Personally, I’ve been very thankful for the things I take for granted every day. I have a job that helps me:

1. Keep a roof over my head
2. Keep clothes on my back
3. Allows me to have 3 meals a day
4. And plenty of wine (and SanTasti) to drink

I’m also thankful for my health, as well as for my family…even if they do make me feel a little annoyed from time to time (that’s one of their jobs in being related to me). So, as we all walk into the beginning of Winter and the many holidays that fall within it, I encourage each of you to take a quick moment, reflect on the year thus far, perform a little breathing therapy (in case the times make it tough to fully enjoy), and remember to thank people around you for things provided, big or small.

I thank all of you for supporting us these past 3 years! Here’s to many more with lovely folks such as you.

Cucumber fresh off the bottling line

Words can’t describe how happy we are to announce that your favorite alternate flavor is ready for immediate enjoyment…

We know it’s been a long few months, but rest assured that Cucumber is finally back in stock. Many of our clients will have Cucumber on-hand in approximately two weeks, and we’ll be making some important updates to the ‘Find SanTasti’ list very soon, so stay tuned for this update.

In the meantime, Nicole & I are doing the Dance of Joy about this great news (because we’re just silly that way).

Well, what a Summer we had! Plenty of events to attend and help out the thirsty masses, and a special launch of our Keg Program to the Central Coast region of California. We’ve got a busy Autumn season of events, and hope to see you all very soon. As always, if you know of a food, wine or spirits tasting that is happening but isn’t on our list, leave a comment here, on Facebook, via Twitter, or by email (leilani at santasti dot com) and we’ll do our best to attend the event if time permits. And if we don’t make it to the event you’re attending, do two things: 1. tell the organizer you want us there next time, and 2. keep a 4-pack of SanTasti in the fridge to keep you covered.

October
10/6: Botanical Illustration Exhibition – San Francisco, CA (website)
10/7: Cheers St. Helena – St. Helena, CA (website)
10/8: Architects to Asilomar – Pacific Grove, CA (website)
10/14: Kings of the Valley – St. Helena, CA (website)
10/15-16: SF Vintners Market – San Francisco, CA (website)
10/22: Best of the West – Paso Robles, CA (website)
10/22: Shale Oak Winery Grand Opening – Paso Robles, CA (website)
10/26: Taste of the Bay – San Francisco, CA (website)

November
11/5: Rockin’ Harvest 2011 – Avila Beach, CA (website)
11/11-13: Napa Valley Film Festival – Napa Valley, CA (website)
11/12: The Best of the Blue – Monterey, CA (website)
11/19: Artisano Grand Tasting – Santa Rosa, CA (website)

Though it’s been a slow start to receiving Summer weather in California, the team has been moving around the state quite a bit the last few weeks, doing our very best to provide refreshment to the masses. We still have a little time left in the month,  encourage you to take a look at our final locations for June, and ask that you plug in your favorite events for the coming few weeks. Since Summer tends to be the time when there are a ton of events and plans to be made, I thought giving two months might be helpful to increase the chances of seeing your smiling faces!

As always, if you know of a food, wine or spirits tasting that is happening but isn’t on our list, leave a comment here, on Facebook, via Twitter, or by email (leilani at santasti dot com) and we’ll do our best to attend the event if time permits. It’s even more helpful if you happen to give a website address and/or the organizer’s name, but we’ll take what we can get.

Happy Summer to us all!

July
7/15: CA Wine Festival Sunset Rare & Reserve Tasting – Santa Barbara, CA (website)
7/16: Kennedy Cust. Appreciation Day – Paso Robles, CA (website)
7/23: Chardonnay Symposium – Los Olivos, CA (website)
7/24: Cause for the Paws – Napa, CA (website)

August
8/4: #IPADay – Napa, CA (website)
8/5: Cheers St. Helena – St. Helena, CA (website)
8/13: 19th Annual Winemakers Celebration – Carmel, CA (website)

September
9/2: Cheers St. Helena – St. Helena, CA (website)

Recently, an interview was broadcast on Krush 92.5 in San Luis Obispo, California, highlighting SanTasti. Though Andrew was under the weather at the time it was recorded, Nicole confidently took the lead and provided some great speaking points during the 30-minute chat. You can listen to the full discussion by clicking on each of the video segments we designed (1 - history, 2 – science & use, and 3 – sharing the idea), and I thought a few retrospect footnotes to the broadcast might be nice:

Leilani: Correct me if I’m wrong, but this wasn’t your first time being interviewed by Lynn Diehl, right? How did this session differ from the previous one?
Nicole: Well, the only other time we were officially interviewed was for the 10 Questions with Lynn Diehl for a SLO City News printed article. For that piece, she sent Andrew and I the questions by email. It was nice because it gave you time to think your answers through and respond vs. on the radio, you’re responding in a somewhat off the cuff manner.

