Latest / Stuff Mom Never Told You / Happy Hour #37: Highway Vodka

Transcript

Happy Hour #37: Highway Vodka · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny. I'm not going to Stephane never
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: told your production of I Heart Radio. It is time
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: for another happy Hour, which means that we just want
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: to take some time and highlight some women doing some
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: amazing things in the beverage business and hopefully give you
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: a space too to take a minute of your day. UM.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: If you're choosing to drink, please drink responsibly. UM. And
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: a note on this this episode, this one is not sponsored,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: but for for full disclosure, the company did send us
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: a free product to try. UM. So, we are talking
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: today about Highway vodka, and we went to their website
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  Speaker 1: to look at some recipes we we would be interested
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  Speaker 1: in making. Samantha, what did you end up concoct? Dig
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: So I realized that I was missing like one ingredient
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  Speaker 1: on almost every single one of those recipes. So I
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: decided to do my own variation, and I made myself
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  Speaker 1: a mule, except I have Hibiscus ginger beer, which I'm
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  Speaker 1: very excited about, and of course, because I love some helipeneos,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: I decided to shake up the a vodka with just
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: a little bit of a helipano so I can have
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  Speaker 1: a little bit of spicy kicken yeah, and then I
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  Speaker 1: don't have lines. I don't know where my lines went.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: But I do have a lemons with a small squeeze
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  Speaker 1: of that because I did want the citrucy bit. So
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  Speaker 1: that is my hibiscus mule variation. I like that biscus
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: mule variation. I might be behind the missing limons lives.
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  Speaker 1: So that's why bad. I think, Well, that sounds delicious.
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  Speaker 1: I am drinking what they call the hair Juana, which
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  Speaker 1: is one and one half ounce Highway vodka, some triple
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  Speaker 1: sec simple syrup, lemon juice, and lime juice. I did
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  Speaker 1: a cilantro assault rim, which is something I learned from somebody.
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  Speaker 1: But I'm very jealous of your halapinos. I you know,
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  Speaker 1: I love a good alapino and that would be a
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  Speaker 1: good kick. But this is very, very delicious. Nonetheless, on
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  Speaker 1: this rainy, rainy day, rainy, dreary, dark day in Atlanta.
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  Speaker 1: So yes, today we're talking about Texas based Highway Vodka,
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  Speaker 1: which was founded in twenty nineteen by Ben Williams and
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  Speaker 1: Windell Robbins, the third the first black owned distillery in Texas,
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  Speaker 1: and they specialize in himp based vodka, a product that
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  Speaker 1: took eight years of experimentation before they figured it out,
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  Speaker 1: and we're super happy with it. Is distilled six times
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  Speaker 1: and uses a unique strain of himp and locally sourced corn,
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  Speaker 1: and they've won several awards, including gold medals at the
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  Speaker 1: Las Vegas Global Spirit Awards and Denver International Spirits Competition.
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  Speaker 1: Yes and Robbin's twenty six year old daughter, Cody Fuller,
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  Speaker 1: acts as the lead distiller in general manager, making her
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  Speaker 1: one of the only black women distillers in the country.
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  Speaker 1: You know, we love it. She graduated college with a
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  Speaker 1: bachelor's and Business administration with a focus on management and
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  Speaker 1: god experience in the alcohol industry through bartending. In early
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty, she joined Highway Vodka as a general manager and,
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  Speaker 1: after several years of learning from her father, became lead
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  Speaker 1: distiller there in December twenty twenty one. She also takes
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: a lead on their hand sanitizer production, which I'm sure
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  Speaker 1: it happened because of the pandemic, So thanks for that. Yes, yes, um,
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  Speaker 1: she's really involved in a lot of their charitable efforts.
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  Speaker 1: So let's do our favorite thing and try to describe
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  Speaker 1: the tastes. YEA, So, yes vodka is not my choice
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  Speaker 1: of liquors. Typically. I think because I did so badly
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  Speaker 1: with it as a younger drinker, I guess, you know,
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  Speaker 1: it became one of those easy accessible things because that's
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  Speaker 1: the only thing I kind of knew. I didn't understand
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  Speaker 1: all the drinks, but this one is really nice. So
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  Speaker 1: I just took a sip and it is the burn
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  Speaker 1: of vodka and the taste of vodka, but it also
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  Speaker 1: has an herbal note, so it ends off without the bitterness,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh, okay, I guess that's where the
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  Speaker 1: hemp comes in. That's a little different because it has
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  Speaker 1: that good almost like finished as if it's almost not barley.
