Latest / Coffee People Podcast / S6:E9 - Part 2: Ryan Espi & David Elizondo, First Light Whiskey

Transcript

S6:E9 - Part 2: Ryan Espi & David Elizondo, First Light Whiskey · Coffee People Podcast

0:08
A good morning, everyone. Welcome to season 6.
0:11
Episode 9 of the roast West Coast coffee podcast.
0:15
I'm Ryan Walt. And this is the show where I
0:18
bring you the stories of coffee professionals entrepreneurship
0:21
and coffee education. This week you're going to hear
0:25
part two of the interview with first light whiskies co-ceos
0:29
Ryan SP and David Elizondo. If you missed the first part of
0:33
this interview, don't worry. It's on the internet.
0:36
Look for it. On Apple podcast Spotify or just
0:39
go right to the newsletter on roast westcoast.com.
0:42
And while you're online, if you want to try first like, coffee
0:45
whiskey, and you should or their dark roast coffee, whiskey also
0:49
great, use the discount code RWC.
0:53
That's Capital letters RWC, I'm bar, bank.com the bottle.
0:58
I ordered last week showed up in less than 24 hours with free
1:01
shipping and it's not gone yet. So I don't need to reorder but
1:06
it's definitely not all. They're either in part two of
1:09
this interview. We get into how trust in the
1:12
partnership and the ability to disconnect is important to the
1:16
brand, so let's get into it. If you're enjoying a cup of
1:20
coffee right now, you're already ready to go.
1:23
If not Not sure what you're waiting for.
1:25
Go fill up your coffee mug. It's time for part two of the
1:28
interview, featuring Ryan, SP and David Elizondo.
1:31
Co-ceos of First Light coffee, Whiskey on the roast West Coast
1:36
coffee podcast. The organic agave nectar was
1:47
definitely a game-changer for sweeteners for us.
1:50
I mean we end up with like 80, you know, probably more than
1:53
eight. Percent less sugar content to
1:55
select your Fireball or something.
1:57
You're seeing that that's having a lot per serving or we have a
2:01
very low just like sugar index because of that agave and it
2:04
gives it enough. Just sweetness to like calm the
2:07
palate and not have that really burn from whiskey, but you see
2:10
it doesn't over get it over sweet at all, you know, that was
2:13
one of the big things in the R&D process as a former bartender.
2:17
I was like, I don't want to create something that like is
2:20
overly sweet, and as a scotch Drinker, I'm like, I want
2:23
something I can do. Again, enjoy like multiple
2:25
glasses and not have this kind of sugar burnout and something
2:29
that can be Blended in cocktails and not overpower drinks, you
2:33
know, like be able to have like, subtle Nuance with in cocktails,
2:37
which you do with a lot of, like, kind of straight Spirit
2:39
forward, you know, whiskey cocktails.
2:41
And so that part of it was really allowed us to create
2:46
those expressions that are like unlike anything else.
2:49
Sure. And I think being able to drink
2:52
more than one and not wake up. The next morning, feeling all
2:55
that sugar. Is if you're getting up at first
2:58
light to go, surfing is probably pretty important.
3:00
Yeah, you mentioned that you've been working with the extract or
3:04
the concentrate. I know that you also do some
3:06
very small batch product. Like with local coffee roasters,
3:10
you did one with steel milk. Previously that I had had, do
3:13
you see that as something that you continue to do throughout
3:15
the future, or where, what is next for the brand?
3:18
I know you've mentioned. I don't know how much you can
3:20
say, but that you're also working on other products and
3:22
other spirits. Is it always going to be that
3:25
coffee base? Or are you expanding out into
3:28
the market? Yeah, there's a, we have that
3:30
coffee at our core for sure. That's it.
3:32
That's the core part of our brand right now and we
3:35
definitely want will continue to work with local Roasters and as
3:40
as, you know, kind of our bandwidth permits.
