38: Ep. 36 - Joe Guthrie | The Shift from Alcohol: Navigating the World of Alternative Beverages

Welcome to the Drop the Needle podcast, your backstage pass to the corporate jungle. I'm your host Jim Allstot and here, industry titans step up to the mic sharing their epic journeys. We're hitting the high notes and the low notes of their careers creating a symphony of success. This isn't just another interview show, it's where truth bombs are dropped and secrets are revealed. So grab your conductor's baton because who knows, this just might help you compose the next huge hit of your career. Are you ready? Let's go. Hi everyone and welcome to the Drop the Needle podcast. I'm your host Jim Allstot and I'm so happy y'all decided to join us. Today we have as our guest Mr. Joe Guthrie, CEO of Pause Sparkling Water, Sparkling Beverage, I should say because it's more than just that now. But I've got to interject something right here. For those of you who have been with us from the very humble beginnings of the Drop the Needle podcast, Joe was the very first guest on our podcast. So welcome back Joe. Hey Jim, thank you for having me back. It's happy to be here. It's a pleasure, pleasure to see you again. And I also want to interject something. I'm going to put on the, or in the show notes, a link. I was fortunate enough to go to the facility where Pause is made last week and I was able to video, Joe was kind enough to let me video some of the inner workings of how Pause is made. So you'll get to see that and I'll just put it as a link. That'll be easier. Really given the fact that some people just listen to the podcast, so they'd miss out on so much of seeing it. So when they get to their computer, they can click on a link and see what's what in the world of Pause. But so one of the reasons I wanted to bring Joe back to the show is this. As most of you know, we've made a sharp left turn into the world of spirituality. But in spirituality, mind, body, health, you know, mind, body, spirit, that whole thing, the health aspects of what Joe's company makes is significant. And I want to talk about that today because it's non-alcoholic. And not only is it non-alcoholic, there are no carbs in it and there are no sugars in it. It's just flavor. And I enjoy it. I am a big proponent of Pause and their new line. And it's not so new now. It's over a year old now is Pause Plus, which has the THC add-on, which is the plus. So let's talk about this movement, Joe. What have you been seeing as it relates to a shift from alcohol consumption to alternatives? Yeah, Joe. Well, it's been over the news, certainly all over the news for the last, I don't know, you know, year plus, it seems like, and it's it's getting more and more pronounced on a weekly slash monthly basis. But the world is turning away from alcohol, at least in the excesses that that that it was being sold and consumed over years past. I think that people are looking for a healthier way to recreate, a healthier way to socialize with their friends, a healthier way to unwind after work than reaching for that alcoholic beverage on a regular basis. I think that some of the news that came out from Washington, D.C. regarding just from the surgeon general, you know, just stating that alcohol in any form is bad, you know, causes cancer. That's one person's opinion. But I certainly think that it's enough for everybody in the country to hear and at least think about and maybe not if they want to completely or determine if they want to completely eliminate alcohol from their lifestyle, but maybe limit that intake. And like I said earlier, you know, it's getting together with your friends and drinking in general is such a social thing and everybody's going to want to do it. It's just you don't always need to or have to have alcohol in your hand. No, and that's a good point. And I know that there are, well, what is it? Sober, October will be coming up where there's no alcohol. A lot of people jump on that bandwagon and there's also New Year's resolutions and things of that nature. But what I've been hearing from people is the those New Year's resolutions have stuck along to really become lifestyle changes or life changes where they've gotten away or or made that exodus from alcohol and they feel better, less bloating, less inflammation. If you have, let's say that you have arthritis or some sort of joint pain, I know that alcohol does cause inflammation. And I for one, I have arthritis and other joint pain and replacements and things of that nature. So I can tell you firsthand that it does happen where, and especially the older you get, you know, you have a few too many cocktails or beers or what have you the next day, you feel creaky. And I know you used the analogy before when we were talking about pause with the CBD. The 10 man where oil can oil can, you know, from the Wizard of Oz. And I can tell you that it's not again, this is my personal experience with it. It's not a situation where you have one and you go, Oh gosh, all my aches and pains are gone. It's something that starts to get into your bloodstream into your body that over, I don't know, maybe 10 days of, you know, and we're not talking drinking a six pack a day, but you drink one or two of the pause beverages a day, a week, 10 days later, you're