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  Speaker 1: Like I said, it's more herbal in that note, and
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  Speaker 1: it has a nice clean end to it. Yeah. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I agree. It's a very unique vodka because it does
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  Speaker 1: have it's It's pretty smooth, and I can feel I
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  Speaker 1: can taste the corn, and I can feel that himp
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  Speaker 1: kind of finish out, and it is much more herbal.
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  Speaker 1: I'm just not used to having that corn taste in vodka.
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  Speaker 1: But it's very nice and it's very smooth, and I
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  Speaker 1: really enjoyed it. According to them from their website, Highways
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  Speaker 1: distilled six times, keeping only the hearts of the run
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  Speaker 1: to preserve the nuance of the grain and oils from
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  Speaker 1: the hemp and corn. The himp acts it's as super
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  Speaker 1: fuel to the forming a thick layer of oil during fermentation.
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  Speaker 1: The process yields a smoother product that has a noticeably
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  Speaker 1: different viscosity and mouth feel than other vodkas. Yes, it
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  Speaker 1: definitely I agree with that, but mouth fill is completely different.
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  Speaker 1: That's the ending that I was like, This is not
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  Speaker 1: necessarily the twin that I get with typical vodkas, but
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  Speaker 1: it has that clean finish that it does feel actually finished.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't taste typically lingers because usually that lingering is
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  Speaker 1: a bad side of the burn of vodka. It doesn't
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  Speaker 1: do that, and that's really nice to see. Is a
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  Speaker 1: whole different level to me. Yeah, So I was thinking
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  Speaker 1: about this, and I know we've talked about how you
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: worked it a local brewery here. You've worked in in
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  Speaker 1: this and the alcohol industry before. If you were gonna
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: like dis something, what would be the thing you would
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: go to? You know? So I have thought about dabbling
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  Speaker 1: into some type of homebrewing thing about making wine. Of
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  Speaker 1: course younger, I felt like, hey, take some grapes, put
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  Speaker 1: it away. Let's see if at ferments, I probably didn't
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  Speaker 1: le did that, but of course that's not wine. Um.
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  Speaker 1: I think I also told the story of the fact
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  Speaker 1: that my old church they would not buy wine for
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: our communion, so we did communion, but they but you
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  Speaker 1: couldn't do grape juice because that was not what the
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  Speaker 1: Bible said, according to King James. So they made their own.
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  Speaker 1: So one person in the group made their own wine,
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  Speaker 1: and it was a whole different taste. I really liked
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  Speaker 1: it as a kid, and I was like, Oh, look
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  Speaker 1: at that. Maybe I should make that. I would like
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  Speaker 1: to say, I think if I wanted to make anything
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  Speaker 1: like like a distillery of sorts, of product of sorts,
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  Speaker 1: it would probably be a gin because I love it gin.
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  Speaker 1: But I also liked the ideas of using like juniper
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  Speaker 1: and what if we use hubiscus, or what if we
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: use lavender. Not that you can't do that with other alcohols,
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  Speaker 1: obviously you can do that. Vodka has its a big
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  Speaker 1: platform for different flavors and different orble mixes within vodka. Obviously,
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  Speaker 1: hemp being something fairly new I've not even thought of.
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  Speaker 1: I was like, oh, yeah, I like what you're doing
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  Speaker 1: with that. But I think for me, Jen would be
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  Speaker 1: that preference. And I say this and knowing I will
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: never do it, but she's one if. Yeah, I think
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  Speaker 1: Jen as well. That's kind of that potion vibe of
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  Speaker 1: like what if I had this? What if I had this?
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  Speaker 1: And I love this whole idea of you know, experimenting
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: and trying different things and different aging processes, Like people
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  Speaker 1: have tried all sorts of things like music, they'll play
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: different music and I love I love that the pot
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  Speaker 1: of doing that. It feels very potions glass to me.
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  Speaker 1: And I did get the opportunity to make Jen once
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  Speaker 1: and it was a really fun experience. Also Tomorrow, because
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Tomorrow has a really secretive, interesting past that fascinates me.
