Alexi Cashen is an entrepreneur, podcaster, and coach. She is the Co-founder and CEO of Elenteny Imports, a premier, cloud-based, freight forwarder with a logistics solution that transports products for wine and spirits brands. She is also the Founder and CRO of St. Hildie’s Botanica, a new spiked tincture tonic that is launching this summer.

Alexi hosts her own podcast, The Alexi Cashen Podcast, and is a Board Member and Coach for the Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• Alexi Cashen describes how she got into the beverage alcohol space after working her first service job out of college
• Why should everyone have a job in the hospitality industry?
• How being knowledgeable about wine and spirits fosters deeper relationships between server and customer
• Alexi discusses her role in the Entrepreneurs’ Organization 
• What challenges do businesses face when wanting to reach that million-dollar milestone?
• The importance of knowing and understanding your goals
• Alexi’s motivation to found Elenteny Imports
• Navigating product transportation around the world during a pandemic
• Alexi talks about her new business venture, St. Hildie’s Botanica

In this episode with Alexi Cashen

How can a job in hospitality inspire a future career in entrepreneurship? Why are logistics so important in the beverage alcohol industry? What is a tincture tonic? Alexi Cashen can tell you. 

Alexi Cashen became enraptured in the wine and spirits space when she worked a service job out of college. What was once a fascination with wine brands and varieties turned into an entrepreneurial career in logistics and beverage creation. She’s here to share her story and give you tips on maintaining your business along the way.

On this episode of the Legends Behind the Craft podcast, Drew Thomas Hendricks has a conversation with Co-founder and CEO of Elenteny Imports, Alexi Cashen. They discuss understanding business milestones, challenges within entrepreneurship, logistics solutions for transporting products, and much more. Stay tuned!

Resources Mentioned in this episode

• Barrels Ahead
• Drew Thomas Hendricks on LinkedIn  
• Alexi Cashen on LinkedIn
• Alexi Cashen on Instagram
• Alexi Cashen’s website
• Elenteny Imports
• St. Hildie’s Botanica 
• St. Hildie’s Botanica on Instagram
• The Alexi Cashen Podcast
• “Risks of Life, Marisa Wilairat Shares Her Wisdom” on The Alexi Cashen Podcast
• Entrepreneurs’ Organization
• Scout Driscoll on Legends Behind the Craft
• Mike Provance on Legends Behind the Craft

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by Barrels Ahead.

Barrels Ahead is a wine and craft marketing agency that propels organic growth by using a powerful combination of content development, Search Engine Optimization, and paid search.

At Barrels Ahead, we know that your business is unique. That’s why we work with you to create a one-of-a-kind marketing strategy that highlights your authenticity, tells your story, and makes your business stand out from your competitors.

Our team at Barrels Ahead helps you leverage your knowledge so you can enjoy the results and revenue your business deserves.

So, what are you waiting for? Unlock your results today!

To learn more, visit barrelsahead.com or email us at hello@barrelsahead.com to schedule a strategy call.

Episode Transcript

Intro  0:03  

Welcome to the Legends Behind the Craft podcast where we feature top leaders in the wine and craft beverage industry, with your host Drew Thomas Hendricks. Now let’s get started with the show.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  0:20  

Drew Thomas Hendricks here I’m the host of the Legends Behind the Craft podcast where I talk with leaders in the wine and craft beverage industry. From design experts like Scout Driscoll, who works with wineries to create labels that evoke their unique story. To today’s guest Alexi Cashen, whose logistic insights enables wineries and distilleries to efficiently transport their products around the globe. Today’s episode is sponsored by Barrels Ahead. At Barrels Ahead, we work with you to implement a one of a kind marketing strategy. When that highlights your authenticity, tells your story and connects you with your ideal customers. Alexi, in short, if you’re a business looking to retain a winery, or craft beverage producers a client Barrels Ahead will figure out a plan to make it happen. Go to barrelsahead.com today to learn more. Now before I introduce today’s guest, I want to give a big thank you to Mike Provance. On last week’s show Mike and I we talked about the challenges independent wine and spirit retailer space when competing with the big box chain stores. I am super excited to talk with today’s guest Alexi Cashen. Alexi is the Co-founder of Elenteny Imports, who helps wineries and distilleries transport their brands around the globe will navigate in the many roadblocks like customs taxes in our confusing three tier system here in the US. Alexi’s background in the wine industry that spans almost 20 years. During this time, she’s worked in nearly every side of the industry, from hospitality and retail, to wholesale and supplier. This breadth of experience has enabled her to create a logistics business from the ground up with a solid understanding of how it all works. Welcome to the show, Alexi. 