like, huh, it goes away gradually to the point where you don't even notice it any longer until you meet somebody like Joe say, Hey, how's that back feeling? You know, I'm like, good. Thanks for asking. You know, it's one of those things. And it's and I find it to be very interesting where more and more people that I talk to have made that decision and made that jump. And I know there's again, this is something that's on a personal level, but sometimes there's that awkwardness when you go to a party or a barbecue or something like that. And everybody's got a beer in their hand or something like that. And I've overheard people say, huh, that person's not drinking, can't trust a person who doesn't drink anything. And it was like, oh, OK, well, you have something that you're you're drinking along with other people and you're enjoying. And it can be, by the way, pause plus, which why don't you explain the different types of pause plus drinks that you have? Sure. So starting with pause, pause, we brought pause in the market in March of 2023. And pause is a it's a CBD infused sparkling water. It's each 12 ounce can has 20 milligrams of broad spectrum CBD. So from that sense, the broad spectrum means that there is no THC whatsoever in that drink. So as zero THC, there's no alcohol in it. And it is just a it's a it's a no sugar, no calorie, no carb. Beverage and it's just something that's very clean, very refreshing. Tastes great. And it's it's good for you to your point of, you know, that's a great way to ingest your sort of CBD. You know, you're getting that earlier, Jim, it's it's I think it's kind of like the concept of taking that like a daily vitamin. You know, a multivitamin or something like that. You just take it every day and, you know, in general, that's very good. You're generally speaking that's good for your body. It's not like, oh, boy, I've got to feel a cold or a flu blood coming on. I think I'm going to take a daily vitamin. So it's kind of the idea of pause. It's something you can incorporate in your daily routine and and and you will find yourself feeling over time. Just little aches and pains go away. It's anti-inflammatory. So many great health benefits that have been talked about regarding CBD. And we're certainly a believer in that. And we were excited to put that in a beverage and called pause. Fast forward about a year later, we introduced a brand called pause plus. And the plus sign is plus sign. Plus plus sign is plus THC. So the pause, all the pause plus drinks still have the CBD in them, but they also have THC and the THC and CBD are all the pause plus drinks in a one to one ratio. It's a ratio that that we spent a fair amount of time looking into and talked about and tried some different different other ratios, cannabinoid related ratios. And we felt that one to one THC and CBD was the best way to go. It's in the industry, they call it golden, the golden ratio. We just, we like, we like the effects when they're balanced one to one. Pause plus comes in, we introduced pause plus in a two and a half milligram can. It comes in three flavors. That's a wild berry, we call lemon lime lift and a tropical, tropical type flavored. So we started with two and a half milligrams. We had that in the market for a couple of months and four 20 of 24, we introduced five milligram cans in the pause plus line. And then in December of 24, we introduced 10 milligram cans. And they've all been selling well, especially when they're first introduced, everybody wants to be a, you know, to try the new version. And, and, you know, that made sense to us, but it's, it's, they've been selling strongly across the board. We, you know, some of the thoughts that we have, it'll be interesting to see going into summertime that's two and a half milligrams are so sessionable. The idea of being outside, you know, backyard barbecues, you know, tailgates, sporting events, baseball games, whatever it might be. I think that's, you know, it's a great, it's kind of like a very light beer option, you know, for people that are choosing to go to the THC consumption, you know, the fives and the 10s, it's, you know, certainly have their place, their time at place and, and, and for different people's sort of tolerance, it's, it's all over the map. So, so some people might say, Hey, look, I'm good, just sipping a few two and a halfs and I'm content with that. Now that people once they have content, you know, sipping, you know, a handful of 10s and I'm comfortable with that. I think it's very analogous to people's alcohol tolerance. Oh, for sure. Like they're upset. For sure. And, and that's the big thing too, when you talked, you, I know before you mentioned sessionable and sessionable, we, we got the rundown on that. And this is just a reminder. So it's not a one and done. It means that you can have more than one beverage and it would be very, very similar or liken to, especially the two and a half. Let's just, I'll just use that as the example, the two and a half milligram. It would be the equivalent of a, essentially a Miller light or something like that. So you're drinking it in, when you first start to drink a Miller light, you don't go, Oh gosh, I'm feeling it. Same thing goes with the, the pause plus the two and a half. It takes a little bit