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My church, too. I love it. I really do. Welcome to the Drop the Needle podcast, your backstage pass to the corporate jungle. I'm your host, Jim Alstatt. 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 Alstott, and I'm so happy y' all decided to join us today. We have as our guest, Mr. Joe Guthrie, CEO of PAW Sparkling Water, Sparkling Beverages, 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.
B
Hey, Jim. Thank you for having me back. It's. I'm happy to be here.
A
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, especially 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. There's just flavor and I, 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?
B
Yeah, well, it's, 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, on a weekly slash monthly basis. But the world is, is turning away from, from alcohol, at least in the excesses that, that, that it was being sold and consumed, you know, over, over years past. I, I think that people are looking, you know, for a, for a, a healthier way to recreate, a healthier way to socialize, you know, with their friends, a healthy way to unwind after work than, than reaching for that alcoholic beverage on a, you know, on a regular basis. I, you know, I think that some of the news that came out, you know, from, from Washington D.C. regarding just, you know, from the Surgeon General, you know, just stating that alcohol in any form is bad, you know, it causes cancer. That's, 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 determine if they want to completely eliminate alcohol from their lifestyle, but maybe limit that intake. And like I said earlier, 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.
A
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 bandwag wagon. 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 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 of the Tin man, where Oil can. Oil can, you know.
B
Oh, from the wizard of Oz.
A
Yeah, 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. And we're not talking drinking a six pack a day, but you drink one or two of the pause beverages a. A week, 10 days later, you're like, huh? It's. It goes away gradually to the point where you don't even notice it any longer until you meet somebody like Joel say, hey, how's that back feeling? You know, And I'm like, good, thanks for asking. You know, it's one of those things and it's. And, 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, ah, that person's not drinking. Can't trust a person who doesn't drink anything. And it was like, oh, okay. 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?
B
Sure. So starting with pause. Pause. We brought Paws 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 of the broad spectrum means that there is no THC whatsoever in that drink. So it's 0 THC. There's no alcohol in it. And it is just a, it's again, 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 good for you. To your point of, that's a great way to ingest your sort of cbd. You know what you're getting at earlier, Jim? It's, it's, I think it's kind of like the concept of taking it 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. Generally speaking, it's good for your body. It's not like, oh boy, I've got to feel a cold or flu blood coming on. I think I'm gonna take a daily vitamin. So that's kind of the idea of pause. It's something you can incorporate into your daily routine and, and, and you will find yourself feeling over time, just little aches and pains go away. It's anti inflammatory. There's so many great health benefits that have been talked about regarding CBD and we're certainly a believer in that and we're excited to put that in a beverage and call it Pause. Fast forward about a year later, we introduced a brand called Pause plus. And the plus sign is plus thc. So the paws, all the Pause plus drinks still have the CBD in them, but they also have THC and the THC and CBD are in all the Pause plus drinks in a one to one ratio. It's a ratio that, that we, 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 1 to 1 THC and CBD was the best way to go. It's in the industry, they call it golden, golden ratio. And 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. It's 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 420 of 24, we introduced 5 milligram cans in the Pause plus line. And then in December of 24 we introduced 10 milligram cans. And they've all been, been selling well, especially when they're first introduced. Everybody wants to be, you know, the, you Know, try the new version.
A
Sure.
B
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 the summertime that 2 1/2 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 the THC consumption route. You know, the fives and the tens, it's, you know, certainly have their place, their time and place and, and, and for different people's sort of tolerance.
A
Right.
B
It's all over the map. So, so some people might say, hey, look at, I'm good just sipping a few two and a halfs, and I'm content with that. And other people would say, I'm content, you know, sipping, you know, a handful of tens, and I'm comfortable with that. I think it's very analogous to people's alcohol tolerance.
A
Oh, for sure.
B
Like their ups.
A
For sure. 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 likened 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 and 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, 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 are 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, that's interesting because again, with the no calories, the no bloating or anything like that, there, there's that refreshing feel or feeling that you get from it. Not to mention we're talking about water, right? And as the summer months come up, if you want something that's cool, refreshing, and if it, you want that alcohol feel without the alcohol or that little bit of buzz, then you, you start to add the plus. But it's, it's a nice. 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. That's, 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, the courses that I frequent, I will definitely make a point to say, hey, have you thought about doing this? And yeah, because, you know, they frown on you bringing your own beverages out there. But 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.
B
Yeah, absolutely. No, it makes sense again, especially, you know, the CBD side of that pause. It's, it's, it helps with recovery from a sports standpoint. And it's, you know, you get out there and you swing in the club 100 times or 120 times in a round in your case. Right? It could.