Alexi Cashen  1:49  

Thank you so much for having me, Drew. 

Drew Thomas Hendricks  1:50  

Oh, thanks for being on. Yeah. So Alexi, tell us a little bit about yourself in your history. What led you to this industry?

Alexi Cashen  1:58  

Well, I would say making ends meet led me to the industry. I was a post grad in Boulder, Colorado, looking for English, secondary English teaching jobs, which were few and far between. And so I started waiting tables in Boulder, Colorado, at a restaurant called The Med, a love to many and quickly learned that I would increase my income and tip average if I actually knew a thing or two about wine and spirits and get engaged by guests in a more artful and honest way. So I spent a lot of time with the various bartenders and distributors who sold to the restaurant to just sponge as much information as I possibly could to really understand the just the general framework of alcohol. I didn’t grow up in a family that where alcohol was super present, I hear that a lot of you know, particularly folks who have kind of European descent that are influenced where you know, they grew up and join food and wine as a family and you know, aside from drinking, you know, Coors original can beer. You know, my, my dad would maybe sometimes have like a rusty nail or something. That was like as exotic as it got. So yeah, I was really clueless about you know, aperitifs and cocktails and digestifs. And, you know, just other things aside from table wine that really can enrich a meal dining experience. So it was really formatively that hospitality industry where I cut my teeth

Drew Thomas Hendricks  3:27  

That’s amazing. Yeah, I came from my family is very similar. They there was the occasional mai tai to believe that there was no no fine wine now. So I feel like similar experience. I had a degree in philosophy with a degree in philosophy, you’re gonna figure out what are you going to do? I started a wine store and drinking wine and buying wine there.

Alexi Cashen  3:45  

Yeah, yeah.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  3:46  

Totally. What it what sort of takeaways did you get from that side of the industry, when you started in hospitality?

Alexi Cashen  3:51  

I personally feel very good takeaways are plentiful, I will personally see to it that my three children each work in a restaurant at some point in their young life, I found the just the amount of I don’t know that work ethic is necessarily built in restaurants. You know, maybe there’s a little bit of nature nurture there that you kind of have to come to it with some some drive and chutzpah but I really appreciated about the hospitality industry, just the camaraderie, the fast paced environment, and, you know, just the centeredness around service around food around, you know, the integrity of cuisine, around the storytelling, whether that’s, you know, chefs creation for the night or stories about the winemakers or the regions, you know, from which the wines that you’re talking to tables with, or, or even tasting before a shift and learning with the, you know, the wine director or a som was just it’s a really complete experience, in terms of, you know, really coming to appreciate all the elements of hospitality, but really the work ethic, I think, was the my strongest takeaway.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  4:57  

You know, I can actually I can see that and I can see setting the stage for your future logistics business because a restaurant needs to work on a picker timeframe. And you’re actually you’re the delivery method if that’s broken, the restaurants broken. Yes. The other thing I love about hospitality is it’s it gives you a chance to actually see the wine, see the experience it right where the rubber meets the road people, you see the enjoyment right there. When I started in retail, unless we were at the wine tasting bar, it was always handing the bottle to the person and hoping they’d come back one day and tell me if they liked it or not. You get to see that immediate pleasure and an experience firsthand, I would think.