of time for it to the onset. We'll, we'll call it the onset of that buzz or euphoric feeling. And then it dissipates much like that of a light beer. I won't use a specific brand because it, they're not sponsors nor, you know, they all vary, I guess a little bit, but, and then when you get to the fives and tens, it's a different thing. And I think it would probably be the equivalent of somebody saying, well, you know, I can have a couple of martinis and be okay. And I don't have the scientific breakdown and neither Joe or I or scientists or medical doctors to say, well, it metabolizes to X percent of this, which would be equivalent to blah, blah, blah. It is really personal. It's, it's what your tolerance level is to whatever, whether it be alcohol, whether it be THC, it doesn't really matter. We're just using it as a comparison in this instance. And that's, that's kind of, that's interesting because again, with the no calories, the no bloating or anything like that, there's that refreshing feel or feeling that you get from it. Not to mention, we're talking about water, right? And there's the summer months come up. If you want something that's cool, refreshing, and if you want that alcohol feel without the alcohol or that little bit of buzz, then you start to add the plus, but it's a, it's a nice way to make sure that you are not getting dehydrated too, because that's one thing I do know is alcohol causes dehydration, especially those guys that are out on the golf course in the summer months. Oh yeah. That's a, that's a nice alternative. And I'm not sure if they're picked up at the courses yet or not, but that's the courses that I frequent, I will definitely make a point to say, Hey, have you thought about doing this? And because, you know, they frown on you, bringing your own beverages out there. I think a lot of people do anyway. And I'm no different because I'll bring a pause with me when I'm out on the golf course and just enjoy it. So. Yeah, absolutely. No, it makes sense. Again, especially, you know, the CBD side of that pause, it's, it's, uh, it helps with recovery from a sports standpoint. And it's, you know, you get out there and you're swinging the club 100 times or 120 times in a round in your case, right? It could. I was going to say that it's about two rounds for me, Joe. Come on now. Come on now. Oh, that's good stuff though. Sorry, dude, I had to. No, no, no, I appreciated it. Didn't go unnoticed. Yes. Um, I was going to say, but, uh, let's see, back on track, like with the golf courses, right? Um, yeah, but to your point, you've got the golf courses. I think that, uh, you know, summertime sport generally speaking, certainly Chicago line area and you're out there on those hot days and it's, yeah, it's tasty as an ice cold beer can be sometimes it's, you know, alcohol, it's, you know, dehydrating, you know, and, uh, and something like this is it's just water. So it's, it's, you know, it's, it's, it's hydrating yourself and, uh, you know, you get a little bit of that, the THC with it and CBD with it. If you choose to go the plus route and. You know, you can still have your laughs with your buddies and blame your golf swing on a, on having a couple of pause pluses as opposed to a couple of beers or whatever it might be and, and still have lots of fun and not get dehydrated. That's right. That's right. You know, there's, um, something else you were talking about the, the plus. You guys just came out with something that was released, was it released on a four 15? The, yeah, we released on a four 15 a little bit ahead of four 20 because we wanted to give people a chance to go ahead and stack up for their, uh, their four 20, their four 20 holiday this year. And, uh, uh, but so we came out with, uh, with a can of, uh, of pause plus that has 20 milligrams of THC in it and 20 milligrams of CBD in it. And we're selling them in a four pack format only in the tap room and only online, but the four pack is 20 bucks or a little play on four 20, uh, 20 milligram can of THC and CBD. And you get four of them for 20 bucks. Um, and it's been, uh, it's been very well received at selling a well ahead of where we thought it would be at this stage. And, uh, you know, people are trying it. Not only does the flavor phenomenal, it's a, it's our tropical base that we use in our, all of our, from our pause to our 10 milligrams. So we started with our tropical flavoring, but, uh, we added some, uh, some, uh, terpenes from a, uh, very popular marijuana string called pineapple express. And we had those terpenes isolated. Also movie, by the way. Oh, it's great. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Great movie. But it, um, it really brings out a, uh, just a unique sort of pineapple, tropically tropical, uh, little bit of dankness to it, uh, certainly from those pineapple express terpenes. So the flavor, the flavor is, is just it's mouthwateringly good. And it's 20 milligrams of THC and 20 milligrams of CBD and a 12 ounce can. And it's as advertising and promise you that. So like the dankness, is that like an earthy flavor? Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's a good call. Yeah. A little, uh, yeah. Earth, little earthiness. Um, you know, definitely something obviously synonymous with the, you know, the smell of the plant, the natural occurring smell of both the head plant and, and, or a marijuana plant. Um, just a sort of a natural occurring, earthy, um, dank smell. Good. Good. Good. Good. Did you want to talk at all about, um, the Delta nine versus the marijuana plant? Is that relevant to anything? Oh, absolutely. No, that's, that's, that's a, it's a good question. It's a good point. It's, it's, because there's a lot of questions. You get them all day long and it's, it's, uh, some people still find it kind of confusing, but, uh, if you, if you think about cannabis, uh, people talk about cannabis and there's a couple of different plants, if you will, and the cannabis family, one is a marijuana plant and one is a hemp plant. And both part of the cannabis family, but the marijuana plant has much more THC in it than it does CBD and some of the other cannabinoids, the minor counter cannabinoids, I'll call them as opposed to the hemp plant, which has much more CBD in it. And then it also does have some THC in it, much smaller percentages and then also the minor cannabinoids. So for a plant to be considered legal hemp, it has to contain, contain less than three-tenths of 1% of THC, uh, by driveway. And what that means is, is that yes, in a hemp plant, there is THC in it, um, from a smoking standpoint, if somebody wanted to try to smoke, I have to get, you know, buzzed or get high or whatever it might be. It's not going to happen. Uh, there's just not enough THC in that plant and you smoke, you have to smoke so much it, you know, probably get sick. However, when you start to extract the cannabinoids from the plant, you can extract minimal amounts of THC from hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pounds of plants or thousands of pounds of plants and you still get that THC. So in the end of the, the end of the day, if you have two buckets, just call them two five gallon buckets of THC, one came from marijuana plants, one came from hemp plants, the marijuana biomass that was needed to make the bucket of THC oil was significantly less than the hemp plants. But at the end of the day, those two buckets are exactly the same. Chemicals are the same. Delta nine, Delta nine is THC. THC is Delta nine. Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. And one is, one is legal. One is legal, uh, on the federal level because of the Farm Bill and to some, that was passed in December of 2018. Uh, and that made hemp legal. Gotcha. THC that we use comes from him. So that helps. Oh, actually just, it's a nice segue into my next question. And it's really a statement. And then the question, because it seems like this is an ever changing landscape of laws and regulations. What, what do you see going on? Uh, if I, I guess you, do you have your crystal ball? So you can, you can tell us what's going on or is there any, um, is there any inkling as to what might be happening in the, the upcoming months with, with everything that's going on out there as it relates to the laws, uh, surrounding these products? Yeah, for sure. Jim, it, uh, there's, there's actually a lot going on right now down in Springfield, Illinois. Um, as our state is moving towards regulation, uh, of right now, there is not any regulation on, on this industry. And, uh, we're certainly looking forward to getting some regulation, hopefully not too much. Uh, we want to start with 21 and over. That's a no brainer. You know, we, we're basically as an industry looking to be treated like alcohol. So you start with 21 and over. Um, there is going to be, from what we're hearing, there's going to be milligram limits. Um, there's going to be serving size limits, can size limits. Uh, those numbers that we're hearing, um, are going to be a 10 milligram. It's going to be 10 milligram max per can. Um, the biggest size can you can sell, uh, after I've TTC and it'll be a 12 ounce can. Which you're already doing. So you're, uh, you don't have to make any modifications as far as that's concerned, right? Exactly. Exactly. So, um, there'll be a, uh, uh, what I believe there's going to be some taxation, some new, new taxation on, uh, on this space. And, uh, you know, right now there's, there's. It's taxed as, uh, is just a ordinary, you know, same as if you're just buying a new shirt, you pay the same sales tax. Gotcha. There's not a sort of a syntax, so to speak, or anything like that. Um, but there will be a new form of taxation on, and I'm not completely sure how that's going to play out yet, but, uh, um, certain the state's going to go ahead and figure out a way to get their money. Oh, for sure. A little bit more. I mean, because it's not like you're selling it on the street corner and here's something Joe mentioned, um, in his explanation of things, the 21 and over. And that's something important to note as far as I'm concerned, because I think that there's a responsible way to go about, um, selling the product. And one thing I can, I can say is that it's right on the can for pause products is 21 and over. And there's also other warnings where if you, if you go to, uh, a smoke shop or something like that, there's nothing that says you have to be 21 or older or, um, gas station or anything like that. I mean, there's, there's nothing that says that, but your products have, it, maybe you've been