3:42
Do more of those limited releases where we've done some
3:45
really cool stuff for, we like age, you know, our whiskey and
3:49
barrels with different coffee beans, and like do different
3:52
washes, dipping He's in and out over time, to create these
3:56
really awesome products. But you know, the one thing is,
3:58
they are limited and they're not very shelf-stable, right?
4:02
So like two months out like it's almost like your stone.
4:05
Enjoy buys like those things will get bottled and you want to
4:08
drink them within the first, you know, 6-8 weeks because that
4:11
natural coffee will, you know, will turn and not typically not
4:15
for better over time with those with those natural washes.
4:19
So like, those are things that we really excited about
4:22
continuing with partnering. With some of the awesome coffee
4:25
roasters. We have here in San Diego and
4:27
doing these limited releases that we know like the local
4:30
community is like fiending for. And I mean it's not going to
4:33
take you six weeks, drink a bottle of let's just be honest
4:35
with that. Yeah and then the product
4:39
roadmap, you know we do keg. Cocktails at events that are
4:42
just that that again are the response is phenomenal.
4:45
So we will be looking into canning some of those and then
4:48
also expanding our Spirits line down the road, very cool Ryan
4:51
and I were talking about this before you hop.
4:54
Opt on the call David, but just about his vacation and how for a
4:57
few minutes, he would step away from from work, which doesn't
5:01
happen a lot when you are in charge of something, when you
5:04
are running a business. So I wanted to ask you both
5:07
about, you know, the choice to be an entrepreneur out of
5:10
college. Instead of going a more
5:12
traditional may be a safer route.
5:14
Depending on how you look at things and how that impacts the
5:18
rest of your life. Yeah that's a great question.
5:22
There's definitely an egg And flout entrepreneurship.
5:25
That is unlike anything I've experienced before in life.
5:30
I had some jobs, it really like some gig style jobs during
5:35
undergrad and I got a little bit of background like working and
5:40
then I did work full-time for California, Spirits company soon
5:44
after so I have that kind of reference point versus now it's
5:47
just the full entrepreneurial Dynamic flow and doing it.
5:53
Particularly for, in my experience with my wife, Cassidy
5:57
like is really forced. A lot of like hard conversations
6:01
and forced us to grow, I think more so than we otherwise would
6:06
have. It's been really beneficial.
6:08
Like it's like it's a lot of times like there is resistance
6:12
and it's not necessarily the easiest process or the easiest
6:16
path, but it is the journey is worthwhile and I found it to be
6:21
that learning to disconnect. We go camping is kind of like
6:25
our go-to. We actually just took a trip to
6:28
Mammoth last week and we were able to connect with some
6:32
accounts up there and we're hoping to get some placements on
6:34
Mountain this season. We see like the alignment of
6:37
first light and Mammoth Mountain, to be fantastic.
6:40
But we're able to connect with a lot of accounts.
6:42
And then also put the phone away drive up to the Lakes.
6:46
Just sit there and like, we're just there.
6:49
Like, we had a futon in the back of the van and we're just laying
6:53
there. Listening to the The creeks and
6:54
looking at this beautiful landscape and and disconnecting
6:58
and and those moments are sacred.
7:01
It's like cherishing the moments where we can connect with the
7:04
natural world, connect with each other, love the journey and
7:09
respect that in a lot of ways. Like you never really turn off.
7:13
Like we're always thinking of the next thing that we can be
7:15
doing or how to make it a little better and it's just like the
7:18
natural process of like thoughts arising.
7:21
And is our baby. This is like our we love Doing
7:24
this. So it is like in a sense, we're
7:26
always working, but also in that same sense like we're never
7:29
working and it's just such a beautiful gift to be able to do
7:33
this. And how lucky are we to have
7:36
these opportunities to build the things.
7:38
We love you can for me it, you know, part of it is having like
7:42
a strong and trustworthy co-founder.
7:45
So the choice, the choice for me.
7:47
It like of entrepreneurialism kind of wasn't a choice.
7:50
I feel like, I mean, I date myself, I like it.