Alexi Cashen  5:32  

Yeah, you do, you know, kind of be a part of the guests experience and enjoyment of wine, especially when you’re turning them on to things that are, you know, not as common or a little outside of their normal comfort zone or go to style of, you know, their wine purchase, turning them on to something new or a region they’ve not explored, or variety they haven’t tried or, you know, even just wine pairings, you know, which I think is really fun. It’s a sort of very explorative space for both consumers as well as for the House staff that are that are really servicing that it to me, it’s I think my career really dovetails with sales, at every juncture, even if I’ve worn sort of slightly different hats along the way. I think that my sort of innate desire to sell right to which, you know, sure, I admitted I wanted to increase my tip average, right, there was some selfishness involved there being smart, well, but the art of you know, really getting somebody to enjoy what they’re buying, or to, you know, flesh out their experience in a in a way that’s meaningful, or, you know, whether you’re selling them wine, in later stages in my career, you know, selling a, you know, through a distributor to arrest to two restaurants, you know, then there’s more to it than just the push of the sale. It’s like, how can I actually benefit this person? I’m selling it to how can I make their you know, their business work better? If I’m selling to a restaurant or to a retailer, it allows me to practice listening? Well, I think good sales skills require Just a tip paint be paid attention, getting really curious. It’s not about having the answer. It’s, in most cases, being able to ask the right question.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  7:17  

That’s a really good point. It’s not so much telling someone that Yeah, I love that. It’s about asking the right questions, and you learn it, learn those questions as he moved through the industry. And he worked in nearly every aspect. What was your favorite role? Aside from your current position here? and founding, co-founding Elenteny?

Alexi Cashen  7:33  

Ah, gosh, so I would say sort of a cheat of an answer. It’s not necessarily the role that I feel kind of most akin to, but it’s the function that has come up for me several times, throughout my career. I, I don’t, I don’t have like a huge sort of philanthropic desire or anything like that. But I have a strong desire to be of use, it’s sort of like my personal why if you will just Alexi just be of use, like, this is kind of what I aspire to be to do. And so, you know, I think about, I did some training early on in my restaurant career with new point staff who would come on and this is before I was even promoted to any managerial positions, just because, you know, I also not for nothing, had a teaching degree and, you know, sort of like the notion of, you know, how do I educate or fill this person’s cup up? How do I set them up for success, and I think it’s that role I’ve played of where I have been of use throughout my career that I find the most satisfying. So from restaurant experience to as I mentioned, as a wholesale sales rep, selling to restaurants, you know, being able to be useful be to be helpful to the restaurant in terms of like, what’s really going to make their wine program sing to then being in an entrepreneur and my current stages as CEO, you know, being being being a listening ear, or, you know, not just the leader of my company, but the, the mentor for my managers who are, you know, really executing every day on a high level. And, you know, I, sometimes I think my job as a CEO, is not to be a leader, but to create leaders who then create other leaders. So I kind of like playing with that framework. And then I’m also very involved with an organization called Entrepreneurs’ Organization, which is a global org that has different chapters throughout the world and I’ve been a part of the San Francisco chapter I’ve been on the board and then I’ve most recently in the last year and a half worked with their accelerator program. So I work with entrepreneurs who are trying to get their business their revenue to at least a million dollars and as a starting ground. And so that coaching role I have very it’s very rewarding for me and feels very germane to my kind of personal value system of wanting to be of use.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  9:50  

Oh, wow. What um, in this in this accelerator program, what type of businesses do you work with?

Alexi Cashen  9:54  

All different types, so yeah, the neat The neat thing about EO is that you It doesn’t really matter what your business is, we all tend to have similar needs, complaints, fears, desires that dovetail again, regardless of industry or, or even business size to some degree. So yeah, the folks that I’m working with currently are a woman’s a winemaker, which happens to be the only one that’s really unique to my industry. But then you know, somebody else does personal executive coaching. There’s somebody who’s creating cannabis products for influencers. There’s, there’s a gentleman who owns a wonderful business that does pet euthanasia, like at home, pet euthanasia, so it really, you know, spans the different industry segments, it’s a lot of fun.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  10:40  

That must be so awesome to see all the different just to get your hands on all the different ones as a as a marketing agency, we go breath, and I just love diving into each different businesses practices, what makes them unique, but again, like you mentioned, they all have similarities. What are some of these unique or not unique? But what are these common challenges that you see all these businesses facing as they’re trying to grow to a million dollar in revenue?