L: You covered a lot of topics during those 30 minutes – what was your favorite topic to discuss?
N: Just talking about the story of how we got here, because it’s something that we’re very proud of and we’re still trying to accomplish so much. It helps give a personal point of interest that people can relate to…we’re in the midst of this fantastic ride and like to share it [the experience] with others. Also, I enjoyed talking about the “idea book” with Lynn because it was such an organic, off-topic moment, and of course I enjoyed talking about what’s coming up for us [new packaging].

L: Which topic did you wish you could have gone a bit more in depth on?
N: I would have liked to talk about what’s new for SanTasti and what we’re planning on doing for the rest of the year, but we never really got into that area. Thank goodness for our blog!

L: What was one topic you wanted to discuss, but ran out of time for?
N: I think it would have been cool to talk about what it takes to really start your own business, the entrepreneurial drive, using the resources around you, seizing the opportunity, etc. I would have loved to have gone on a tangent about this like we did with the “idea book” moment.

L: How did you feel when Lynn gave you a testimonial* about SanTasti while you were there in-person?
N: I was very proud and appreciative, but it was hard to process it at that moment, because I was in the throws of the interview. It means even more now, especially coming from someone influential in the industry, and that she uses it of her own free will.

*“…water is a palate cleansing beverage, crackers could/can be a palate cleansing beverage, but nothing has worked for me personally like SanTasti. You sit down at these panels and you want to experience the aromas & flavors and each vineyard and winemaker is different. You want to make sure you don’t have overlapping flavors. And I found that it was really a vital part of my experience, so I want to thank you for that.” – Lynn Diehl

So…was there a question you would have liked to asked Nicole, had you been the interviewer? We always like talking to folks about SanTasti, as well as our past experiences, so send us a question below!

6/3: Cheers St. Helena – St. Helena, CA (website)
6/4: MCVGA Winery Walk – Soledad, CA (website)
6/5: TAPAS Grand Tasting – San Francisco, CA (website)
6/11-12: LA Wine Fest – Los Angeles, CA (website)
6/25: Sacramento Zoo King of Feasts – Sacramento, CA (website)

We have a couple more events that we’re trying to confirm, but if you know of an event coming up in June and wished we were there, please send us an email to info@santasti.com with the name and dates of the event. If you know the organizer or website, please send us that too. At minimum, we’ll reach out to them to see if they are interested. If it’s too close to their event, we’ll hopefully be on their list of folks to have for next year’s event.

And don’t forget, you can always go to our current clients to purchase a few bottles, or even go to our shop to have some shipped to you!

Yes, it’s true. You see, when we made our last production run, we really weren’t sure how it was going to go over. The team liked the flavor, and our very small test market liked the flavor, but you just never really know how the market is going to respond. So we created a small production of it to be on the safe side, consisting of 1/4 of the total production run.

Boy, we didn’t see what was coming. You LIKED it! You really LIKED it! So much so, we’ve officially hit ‘temporary backorder’ status. Personally, I hate those words. Every time I have to tell a current or potential client, or even a FanTasti that I don’t have anymore, my heart sinks. The look on their faces just makes me sad.

But fear not, more Cucumber will be coming soon. When? Well, I’d love to give you an exact date. We’re trying to finish an important round of funding that will get us into our own bottles with a better design. Let’s be honest. The current bottles have been handy, helpful, and functional. We’ve been grateful just to get our hands on them. Now is the time, however, to move to the next phase of our relationship together. You, our consumers and our clients, deserve a bottle that better conveys the true message of our beverage. Clean, sleek, classy, modern, fresh, and something that tells you “I’m chilled and ready to be consumed.” When the new production run happens and I’m given an in-hand date, I’ll be practically shouting the news from the mountain tops, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I’ll keep updating our Facebook page and this blog post as I hear from our clients that they still have those elusive bottles of Cucumber in stock. And to our FanTastis – shout out loud if you spot these bottles! My only requests: keep telling us you like the flavor, and keep buying them from all our great clients. They believe in the beverage just like  you – be it Cucumber or Classic.