7:53
Was hustling like blank CDs when I was a kid and like just like
7:58
mowing lawns and always doing businesses and the last liking
8:02
it w to I had I was in college and I worked at Trader Joe's
8:04
throughout that time. So for about four years and then
8:09
after that, like I said, I was kind of just it, I just hate
8:12
Authority and so I just like I couldn't stand the idea of I
8:17
mean Trader, Joe's was great, but it's also like there wasn't
8:20
a lot of filler work but, you know, I hate the idea of For
8:24
work work sake. And so from that, I mean, like I
8:27
said I was I was like, all right, let me start a just like
8:30
designing and building websites and then I like open an agency.
8:34
And you know, we've got a new mobile app development and then
8:37
went into like Marketing sales and like online coaching
8:40
consulting, which is kind of what I did right before this for
8:43
a few years all in the advertising sphere.
8:48
And so it was like, it was kind of never Choice.
8:51
It was like that, always always going to do this but those
8:53
businesses Has like I mentioned previously, I was like the main
8:56
point, so there was no opportunity for disconnecting
9:01
and it was always, and you almost have to learn as an
9:05
entrepreneur like to give yourself a break because it's
9:10
not, it doesn't behoove like your best.
9:12
You know, your best performance to always be in front of your
9:16
laptop. And I always have these you
9:18
know, to always be on like some of our best Inspirations and
9:21
ideas will come from like the natural.
9:23
This self and come from experiences, you know I feel
9:27
like a lot of people could relate to just when you're stuck
9:31
in a problem. Like you go for a run or you
9:33
just do something else and like a lot of times the solution
9:36
prevents itself. So when you're thinking of like
9:38
higher level business decisions and like strategy, sure you put
9:42
the work in in front of the Whiteboard, but you need to
9:45
like, get away and like this that, like I said, with having,
9:49
you know, David as a co-founder who's again.
9:51
Somebody like just strong and trustworthy, Worthy and we
9:54
almost have like different strengths and weaknesses.
9:57
Like we talked about it, like it puts comfort and being able to
10:00
do that, you know, and like being able to disconnect and not
10:04
worry that like things are going to fall apart.
10:05
Just like someone's there, right.
10:07
And then having those inspired moments and the brand as part of
10:11
our brand, ethos like we understand that.
10:13
So, like when we do company almost bonding like we're will
10:17
take everybody camping will go out into nature and like get
10:20
away from the Board Room and like, hey, this is part of our
10:23
DNA. A this is part of why we do what
10:25
we do because we love our natural living Landscapes and we
10:29
love being a part of it and getting energized from the surf
10:32
or the snow or the you know, or the nature and Hikes like having
10:38
that built-in is something that we you know, we continue to
10:41
pursue. And as we like, grow our team
10:44
and bring people in, that's going to be a part of like our
10:46
company culture. The team really is everything.
10:49
It's yeah, it's the people behind it that make any
10:52
business. What it is.
10:54
And having people that really live and breathe, like the
10:59
essence of the mission and are really stoked to be part of this
11:03
movement and are not just there to clock in and clock out, but
11:07
are there for this community and family and understanding that it
11:11
really is about quality over quantity and you can do a lot of
11:15
work and not get anywhere and you can get your head in the
11:19
right space and put in a few hours and change the game.
11:23
There's always going to be more work to be done tomorrow and
11:26
early in the process for me. Like, it was like that of those
11:29
late nights and like stay up and like, max out and get as much
11:32
done as you can. And that became like this toxic
11:36
cycle. That I'm grateful to not be in
11:39
any longer and it's like now it's like really respecting the
11:43
downtime as integral to creating high-quality up to them and
11:49
really making sure the team shares that understanding and
11:53
we're investing. Being in, in our people for the
11:55
long run. Yeah.
11:56
That downtime creates that longevity.
11:59
You know I was fortunate enough to before this business to have
12:03
fail a lot. Like I said like I'm you know, I
12:06
I'm a bit older than David and like I had these experiences of
12:10
that of like late-night proposal burnout 8, like typical stuff
12:13
that as like a digital agency or kind of digital entrepreneur,
12:17
you've learn firsthand by failing, right by burning out
12:21
and like, by having other His partners that you end up
12:25
fighting with like, you learn, what are those causes?