Alexi Cashen  11:01  

One thing I’m working on with this group, and also with my executive team at Elenteny Imports, I might sound like a broken record, everybody is goals, I just I find that it is a hang up for people like even to just understand what are smart goals, you know, like, or why should I follow them? Or what do I do when I get off track with them. So I have been almost a little dogmatic in the last quarter about just goal setting, you know, starting a new year, still kind of waiting in the midst of a pandemic, which doesn’t affect all businesses, but certainly has affected many. And so I have noticed that my own business Elenteny Imports, as well as some folks within the eo world and my accelerator group in particular, have just lost focus on some of just those very simple goal setting exercises, where I think now more than ever, it’s essential to it’s essential, but it’s also a little obtuse, because the future is really murky. It’s hard to have a deep, you know, a more clairvoyant sense of really where we’re headed when there’s so much headwinds that, that so many different businesses are facing, but like, even just the subtlest goal, right, like, and I don’t mean, you know, revenue goals, like sure you want to get to a million dollars in revenue, like, yeah, I understand that’s like a revenue benchmark, or, you know, a business wants to grow, you have certain, you know, x percentage growth year over year that that’s just like smart, healthy business metrics, those, but those to me are goals, goals are sort of like, what what are the tiny actions that I can take that are actually going to propel me forward that are actually going to create wealth that are actually going to create profit, create growth? Great, you know, and it’s like, if you just think about the numbers, you know, it feels a little shallow To me, it’s like, well, why do you want to create a million dollar business? Why do you want to grow double digit, you know, year over year, as a healthy business, create more jobs, create more of a, you know, again, kind of back to the of use piece, and my business, my logistics company is a service based business. So, you know, yeah, I want to help more important, I want to help more brands, I want to help more people out there, which is why Tim Elenteny, and I founded our company in the first place. So I think the goal setting is been one of the biggest key focuses for a lot of my work in that in that mentoring space.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  13:22  

That is so important, and such great advice. And so what the getting started, everybody’s got their big goal, I want to make a million dollars, but you don’t know why. And you’re so right there. And that setting that first small goal, how do you get to the next goal to the next goal? See, achieving a million dollars is really probably, you know, 100 small goals achieved. And yes, you can get gratification that you’ve achieved half of them, versus this one. If I make a million dollars or not, that’s a success or failure. You’ve got you’ve got successes along the way. That’s so important.

Alexi Cashen  13:52  

Yeah, well, I think our neurology just isn’t built for that of like, Oh, I need to like hit this revenue goal. Well, yeah, cuz when you don’t, then you use the term failure. Nobody wants to feel like, you know, failure. And, you know, I was listening to a webinar with Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon, and, you know, how he talked about like, you have to fail 50% of the time. It Okay, like I can understand and appreciate that, that that type of tenacity gets built by getting having setbacks, but I personally haven’t looked at my quote unquote, failures with that sort of negative stain. You know, to me, it’s English major and me, it’s always down to semantics, but I, you know, it’s like, yeah, there’s, there’s setbacks, there’s challenges, there’s hurdles, there’s headwinds, there’s things that have made me stronger and given me you know, grit and, you know, inertia and I’m just smarter and wiser kind of next time around. So sure, I like I guess you could call those failures, but I don’t find that type of nomenclature, very motivating. I certainly don’t for my sales team either. And to have kind of arbitrary numbers to hit that are way to that 30 like I love the SMART goals, you know has to be smart, relevant, attainable, measurable time bound, like if you can’t, if it’s not attainable, and it’s you know, then there’s there’s no kind of point focusing on it. Because the the real dramatic effect we have, I think when we track things and measure things, we call it a goal called an objective or rock, you know, whatever it is, I find that if you can create ways of, you know, giving your body like more dopamine hits, you know, more serotonin in that experience of measuring and counting, then it’s just, it’s going to be more rewarding and motivating to keep going. Whereas if you constantly have kind of arbitrary numbers, and you’re not hitting them, I find that very demotivating

Drew Thomas Hendricks  15:47  

Oh, absolutely. Speaking of goals. So you and Tim founding Elenteny Imports, that was probably a million small goals achieved and a lot of challenges. What were some of the challenges you faced, were actually going back for a second, what was your guys’s motivation for doing Elenteny Imports?

