Julia Gin: Historia y recetas de cocteles fáciles
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PeopleTranscript
00:00It is such a pleasure to have a beautiful story to tell today.
00:05The story of Julia Jin and everything that is behind it.
00:09I have three wonderful guests here who are going to introduce themselves
00:13because they are behind the story of a very special entrepreneur idea
00:19that we had the chance to get to taste and to get to meet them.
00:24So welcome, welcome, welcome to our people VIP.
00:31It's a pleasure.
00:32How are you?
00:33My name is Kofi Jecci.
00:34I am one of the founders of Julia Jin.
00:36Julia is actually my grandmother and this is how it all got inspired.
00:40We're very happy to be here today.
00:42I'll let my co-founders introduce themselves as well.
00:45My name is Alamay Bitacho.
00:47I am head of operations here at Julia Jin.
00:53And I'm Alex Stanley, co-founder or founder, I guess.
00:57And head of sales with Julia.
00:59Perfect.
01:00And then it's different backgrounds.
01:02I know, Kofi, that your grandma was the inspiration and the name behind all this.
01:06We want to hear a little bit about that.
01:08But then it's just like different backgrounds, right?
01:11Right.
01:12So let's talk about that and then let's give Julia the inspiration,
01:17her spotlight so you can tell us why she inspired you
01:23and what's behind all this.
01:25Sure.
01:26So my background is I'm actually Italian and African.
01:29I am from East and West Africa, raised in Italy.
01:32I've had the pleasure to live in London, to live in Canada, now in New York.
01:39So I've had quite the journey of the last six years.
01:42It's been quite great to be part of the African diaspora as we move across it.
01:47And you, Alex?
01:49I'm a first-generation Canadian.
01:52My mom is from Jamaica.
01:54My dad is from Trinidad.
01:56And I've lived all over from London and Wales to, you know, the west coast of the U.S.
02:03I grew up between Vancouver and Toronto, but now I'm based in Nassau, the Bahamas.
02:08So I found my way past my Caribbean roots.
02:11That's what I heard.
02:13And I am of Ethiopian descent.
02:17My parents are from Ethiopia.
02:19And I was born and raised in New York.
02:22Earlier in my years, I did live in Ethiopia for about two years.
02:26So, yeah, and I've traveled all around for work.
02:30So internationally from Djibouti to Bangkok to Bahrain, all over.
02:37And then getting together to create this spirit that is so wonderful, tasteful, and that has magic in every sip.
02:47So how did you all come together?
02:49And then tell us about the actual drink, where it is made.
02:53Let's just, like, go into Julia Gin.
02:57Well, certainly.
02:59So we've known each other now collectively for about 20 years.
03:04Alam and I met when we were 14.
03:06We both lived in Ethiopia.
03:08So we met actually as teenagers.
03:10And Alex and myself had worked together in a last venture that we had as well.
03:15Julia is actually made here in New York.
03:17It's made in Rochester.
03:19In Rochester?
03:20Yes, Rochester, New York.
03:22It was very important for us to get the best water.
03:25Get the best water.
03:26And it's a very important portion of it.
03:28Most times people think about botanicals.
03:30They think about the ingredients.
03:31They forget the core element, which is water.
03:33And so, you know, Rochester has, like, beautiful water.
03:36So we function out of there.
03:38Our ingredients tell this story very similar to our own.
03:41So they start in Ethiopia.
03:43So white peppercorn.
03:45We walk our way down to, like, Madagascar, where Ling Ling was actually,
03:48you know, that's where it's from.
03:50But during the trade and the spice trade that was happening in the Indian
03:54Ocean, a lot of it got shipped to Asia.
03:56So a lot of people think Ling Ling originated in Asia, which is not the case.
03:59And then we go to Africa, where we have rooibos.
04:02And this is, like, a tea that we all know.
04:04And we're using that to connect that portion of it.
04:06We work our way up to West Africa.
04:09And we actually have wild cherry bark, which is something they traditionally
04:12used in bitters.
04:14They've used this in order for, like, medicinal things and healing.
04:17And you actually see that taken all the way down to Brazil and so forth.
04:20And that's how they do that today because of that.
04:23And then we tell the Atlantic slave trade story because we use Atlantic
04:27sea fennel.
04:28It's our secret sauce to tell that.
04:29We use it as a gift in order to, like, something that was so sad,
04:33we wanted to bring something quite special from it.
04:35And so that's what we do with the sea fennel.
04:38And then we like to laugh a bit at it.
04:40Alex is in the Caribbean.
04:41I think what most people don't know is that grapefruit was actually
04:46invented.