out in front of everything and, and, and, and I don't know. We've never talked about that. Considered to be a leader in this space right now, because of some of the things that you're doing with the, uh, can sizes with the 21 and older drink responsibly. And then the warnings for pregnancy and the different things like that that you put on the cans, much like, and, and here's something to, to note too. And you'll see it in the, uh, video, but this is crafted at noon whistle brewery in Naperville. There's a, a big behind the tap room. You can even see some of the, I don't know if you call them vats or what do you call those the silos with all of the, the beer in them right in the tap room. You can see that. But then there's another wall behind that that goes out into a large manufacturing space. And those of you that are watching this right now, you can see a little window behind Joe and you've seen some people walk by. But that's going out into the manufacturing space. And it's, it's quite impressive back there. It's quite impressive. I guess I'm going to, well, where I was going with that is that it, it stands to reason to me because the, the owners of noon whistle are responsible, well respected in their industry, their leaders in their industry, and they're treating it like that in terms of the packaging. And I'm sure you had some, some say in that along the way as well, how that should be approached in what it should look like. And I think it's a, you know, kudos to you for, for being ahead of that. Yeah. Oh, thanks. It was a, you know, noon whistle. I mean, nail in the head. I mean, they've been in business now for over 10 years and, and, uh, they've got just a tremendous reputation, you know, statewide, um, just a great name and a great product. And, uh, and they certainly have dialed in, you know, things like, you know, label design, packaging, you know, carbonation flavors, everything that goes into making a great beer, a great beverage. It's something they've been doing now for, for over 10 years. Um, and, uh, yeah, just did a, did a, you know, great job, you know, manufacturing, you know, putting together this, this pause product. And, you know, to your point, we, you know, we say, like we say, it's, you don't handcrafted right here. A lot of, you see a lot of people kind of contract manufacturing products like this and it's made all over the country in different spots, temporary facilities, whatever it might be. And, and the fact that we get involved and we're hands on and every single step of the production, that's all right here behind us. Um, you know, it's, it's, it's a good feeling knowing that the product that you're selling was made, you know, right in your sort of in your workspace. So to speak. Absolutely. And while I was there, uh, and I can attest to this, Joe had mentioned before that they test everything. And I, when I was there, they were sending out samples that they retrieve from the, what is it called? Where they, where the beverages are being made. The, the, the bright tanks. Okay. Bright tanks. Thank you. So from inside the bright tanks, they take samples and they'll take samples of before the THC, which will be like the CBD additive to make sure that that is. Exactly where they say it's, it is supposed to be. And then once they add the THC, then it's tested again, and it'll have that as well. And then the flavoring for quality and things of that nature. It's, it really isn't something that you or I could just, Hey, let's go. Make something. You know, cool today. You know, it's, it's really refined. And, and. Definitely. I keep saying impressive because I've never seen anything like that before. So I, no, I will say that I've seen, um, Jack Daniels made in the distillery, which is very cool. I have seen, uh, like Anheuser Bush, you go to those big things like that. And that's so massive that you really can't comprehend what's going on. But in something the size, which is it's large, don't get me wrong, uh, it behind the back wall, they're at noon whistle in their, their, their brewing area is. It, you can see it and you go, wow, that's how that's made. And then you can see in their beers where they're making, they have the different, um, hops and things that they put into their, their, their beer. And it's the same type of quality that goes into their beer that Joe and the owners of noon whistle put into pause. And it's, it's really cool. It's really cool. And it's something you should be proud of. Uh, and, and I'm sure you are, but you probably don't have a lot of time to sit back and go, yeah, this is, I'm doing a great job. Especially with everything that's going on in the, the legislation of the products and things like that. It's just full steam ahead all the time. I would imagine. Yeah. Thanks. You have it. It's, and it is appreciate your kind words and it is full steam ahead all, you know, all the time because it's, uh, you know, we talked about it's, you know, the product here and we've got such a, you know, great product, the unique product. Um, but it's so much involved as, I guess being in this industry, so much involvement in education and just getting people to understand, you know, the concept of it, it's, uh, uh, you know, what is this? And the questions from, you know, you can't