Alexi Cashen  16:03  

So Tim and I both worked together at Polaner Selections, a very long and loved New York based importer and wholesaler. And we, you know, both of us, Tim, having built businesses in the past, both in wholesale and hospitality, you know, he had experience that I was very drawn to, and also sort of had, I personally had some aspirational entrepreneurial ideals, and, you know, living in New York City at the time, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. And, you know, I, I was just piqued by kind of a number of different ideas that we brainstormed. And then yeah, coming up with the logistics idea, it makes sense or made sense, because there weren’t a lot of competitors in this very niche space that we occupy. So for a service based company, our clients are other US importers. And those importers are utilizing our services for freight forwarding. So ocean freight shipping container shipping, federal compliance, and all the logistics from picking up at winery and getting it to your warehouse across the US as well as distribution services, where we actually take possession of the of the inventory, and then resell it to the trade, whether that’s to other wholesalers or to restaurants and retailers across the country. We manage all of the order fulfillment, compliance, inventory management and all the third party expenses they’re in. So that was an existing model to some extent that we saw a real opportunity to compete first and foremost with customer service. Our I feel very proud of the fact that we we have spent and continue to spend resources and energy just continually trying to be better, and trying to service our customers in a way that is memorable. We still get most of our business from word of mouth, which as a marketer, I’m sure that sounds kind of fuddy duddy to you but it’s 100%-

Drew Thomas Hendricks  17:56  

No, it’s the biggest thing in the industry. The wine industry is word of mouth.

Alexi Cashen  18:00  

It’s word of mouth. It’s word of mouth. It’s such a tiny industry. And so what does that mean? Like who do I need to be marketing to my existing customers. So you know, back to that be of use, like, however we can, in addition to the services we provide, fill them up with information, knowledge, resources, real time information to be this relied upon knowledge base is it’s been part of our strategy to compete in this in this service, this alcohol service distribution and importation space.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  18:27  

That’s fantastic. What sort of challenges you guys faced, I mean, I know the last year has been full of challenges, but early on some of your initial getting bootstrap in this company in getting it built up.

Alexi Cashen  18:38  

Yeah, normal aches and pains. I think starting a business is difficult capital is everything. And we were really struggling, struggling in the beginning with having just it was 2010. So you know, still smack in the middle of the 2008 financial crisis, really struggled to have kind of bank lending options, and, you know, had to rely upon some Angel help in those early days. So, you know, I’d say capital is the most was the most difficult thing to overcome in the in the early days. And yet, you know, I’ve talked to people about a lot of the diversity and equity issues going on within this industry and talk about an equity like, you know, the ability to get capital or to, you know, have friends and family who would support you or, you know, those are things that I find myself very lucky and very privileged in order to have those resources to to help keep my business afloat in those early days. So despite its challenge, I’m also aware of like, the unique advantages that we had in those early days. And you know, I say to kind of the other major one is just like once it started to stick, right. Once we started to feel the fruits of the early year labor to you know, then start to see traction and you know, more customers coming on and needing to hire more people and just staying on top of that wave, you know, you’re kind of in a rush of growth is really challenging. It feels, you know, it feels very frenetic at times and just like the, the growing pains of kind of growing up like I remember, I remember being at a holiday party, I don’t know call it five years into the business and one of my my compliance manager Marisa Wilairat who I have had her on my podcast, and she looked at me and she’s like, Alexi, look, look at what you’ve built, you know, like, look around this room, look at all these people. And honestly, it didn’t even dawn on me, you know, because it’s like, I just had all grown like so organically and like, inch by inch step by step that it was really kind of the first time that I’ve stopped to look around and realized, wow, like, we have a really dynamic solid team, and we’re able to provide jobs and and really grow this team and grow the company. And what a gift that is. 