04:47It was horticulturally put together with an African orange and a Spanish
04:52orange.
04:53And that's how grapefruit was put together and made.
04:55And that's how we got this, you know, beautiful product.
04:57So we tell that story again of movement and people and history and just
05:01how that has emerged.
05:03And, you know, we all come about.
05:05And then lastly, we use citra hops from the Southern states of America.
05:08So a lot of people know about cotton. They know about tobacco.
05:11They forget hops, which was making beer was a huge industry as well.
05:15So we wanted to really highlight that.
05:17But more importantly,
05:18we went with the citra hops because we felt that peoples of the African
05:21diaspora to throughout the planet have this sort of connection to just
05:26that citrus flavor and taste and, and smell. And so that's,
05:30that's really how we got to this botanical spirit today.
05:33Anything else?
05:34Beautiful. It's beautiful to taste. It's beautiful to smell.
05:36And then we had the pleasure of joining you in the first like
05:41inauguration night. And it was really smooth,
05:44beautiful to drink in different cocktails,
05:47but I know that gin and tonic is a classic.
05:50So I don't know if you want to let maybe like share a recipe or something
05:54special. And of course, where we can get it,
05:57how can we support this beautiful effort?
06:00Because the point is that you're honoring your tradition, your root,
06:04your grandmother,
06:05but then it's also honoring you guys of being so like
06:10smart and, and, and you're dreaming big.
06:14And then this is also something that's very special that,
06:17that we need to support and celebrate.
06:20Well, I guess our take on the classic gin and tonic is the Julia and tonic
06:24J and T, which features grapefruit.
06:28So really leaning into that Asian grapefruit,
06:31like note in the actual gin, you know, you've got the Julia gin,
06:36the tonic, a little bit of grapefruit juice,
06:38and it just all comes together.
06:40The Citrix are dynamic in the mouth and that's sort of our,
06:43our take on that.
06:45And something quite special as well with Julia as a whole is it's not just
06:49about my grandmother, you know,
06:50we all connected because we all have a Julia, right?
06:53And so maybe we can all touch on that as well for yourselves.
06:57We all have that person in our life who had that impact for me,
07:02it would be my mother, you know, traveling around the world.
07:05She worked for the United nations and that kind of her traveling to
07:09provide for us, you know, take being away from the family.
07:12It was needed, but it also put, you know,
07:14strain and understanding it's not easy.
07:17I was able to end up doing the same thing in my career.
07:20I spent a lot of time traveling throughout the world and she was an
07:23inspiration for that.
07:25And that just kind of brings back the impact that these people in our lives,
07:29the Julia's, my mother, the Hannah's that,
07:31that reflect on how we are today with the people that we are today.
07:36And for you, Alex, who was that special woman?
07:40I think the, the core of Julia is really like around the theme of love that,
07:44you know, it's borderless, right? So for me, it's my grandmother, my Oma,
07:50my Oma from Jamaica moved to Toronto. My S I was born.
07:56She stayed with us. We moved across the country. She moved with us.
08:00I was actually diagnosed with cancer when I was two.
08:03And so she really like doubled down and helped raise my little sister.
08:06While my parents were kind of focused on me in the hospital and she,
08:10you know, still kicking 93 years old dancing away. So yeah, that's,
08:15that's my, my Julia.
08:17That's your Julia. Beautiful. My Julia was 101.
08:21She passed away recently and then you always carry those special women in your
08:25heart. So cheers to you guys. Congratulations.
08:29Where can we find this amazing Julia Gin?
08:34So right now we're launching in New York. So we'll be in Brooklyn.
08:38There are numerous venues, bottle shops that are in Brooklyn right now.
08:42As you came to our event at Mr. Mello, that will be our home base right now.
08:47In New York. So Mr. Mello is one of our locations.
08:50We will have the seven in Brooklyn as well.
08:52Leland another beautiful restaurant that we have will also be in downtown
08:56Manhattan. So we'll be in Soho and so forth.
08:59So we're going to have a lot of venues opening up.
09:01I believe we're in about 50 or so by the end of the month.
09:04It's going to be a really fun journey. We hope to see you there, Kika.
09:07Oh yes. And then, and then to follow you on Instagram, I love the,
09:12the account it's drink underscore Julia Gin for anybody who's like interesting
09:16in, in pressing that and start following you. And then the website too, right?
09:21Julia Gin? JuliaGin.com. Please follow us there.
09:25Guys, congratulations. Besos, we're,
09:28we're really proud of you and we're here because I know we're going to have a
09:32lot more stories and a lot more cocktails to share for many years.
09:37Congratulations. Thank you so much.