12:28
And like, what are those things? And okay, let's let's, you know,
12:32
at some points, like, everyone learns on their own but it's
12:34
like, let's put parameters in place so we can, like, we can
12:37
grow past this and like avoid these common pitfalls.
12:41
As someone who used to regularly, fall asleep, on the
12:44
floor, in the living room, in the middle of the night or when
12:47
he got home from work, I feel like I've just gone through like
12:50
a Tony Robbins like self-help session so I appreciate that
12:53
guy. Guys, I mean I feel like we keep
12:55
talking and I'm just going to decide right now.
12:57
We'll get together again in six months and have another chat and
13:00
cover some more stuff. But what is something today that
13:03
we didn't cover that you that you want people to know about
13:06
first light or about you or, or what the future holds.
13:10
I think something I would like to share is anyone who may be
13:14
interested in the entrepreneurial process as we
13:17
discussed? But might be scared or uncertain
13:20
about taking that first step, I think it's Always worthwhile to
13:25
take the step regardless of the outcome just to have the
13:29
experience and go on that journey.
13:31
And I think something that I didn't necessarily expect to
13:35
learn on this journey that I think has been perhaps the most
13:39
worthwhile lessons I've taken away thus far, has been just how
13:44
directly aligned the entrepreneurial journey is with
13:49
my life journey and I think just like The Human Experience and
13:53
Learning about, you know, overcoming challenges and and
13:57
learning about what we're capable of and learning what's
14:02
real in terms of like external constraints in the world, versus
14:07
internal constraints in our minds, that we just developed
14:12
like throughout our lives. It's like, oh I couldn't do
14:14
that. I couldn't like be an
14:15
entrepreneur. I couldn't start my own thing,
14:17
but I think a lot of us like can and it's not necessarily for
14:21
everyone, but if it is Thing that you're interested in
14:25
believe in yourself and believe in the process and regardless of
14:29
the outcome, enjoy the journey and know that there's takeaways
14:32
that are applicable to everything else that will
14:35
experience as humans. One of the core foundational
14:40
mottos for first light is embrace the unknown.
14:43
It's something that you know as I told the first light story
14:47
that really relates to that is to like hey if you're if you
14:50
have that choice to make like go do it like it's always It in the
14:54
end, like what no matter what it is, whether it seems like a lot
14:56
of work or there's, you know, resistance in front of you, take
15:00
that step in brace, what's coming?
15:03
And you'll be rewarded on the other side.
15:05
And so that's what we continue to do.
15:07
And that's what we you know our community Gets behind us and and
15:10
we all have that mentality. So we're stoked to continue it
15:14
and and bring more people along to join the journey.
15:18
I normally and this podcast by asking people what they drink
15:23
when they're at a coffee shop. But I'm today, I'm going to
15:25
switch it up and ask you guys, how do you drink first White
15:29
Whiskey? You know, do you drink it in a
15:31
cocktail? Do you drink it on the Rocks?
15:34
What is your go-to? And I'm presuming that you enjoy
15:38
and drink your own product which is probably a given.
15:42
Yeah for me I drink it on the Rocks as a whiskey drinker but
15:46
even as a for some people A lot of people out there that aren't
15:49
just like won't sip on Whiskey. Like you can sip on this put it
15:53
on the rocks and enjoy it. Yeah, on the rocks for sure.
15:57
And my personal favorite cocktail is our dark roast blend
16:02
mixed 50/50 with oat milk shaken over ice and strained with a
16:07
little dusting of cinnamon. It's like a spiked like
16:12
chocolate coffee milk. It's beautiful.
16:15
And I will say that I'm mostly drink it either.
16:18
Blended with like a shot, a bullet on an ice cube, or I make
16:22
a decaf coffee in the afternoon and then dumped in the first
16:27
like whiskey, and it's the only cocktail that I make where I
16:29
don't measure out the whiskey. I just kind of go and tell the
16:32
cup is full. I'm assuming it's healthy.