Drew Thomas Hendricks  20:54  

Oh, that’s fantastic. Um, the past year with COVID, and pretty much the world shutting down. I know, you’ve navigated, where you must have navigated a ton of a ton of logistical issues with freight forwarding and just getting actual on boats across the ocean. What What advice could you give people going forward in the next year? I mean, you guys have a, I do want to point out on your news on your site, you have a new section, he do a great job of keeping everybody up to date on the latest shipping challenges. What advice would you give importers and just, you know, people in general trying to move product across the world right now?

Alexi Cashen  21:28  

I don’t know that I have advice to give, aside from just reiterating the the facts that we’re all experiencing, you know, again, I don’t I don’t rely upon advice a lot, because it’s, it’s sort of it’s not one size fits all, there’s businesses are in different places and needs and with their demand planning. So you know, there’s no kind of silver bullet here. But what we’re seeing is obviously, kind of two significant types of delays with boats waiting at the dock. And then containers that are stuck at Port and backed up. And really, it’s just the across the supply chain, there’s just a complete struggle, which is so unfortunate, on the heels of the wind tariffs being suspended, you know, that was supposed to be great news. And then yet everyone was like, wah, wah, wah, like, we’re still in this very challenging state. So it is, it’s a challenge, because costs are rising. And, and they’re rising across the entire supply chain, whether that’s from the steamship lines, cost at Port trucking costs, you name it, like, absolutely, everything’s going up. And one of the things that I find the most frustrating and in this industry is that everyone else’s costs continue to go up, you know, throughout the supply chain, whether that be you know, the actual logistics companies or in depth Leslie put onto importers, and, you know, distributor costs go up. And you know, my healthcare costs go up every year to my employees, and rent goes up and like everything goes up and up and up. But the consumer still has this demand for like, the $10 glass of Prosecco, or the $12 glass of Pinot Noir. And, like, at some point, like, I just got to get like the whole experience to shift economically, I think there’s a real inequality where everybody else is continuing to, like, take a haircut, like all the way up the chain. And, you know, not that I want to sabotage consumers, but like, those price rises from a consumer expectation of like, what is a value? You know, what do I want to pay, you know, or I don’t want to pay more than $20 for a 70 block or a bottle of red light, right? There’s, there’s these limitations and these glass ceilings on sort of consumer expectation of price that have to change.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  23:38  

It’s very, that’s, that’s, that’s a good good insight. The other thing I took from what you were just saying is, be a little empathetic and patient because everyone’s going through these struggles together right now, as far as getting product and moving product. Yes, Yes, for sure. So talk to me. So you’ve been in many different roles in the wine industry. And currently, logistics, logistics is the name of the game. What what’s next for you in the industry?

Alexi Cashen  24:03  

Well, I am. I created a new company in the last year, which was sort of a fun, creative project to be exploring while I was stuck at home during COVID and not traveling, which was my normal rhythm, and I created a brand it’s a new spiked tincture tonic. It’s called St Hildie’s Botanica.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  24:24  

Spiked tincture, how does that work? 

Alexi Cashen  24:25  

Yeah, well, you know, we’re intentionally avoiding the term seltzer which is like all the rave and creating a new category of alcohol, which is in essence, a tincture tonic tinctures are herbs and florals that are steeped in alcohol. And so that’s sort of like a normal medicinal herbal tincture.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  24:43  

Like, like a like a bitter, or?

Alexi Cashen  24:45  

Sure bitters are an example of that. tincture is just sort of the style in which you’re preserving steeped herbs and roots. The ones that we’ve selected to put in our tonic is, you know, so essentially it’s we’re taking these herbs and florals, real spirits. With real juice, so organic juices, sparkling water, and then a little bit of booze, so it’s low alcohol, bubbly, functional beverage. So the the herbs and adaptogens that we’ve put into our beverage are, are the piece that’s sort of fun. It’s the magic, it’s it gives it this functional additive, we’ve chosen adaptogens that adaptogens are best explained that it calms the nervous system. So whether you’re kind of like a high strung person or a, you know, kind of anxious, it’ll calm the nervous system. If you’re feeling sort of low and moderate or moody, it can help like, amplify and elevate your nervous system. So it’s sort of this like these, these wonder herbs that are used, obviously, in holistic settings that, you know, my co founders and I personally use and so it was fun to just envision creating a drink that actually has this better for you alternative ingredients, as well as like no fake flavors, you know, everything’s real, organically made and still in that kind of canned format. So they’re 12 ounce sweet cans. And we’re launching in California in June.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  26:04  

In June perfect for the summer. It sounds like a great summer drink. 

