The Tasting Panel magazine

February 2014

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february 2014 / the tasting panel / 67 my irst conversation with Matt, I knew he was onto something. I'd seen every lavor of vodka, every tequila come to market in the last 30 years, but I'd never seen anything like byejoe." Leal points to categories like tequila and caçhaca, once considered exotic, that have made their way into the consumer lexicon. "Things that were once very foreign are no longer uncharted territory. Consumers are always looking for something new, and we're not talking about a small country. China's inluence is huge, and as its middle class grows and more and more Chinese visit the U.S., byejoe will be able to bridge the gap." But byejoe's got more in mind than just the Asian consumer traveling abroad. Leal points to a dearth of authentic beverage options in the ever- expanding Asian and pan-Asian dining space. "All of a sudden, you have all of these Asian restaurants that are doing saké and soju, but you can walk into a high-end Chinese restaurant and you'd be lucky to get a Tsingtao beer, because they simply don't have any Chinese spirits," he says. "You can walk into a Mexican restaurant or an Irish pub or a Japanese restaurant and have a drink that's authentic—yet you still go to a Chinese restaurant and have to drink every other country's spirit! Now, with byejoe, accounts can have a real, true Chinese cocktail on their menu, which is an incredible opportunity." Training the Trade With a built-in audience of premium Asian accounts to call upon, byejoe's biggest challenge is a simple matter of education. "Once you sit down with a mixologist and give them the chance to taste this product, they're incred- ibly inspired," comments Leal. "It's something totally new and fresh for them, so all we need to do is give them a little information, a little background on the brand and the category, and just let them play with it. I've seen some incredible cocktails from the mixology community —and not just from Asian restaurants." Agrees Trusch, "It really is all about education at this point. This is an opportunity for us to communicate our story to the world, and the bartend- ers, bar owners and retailers are our partners in sharing byejoe with the world. They're the gatekeepers, the ones always looking for a new drink, something interesting and new to serve their guests, so we make the trade our ambassadors; once they've tasted it and been educated a bit, they're intrigued and ready to run with the brand." As the trade mobilizes behind byejoe, Trusch sees endless possibilities for the brand. "Nobody's ever tried to tackle this," he says, "but there are a billion Chinese people and a billion cases of baijiu sold every year. It's time that Westerners catch up." At Andrew Liquor in Houston, TX, byejoe shares shelf-space with other ultra-premium brands. byejoe 101 Need a crash course in byejoe? Here's your crib sheet! WHAT: A take on the classic baijiu category, byejoe is a red sorghum–based spirit that's low-calorie and gluten-free. WHY: Newslash! Baijiu is the number-one consumed spirit in the entire world! byejoe brings the best of the Chinese tradition to the U.S. market for the irst time. WHERE: byejoe is currently sold in California, Texas, Florida and New York. Want to bring byejoe to your bar? Email Silvio Leal at Silvio@ byejoe.com. Off-Premise in the Game While byejoe's mixability makes it natural it for on-premise accounts, as the byejoe boom continues, retailers will increasingly get into the game. At Andrew Liquor in Houston's vibrant international district, owner Van Nguyen has seen marked increase in the demand for byejoe. "When we irst started carrying it, it was all the way in the back," she explains. "But it kept selling, so we moved it to the front of the store, next to the other brands in the ultra-premium category." With byejoe nested between bottles of Grey Goose and Belvedere, Nguyen also explains that her custom- ers are eager to see a baijiu making its way onto U.S. shelves. "A lot of people are really interested in it, and my customers have really responded well."

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