16:35
We're not going to worry about it today guys.
16:36
I really appreciate you taking time out of your, your downtime
16:41
out of your working life to be here on the show and for your
16:44
continued support of roast West Coast.
16:46
One thing I really appreciate about Our company, some
16:49
unsolicited celebration of first light is that your product is is
16:56
accessible. And what I mean by that is I
16:58
enjoy it. My wife enjoys it, I've given it
17:00
to my dad who also enjoys it. It seems to be a product that
17:04
once, like you, as you've mentioned that once you had it,
17:07
it's easy to integrate into your life.
17:10
If you enjoy, if you enjoy a cocktail, couldn't agree more.
17:14
It's been really inspiring sharing it with the local
17:17
community and We have more events coming up if anyone's
17:20
interested in going to those events, following the journey
17:23
check out our website. First like whisky.com, our
17:26
Instagram is at first light whiskey, and we're grateful to
17:30
have you with us and a grateful for you, Ryan for making this
17:34
happen. Thank you.
17:41
Okay, to recap, I mentioned last week that there is a fluidity to
17:45
the rolls David and Ryan perform.
17:47
They also So, have a lane within the company structure, with Ryan
17:50
leading marketing, and branding and David focusing on sales and
17:53
development. But being able to depend on each
17:56
other, to be able to trust each other, enables them to pursue
18:00
the opportunities, afforded them to disconnect and recharge for
18:04
their next entrepreneurial push. They pick each other up.
18:08
I'd add that having a business partner who is family?
18:11
Ryan and David are cousins, can certainly add stress but it also
18:15
offers a level of connectedness. That can Inspire entrepreneurs
18:19
to take the next step to solving problems.
18:22
Because at the end of the day, you're still family regardless,
18:26
it's harder to cut ties. If there is a dispute and easier
18:29
to share in the celebration of the successes near the end,
18:33
David wanted us to know that taking on the challenge of
18:35
Entrepreneurship is worth it. It may not be easy, but you will
18:40
learn what you are capable of and you'll learn what is real in
18:43
terms of your own vision for yourself versus The Vision.
18:46
You may think the world has For you.
18:48
In the end as an entrepreneur, you need to believe in yourself.
18:52
And finally, I recommend trying first light Whiskey on an ice
18:55
cube. Even if you aren't a traditional
18:57
whiskey Drinker, try to pull out the coffee flavors, and with
19:00
that Agave, kicker, you'll find it to be smooth with a slightly
19:03
sweet. Although not too sweet finish.
19:06
I remind you that you can get 15% off your first light order
19:09
with the discount code. RWC on bar bank.com.
19:13
That link is in this shows notes and on roast westcoast.com where
19:18
Find the show's newsletter. I also encourage you to go
19:21
directly to first light whisky.com after you order to
19:23
check out some of the cocktail recipes.
19:26
They even have a cake recipe that David's wife Cassidy shared
19:29
that is phenomenal. It was the first cake I ever
19:31
made completely from scratch and it made for an excellent
19:34
breakfast with my morning cup of coffee today.
19:37
First like, whiskey is one of this shows industry Partners who
19:40
along with our paid subscribers. Ensure that this show gets made
19:43
every week and help me continue to grow the podcast.
19:47
Other roast, Industry Partners include Cafe litter.
19:50
Most, your coffee company. Steady-state coffee roasting,
19:52
where I just was buying some new filters for my poor over Camp.
19:56
Coffee Company, coffee cycle, roasting ignite Coffee Company.
20:00
Maria coffee, Cape Horn, coffee importers and ass and Coffee
20:03
Roasters. Thank you all for listening and
20:06
for supporting the show, this episode of the roast West Coast
20:10
coffee podcast is was has been written produced and recorded by
20:15
me Ryan Walt. I hope this episode Uh, sodas
20:18
found you happy healthy and with, at least enough sanity to
20:21
make it through the day, always tip your Baristas and be sure to
20:26
drink it coffee.