 6 p.m. Pacific on Instagram on May 14th.

And we're going to be releasing a map of all of the parties, both public and private parties as well, because we're going to have over 50 retailers and over 100 parties. So we're really looking at more than 150 parties across the country. so we'd love if people, if you're a sober, curious person and there's a party near you, go have a drink on us. That would be fantastic.

Ramon Vela (01:02:05.997)
you

Ramon Vela (01:02:14.766)
That sounds exciting. I'm going look into it too. But this has been fantastic. Thank you, JW, for sharing your brand and your love and passion for what you're doing and just the fact that you guys have been doing this so long. It's just so impressive. You really are what I refer to as product worth buying, a brand worth supporting because the product, just the craft of it all just sounds so amazing. But then just everything you're doing and how you treat your team and how you treat this whole

endeavor. This is really impressive and I want to support you any way I can. So you're more than welcome back anytime. We're going to do additional videos, clips and stuff like that promoting the brand. So, but thank you. Thank you for coming down. Thank you for spending time with us.

JW Wiseman (01:03:00.951)
Thank you too. It's been such a pleasure, Ramon.

Ramon Vela (01:03:04.044)
So everyone out there, have just had J.W. Wiseman, who is the founder of Curious Elixirs.com. Again, it's CuriousElixirs.com is the website. We're going to have that link as well as their social media link on our podcast description, which you could find on Spotify, Apple, pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts. Simply type in the story of a brand show and you should be able to find it. Beyond that, as I always mentioned, stay safe, stay sane, stay healthy.

One last thing, we've all been going through a lot of stuff, pandemic, economy, geopolitical wars, politics, tariffs, all this stuff going on. It's it's no wonder so many people are feeling anxious and feeling worry and stress and so forth. Let's just do ourselves a favor and remember that everyone is going through something. Some people are looking for work, some people are just stressed out.

Let's just remember everyone is going through something and if we can just be a little kinder, I know we can make this human experience a better one. Let's all have a drink and share a little bit of the curious elixirs and just let's just be nice to each other, connect with each other and remember that we're all going through something and just be a little kinder. And I know if we can do that, we can have a much, better human experience. So I'll leave that the way it is, but beyond that, thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

for listening to another episode of the story of a brand.