Alexi Cashen  26:06  

Yes, yes. 

Drew Thomas Hendricks  26:08  

What is what is the name of it? 

Alexi Cashen  26:10  

St Hildie’s. 

Drew Thomas Hendricks  26:11  

St Hildie’s, okay.

Alexi Cashen  26:12  

Yeah, St Hildie’s. The name comes from this 10th century mystic. Her name was St. Hildegard von Benjen and she was a mystic and known as the mother of plant medicine. She was super into science and cosmology and botany. Very outspoken woman within the Catholic sector, which is really significant given that she was alive in the 10th century. Just a badass to be honest so it’s a lovely news to create this beverage you know, given her story and background.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  26:43  

That’s awesome. So coming coming to market in June and will be available in one flavor or multiple flavors starting out?

Alexi Cashen  26:49  

Well we’re launching with three flavors. There’s a lemon tumeric, elderberry hibiscus and a guava ginger. So very excited. They’re delicious. 

Drew Thomas Hendricks  26:57  

Oh that is awesome. So when you know I read in your bio, and I didn’t read this part. You’re you enjoy champagne and oysters on the beach. What is your favorite way to eat oysters? I’m a big fan of oysters myself.

Alexi Cashen  27:07  

Yeah, it’s so random. I’m from a landlocked state. I grew up in Colorado and did not grow up eating oysters. at all, it didn’t it didn’t go well with you know Coors original cans But no, I I kid but I do love oysters. And where I live in the bay area north of San Francisco. I feel super blessed to have access to beaches and as well as just a lot of local oysters. So that’s a fun pastime for my family. We love going up to Tomales Bay, which is North Point Raised, and there’s lots of little spots along the way there that you can enjoy oysters and, you know, yes, my favorite wines in the whole world are our champagnes. And, you know, and yeah, so it’s a perfect pairing.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  27:54  

One of my favorite memories, and I it’s been about five years since I’ve been up there maybe longer. And I don’t really even know if that places there but Hog on an Oyster used to be able to rent a barbecue and get a couple bushels. And we didn’t know how many bushels. How many oysters were in a bushel specials for the four of us. That’s a lot but I think I overdosed that day, but we ended up barbecuing them with some compound butters. And then we had rose, we didn’t have champagne, but it was one of the most memorable days of my life.

Alexi Cashen  28:22  

Yeah, it’s so beautiful. So so beautiful and serene out there.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  28:25  

So Alexi, where can people find you online? Definitely. Tell us about your podcast.

Alexi Cashen  28:30  

Absolutely. So like you Drew I have a podcast and love chatting with folks in our industry. I launched about a year and a quarter ago. So it’s been a super fun project Alexicashen.com is where you can find more information on the podcast. And you can reach me with regards to any logistics needs my emails, alexi@elentenyimports.com, Elenteny Imports. And my Instagram handle is Alexi Cashen, as well.

Drew Thomas Hendricks  29:00  

Awesome. And where can people find out information about St. Hildie’s.

Alexi Cashen  29:03  

So that is launching again soon. Both website and Instagram handle is Drink a Hildie, drinkahildie.com and then follow us on Instagram. 

Drew Thomas Hendricks  29:14  

That’s awesome. So today, we’ve been talking with Alexi Cashen and learned about her new venture. Thank you so much for joining us.

Alexi Cashen  29:19  

Awesome. Thank you so much for having me, Drew. I appreciate it. 

Outro  29:26  

Thanks for listening to the Legends Behind the Craft podcast. We’ll see you again next time and be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.