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  Speaker 1: My partner really wants to make it himself, and I'm like, uh,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: you have fun with that. Yeah, I mean it is
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  Speaker 1: very complicated and that's a very divisive taste. But Savor
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: and I were lucky enough to do an interview with
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: a in tomorrow place and they were telling us about
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: the history and they would reveal their secrets, but they
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: did tell us a ghost story. Do you know. I
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: love a good ghost story. So I was like, Okay,
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  Speaker 1: this is great. Even better exactly, but I mean, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's you're right. You could do that with any alcohol. Really,
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  Speaker 1: there are certain rules and definitions you kind of have
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  Speaker 1: to fall in. But I do love that places like
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  Speaker 1: Highway Vodka are experimenting with these things I wouldn't have
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  Speaker 1: thought of to give kind of it's refreshing take. Do
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  Speaker 1: you have a specific flavor you would want to make, like,
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  Speaker 1: so I'm thinking this specifically hemp. I'm like, okay, I
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't have thought of that. I know there's a peanut
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  Speaker 1: butter flavored whiskey right right, So I'm like, huh, what
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  Speaker 1: would be a thing I'm immediately torn between, like something
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  Speaker 1: kind of like mildly spicy, because you know, I love
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: shoshidos and stuff like that, so not like they're like
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  Speaker 1: hot hot, but kind of like a a mild, earthy
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  Speaker 1: herbal thing that has heat to it. I've had a
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  Speaker 1: lot of interesting drinks that do that where I would
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  Speaker 1: read the description and like that was a risk? Did
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  Speaker 1: it payoff? And I would take a sip and it did.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, looking at it, you might think no
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  Speaker 1: way that I want you to move venture out and
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: then do it in a way that tasty instead of
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: just I know, like some flavors, as we talked about
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  Speaker 1: the peanut butter one because I've never had it, but
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  Speaker 1: I'm like, that does not sound tasty to me. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: just me, but like people, I'm really impressed with some
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  Speaker 1: of them, like this one. Again, I didn't think anything
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  Speaker 1: of it either way, but I'm like, oh, this really
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  Speaker 1: works good, JEFFI, y'all dide a great thing here. This
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  Speaker 1: is tasty and it it rounds out the vodka in
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  Speaker 1: a different way that's really really on point as opposed
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: to being counterintuitive and making it kind of a messy
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  Speaker 1: flavor profile. But yeah, when you see it done well,
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: you're like, oh, I've never thought of that. So it's
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: really nice to think on. I am with you because
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: obviously I've been helping you. Was almost in everything that's
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: been my new thing. Just earlier, I actually touched my
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: eye after touching you how to pin you, and I
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: didn't put it in my eye but right below, and man,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: it got swollen and it hurt, and I was like,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: I regret Peppers, but I love him still. I'm the
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: same way. I did feel very bad for use of
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: it the but I am the same way where there's
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: been so many instances in my life I've been like,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: I will never do this again. It's too hot, it hurts.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Why Why do I like this? Next day? Like, I
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: give that another goal? Right. I would also like to
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: like low key, so I don't get sued to make
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: a lot of Star Wars kind of themed like Casher's
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: the you know, the Dark Side or the Light Side
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: or something like that. Yeah, yeah, and I am big
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Like as we move into Fall, I do love fall
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: flavors a lot, and I do love kind of that
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Halloween vibe a lot. So I was thinking about, you know,
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: something like that could be really funda. I'm sure that exists.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: I have no doubt in my mind. Is it good?
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: I don't know, but it exists. Well, cheers, cheers, cheers.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: I have my little ewalk tikka yep wicket. I love it.
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  Speaker 1: I love it. Cheers to you, Samantha, Cheers to you listeners,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: and cheers to Highway Vodka and Cody Fuller. Joba is tasty. Yes, yes,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: and if you're interested. Highway Vodka is available in Georgia, Florida,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Southern California, Texas, and online at Reserve bar dot com.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Again not a sponsor they did send some to us
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: because they just now became available in Georgia, which is
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: very very exciting and yes, we love the work Cody
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Fuller is doing, very excited to see where that goes.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: And as always, listeners, if you have someone you want
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: us to highlight in these segments, please let us know.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: You can email us a stuff Youdia mom Stuff at
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: i heart media dot com. You can find us on
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Twitter at mom Stuff podcast or on Instagram and Stuff
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: I've Never Told You. Thanks as always to our super
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: producer Christina, and thanks to you for listening. Stuff Under
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Told You distraction of I Heart Radio. For more podcast
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: on my heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
• 12:36
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