Cucumber locations (while it lasts)
- Sunshine Foods Market – St. Helena, CA
- Donati Family Vineyard – Templeton, CA
- Korbel Delicatessen & Market, Guerneyville, CA
- Michi Sushi, Campbell, CA

5/6: Cheers St. Helena – St. Helena, CA (website)
5/15: Flavor of SLO – San Luis Obispo, CA (website)
5/16: Napa Facebook Wine Meetup – St. Helena, CA (website)
5/21: Paso Robles Wine Festival – Paso Robles, CA (website)
5/21: Ghirardelli Square Uncorked – San Francisco, CA (website)
5/22: UC Davis 10th Annual Food Championship – Davis, CA
5/26: Cal Poly Entrepreneurs Student Business Showcase (student-only event) – San Luis Obispo, CA  (website)

Know of an event we should be attending? Give us (and the organizers) a heads-up A.S.A.P. so we can help Refresh Your Taste!

This Spring, they came by the thousands. Literally. As of Friday, we got a ‘heads-up’ from the organizers that they had already sold 6,000+ tickets for the weekend (which I think is an all-time record for them). Historically, Saturday is when the mob descends upon all us ‘lil’ vendors, and Sunday is the ‘lighter’ of the two.

Saturday – the mob did descend. So furiously, it was the first time in a VERY long time I could recognize that the only sounds to be heard was a constant, deafening buzz from all the people in the hall. (Think a hive of bees, turned up to 11. Yes. Eeeleven.) Your voice could hardly be recognized, even though you know you’re SHOUTING AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS!

I remember wanting to take a picture of the swamped-ness of the hall, but I was so extremely busy at my table, I never got a chance. Not even after reminding myself twice on Sunday. But Elie Ernest from Vin12.com took a picture…so you can enjoy his here:

An unbelievable swarm of wine tasters and drinkers

I also remember seeing Andrew twice on Saturday for certain. You see, we had two tables, and three SanTasti Shot Girls that day. Nicole was stationed at the table in the ‘reserve’ section, and I was stationed at the table in the ‘main’ section. Andrew did what he does best with us…jump back and forth between tables to make sure we haven’t been carried away by the mob, ensuring we’re fed, ‘watered’ (or coffee’d in my case), and given a break to catch our breath. He also restocks bottles into our coolers so we may serve nice, cold SanTasti to our current and new FanTastis. It’s actually a great system, and we have a pretty good rhythm worked out.

Even the Shot Girls were on a roll – out for 20 minutes, then back for tray refills. Their pattern was: walk behind the table, trays down, reloading cups-cups-cups, pouring SanTasti Classic in them all, refill their stock of business cards to hand out, trays on, back out into the crowd. Their rate of refill was impressive, and keeping cold bottles ready for all of us was the name of the game. After a while, I could almost sense when they were coming back. I’d hurriedly refill my tray on the table, clear any empty bottles or papers away, then back out of the way or walk in front of the table to give the girls the room they needed. Then, refill my tray and restock the cooler with new bottles again once they left. And the crowd? They were in great spirits. They always are, and they LOVE seeing the Shot Girls come around, providing a small sip that will help them enjoy their wine experience.

Two of our Shot Girls helping to Refresh Your Taste

Four o’clock on Saturday seemed to get there so quickly, and yet, not a moment too soon! We finally hit the tipping point of ‘barely chilled’ bottles and almost ran out of cups. The crowd clearly had their fill of Bacchus’ nectar. And then, the call of the security: “Good to see ya folks, but you got to go!”

Sunday was a much different crowd. Slightly older, and not quite as ‘energetic’ as Saturday. They seemed to linger at tables longer, take more time ‘in the glass’, and I saw A LOT of winery bags from purchases being made. And you could hear yourself THINK compared to the day before. All were great small gifts to us…because we were all wiped out just from Saturday. And by “we”, I mean winery staff, food vendors, and even the SanTasti crew.

So why do huge events like this? Because it’s all about helping people enjoy their tasting experience. It’s about helping wineries sell ‘the good juice’ and restaurants be recognized for all the flavors they put into their foods. And it’s about helping the consumer (taster or drinker) realize that there is so much more to experience in that glass, or on that plate, than they ever imagined. And I think we did one heck of a job helping out over 6,000 attendees this weekend!

We’re back to posting our events, as a handful of people have requested after our website “face lift” we performed a couple of months ago. Here’s a list of the places we’ll be for the month of April, and we’re hoping to see you there so we can help you Refresh Your Taste.

4/9 – 10: San Francisco Vintners Market – Fort Mason, CA (website)
4/16: Earth Day Food & Wine Festival – Paso Robles, CA (website)
4/29 – 30: Hospice du Rhone – Paso Robles, CA (website)
4/29: Celebrity Chef Challenge – Sacramento, CA (website)

Next month’s events will be posted soon! Until then – be sure to stay P.C. (Palate Cleansed)