drink weed and how do you put pot? I can't, that doesn't make any sense to trying to walk them through and what this is and why is this legal? And, um, uh, there's just an awful lot of education that goes into it. And then slowly, but surely one by one, you know, people are starting to understand it. Now, you know, they have, they, they taste it, they like it. And they can see it's just a, it's a great, it's an alternative way to recreate. Um, and you know, some of the different sort of marketing slogans we have, campaign slogans, what we want to call them is, you know, welcome to the world of a hangover free buzz. Oh yeah. And if somebody wants to sit at home and be responsible and have a few of these and be a little toasty watching a movie or reading a book or watching a game, they can. And the next day you haven't consumed any sugar, any calories, any carbs, and you wake up and you're good to go. Um, that's a good thing for, for those that, uh, if you have a group of people that get around and play cards or get around, you know, watch a baseball game or in the fall and winter, watch football, it's a nice alternative. As far as that's concerned. Um, one thing I also want to, I want to touch on, Joe had mentioned to me that he had gone to a conference a few weeks ago now and it was an, an, an alcoholic alternative type of conference. And afterwards they had a happy hour, which was very cool. And what I'd like to do is I'd like Joe to go ahead and explain how unique this was, that experience. Yeah, for sure. Jim, it was a first of all, the conference, uh, a couple of weeks ago was a in Chicago, uh, it would have called the first time ever, but they could, the name of the conference called so curious, two words, so curious. And it was, I think that was a play, you know, on sober, curious or something like that, but so curious. And it was basically just an alternative beverage conference, a full, full day conference and, and talking about alternative beverages, certainly the THC beverages were, were a big chunk of that space, you know, conversation. Cause it's so new and it's, it's becoming so popular so quickly. Um, and it just went into some of the things that we were talking about earlier in terms of, you know, people, more and more people, all age groups from, from people from 21 year olds to, to, to a hundred one year olds type thing seems like everybody's talking about drinking less. And, uh, you know, for various reasons, for health reasons, whether they're white, you know, for watching their, their calories or their weight or just wanting to feel better or just want to be healthy, healthier in general. And with all the, uh, the sort of news that we've seen, you know, seems to be certainly ramped up over the last couple of years about the, the dangers of, of alcohol. I think people are becoming a little bit more aware of that. And, uh, I don't think that means that people are necessarily going entirely away from alcohol and say that's it. I'm never going to drink again, but I think they want to use it more of a, uh, hey, for, for flavor and for taste. I want to have a, a glass of wine, maybe a glass of red wine with a, with a steak type thing or a glass of white wine with a piece of fish, if that's what they like, or a, an ice cold beer and a, and a hot dog at a baseball game type idea, but to go ahead and continue to use those alcoholic beverages as their form of taxification and one after another, after another to get that. I think people realize, and hey, there's, there's probably not the best idea in the world. And if I do want to sort of get that altered state, uh, there, there's better ways to do it, healthy ways to do it. And in this case, you know, it involves drinking, which is again, always been very social, you know, it's, it's, I'll meet you for coffee. A couple, couple of days with a picture of lemonade. Let's talk, you know, I made a picture of lemonade. Let's sit around a campfire, um, you know, all the above. Um, and yeah, that, you know, that, that campfire experience is, is, is a good call by you there. It's, it's, you know, it's, it's, it's, so I really want you to talk about the craft beverage movement and how they, uh, they had the happy hour set up. If that's, I really want you to talk about that. If you wouldn't mind. Yeah. No, be happy to. So after the conference, that's got so many of these things they have, you know, happy hour, it was like an hour and a half, maybe two hours for people to sort of network and, and, um, picture a conventional cocktail bar, just a regular, you know, by like, we've all seen so many different times, but they had, uh, not only could you get canned THC drinks, but they had cocktails where you could, you could have, for example, I got a margarita and it was, it was high end from, they were squeezing the fresh limes and they had a, uh, you know, an organic, some sort of a gavel syrup, you know, it's not alcoholic. And when I ordered the margarita, the question they asked me, they said, would you like a four milligrams or eight strength of the drink, you know, and I was like, this is my first, let's test it out. And, you know, what, what the four milligrams and sure enough, he had, had the bartender had a, uh, had a, uh, old school, like a, I'm not sure what you call it, but a double shot glass, you know, the smaller, is that jigger, like a jigger, sure. And, and, uh, and that the bigger, the bigger one on the bottom and he flipped it, picked it up and I had a smaller drink size. He pour the four milligrams of THC out of a bottle that was flavored, um, with an agave and a lime, a base, a lime flavored THC base, poured that shot into a, uh, I knew a mixing glass along with the lime juice and the other mixers that he had, shirking up like a cocktail, put it on a glass with a salted rim and a little wedge of lime on it. And it was absolutely delicious. Making them all for. So visualizing that being made and going, yeah, that would be kind of good right now, but that's good. But, but to see the, the old, I mean, it's just as any, as any classic cocktail bartender could do it, you know, with the bottle and do you know, for the shot and the boom and shaking the thing over their head and then it get the result. And then that was my first sort of, you know, THC beverage or beverage of the day and the four milligrams, you know, it's something like just almost like if it was a regular margarita, you know, an alcohol base, you know, enjoy the thing over a course of time. I finished it, but after I finished the margarita, I know I had a margarita, um, you know, in control and whatnot, but, but still, you know, you had that, you had something and it tasted good. And, um, and, but to see that they had a margarita, they had a couple different types of mules, um, like a Moscow mule and another type of mule. Wow. A, um, a Manhattan, a sort of a bourbon style. Oh, wow. THC infused drinks. So they were, you know, all over the map in terms of flavors that, you know, that you could order and get. And, um, you can just see it. I mean, that's, that's the first time I've ever seen a bar set up like that, you know, when they're actually making nice cocktails with that. And, and you can just see, I mean, it's just starting and it's, it's, I mean, it's, it's going to be commonplace in the, in the not to just in future. That's kind of cool. I can see for sure, like Vegas, you know, spotlighting something like that. To an alternative lounge, Chicago for sure. But I think it's also something that. Well, in the Naperville area, which seems to be Chicago West, as far as restaurants and things like that, I could see something like that popping up and being, um, pretty successful as well. Well, that's, that's interesting. And, and I appreciate you sharing that. That's, that's very cool. And we have speaking of very cool. We're going to have something and we'll talk about it here in just a minute. About, uh, everyone being able to take advantage of a deep discount. Through Joe and the drop the needle podcast. We'll talk about that in just a minute, because right now I'm going to close us out. Well, it's just about time to cue the music for today's episode, but don't forget to like, comment and subscribe to the drop the needle podcast to stay up to date on our latest episodes. I'd also like to take a moment to thank everyone again for tuning in today. And I hope you enjoyed this episode of the drop the needle podcast. I'd also like to thank our very special guest, Mr. Joe Guthrie for being on a show today. And here's that special discount code to use when purchasing the line of pause and pause plus beverages. Now this is an online only. So you can't go to the tap rooms and use this discount. It's online only and it is D T N four two zero. So that's D T N four 20 for the discount. And thank you, Joe, for providing that for listeners. I definitely appreciate that. Pretty sure. Yeah. Thank you. I'd like to invite you all to head on over to the show notes where there's going to be a link for a playlist that I'm going to create for today's episode. And there's also going to be the link for the D T N four 20 discount code. All right, my drop the needle posse, like Billy Joel says, from the highs to the lows to the end of our show. This is the end of our show until next time. This is Jim Allstate wishing you infinite health and happiness and the perfect playlist for your life. Thank you again for being the best part of us. Catch you next time. Hey, stop the presses. I hope nobody left yet. We just ended the podcast with Joe Guthrie from pause sparkling beverage products and he just text me a message that said, Hey, I would like to extend this special offer to the audience of the drop the needle podcast. We are having a special price of it was $28. It's now $20 for the four pack of the 20 milligram products. That's the pineapple express products. And he also sent me something that said, Hey, please extend this and let your listeners know that they can also use the D T N four 20 discount code when they order other pause products. There was a four mil, I'm sorry, a five milligram four pack that was $16. It's now a six pack for $16, which is awesome. And you also get to use the D T N four 20 discount code as well as the two and a half milligram, a six pack, which is, well, I guess that was a four pack before as well, but it's now $13. So you can get a two and a half milligram six pack for $13 and use the D T N four 20 code. So I guess now we're done. And I'd like to say thank you again for being the best part of us. Catch you next time.