A
In my case, I was gonna say that that's about two rounds for me, Joe. Come on now, Come on now. That's good stuff, though.
B
Sorry, dude.
A
No, no, no, I appreciate it. It didn't go unnoticed.
B
What was I gonna say? But let's back on track like with the golf courses, right? Yeah. But to your point about the golf courses, I think that, you know, summertime sport, generally speaking, certainly Chicagoland area, and you're out there on those hot days and it's. Yeah. As tasty as an ice cold beer can be sometimes it's, you know, Alcohol is, you know, dehydrating.
A
Yeah.
B
You know, and, and something like this is, it's just water. So it's, it's, you know, it's, it's hydrating yourself and 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 could still have your laughs with your buddies and blame your golf swing on a. I'd have a couple 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.
A
That's right. That's right. You know, there's something else you were talking about the plus. You guys just came out with something that was released. Was it released on 415?
B
Yeah, we released on 415 a little bit ahead of 420 because we wanted to give people a chance to go ahead and stock up for their, their 420, their 420 holiday this year. And, but so we came out with, with a can of, 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 420. 20 milligram can of THC and CBD and you get four of them for 20 bucks. And it's been very well received. It's selling well ahead of where we thought it would be at this stage. And you know, people are trying it. Not only there's a flavor phenomenal, it's our tropical base that we use in our, all of our, from our paws to our 10 milligrams. So we started with our tropical flavoring, but we added some terpenes from a very popular marijuana strain called Pineapple Express. And we had those terpenes isolated also.
A
A cool movie, by the way.
B
Oh, it's great. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, great movie. But it, it really brings out a just unique sort of pineappley, tropically tropical. A little bit of dankness to it certainly from those Pineapple Express terpenes. So the flavor, the flavor is just, it's mouth wateringly good and it's 20 milligrams of THC and 20 milligrams of CBD in a 12 ounce can. And it's, it's as advertising, I promise you that.
A
So like dankness, is that like an earthy flavor?
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's, that's a good call. Yeah, a little, yeah, a little earthiness, you know. Definitely something obviously synonymous with the, you know, the smell of the plant. Natural occurring smell of both a hemp plant and, and, or a marijuana plant. And it's just a sort of a natural occurring, earthy. Thanks. Smell.
A
Good, good, good, good. Did you want to talk at all about the Delta 9 versus the marijuana plant? Is that relevant to anything?
B
Oh, absolutely. No, that's, that, 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. Some people still find it kind of confusing. But if you think about cannabis, when people talk about cannabis and there's a couple of different plants, if you will, in the cannabis family. One is a marijuana plant and one is a hemp plant and they're 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 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 contend contain less than 3/10 of 1% of THC by dry weight. And what that means is that yes, in a hemp plant there is THC in it. From a smoking standpoint, if somebody wanted to try to smoke hemp to get, you know, buzzed or get high or whatever it might be, it's not going to happen. There's just not enough THC in that plant. And you smoke, you have to smoke so much, 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 chemically, they're the same Delta 9, Delta 9 is THC, THC is Delta 9.
A
Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay.
B
And one is, one is legal. One is legal on the federal level because of the Farm Bill in December that was passed in December of 2018 and that made hemp legal.
A
Gotcha.
B
THC that we use comes from hemp, so that helps.
A
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? 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, 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 surrounding these products?
B
Yeah, for sure, Jim. It, there's, there's actually a lot going on right now down in Springfield, Illinois as our state is moving towards regulation of. Right now there is not any regulation on, on this industry and we're certainly looking forward to getting some regulation. Hopefully not too much. 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. There is going to be, from what we're hearing, there's going to be milligram limits, there's going to be serving size limits, can size limits. Those numbers that we're hearing are going to be a 10 milligram. It's going to be 10 milligram max per can, the biggest size can you can sell hemp derived THC and it'll.
A
Be a 12 ounce can, which you're already doing. So you're, you don't have to make any modifications as far as that's concerned.
B
Right, exactly, exactly. So there'll be a what I believe there's going to be some taxation, some new, new taxation on, on this space. And you know, right now there's, there's, it's taxed as a, is a just ordinary, you know, same as if you're just buying a new shirt. You pay the same sales tax.
A
Gotcha.
B
There's not a sort of a syntax so to speak or anything like that, but there will be a new form of taxation and I'm not completely sure how that's going to play out yet, but certain the state's going to go ahead and figure out a way to get their money.
A
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 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 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 a smoke shop or something like that, there's nothing that says you have to be 21 or older or gas station or anything like that. I mean, there's, there's nothing that says that. But your products have. Maybe you've been out in front of everything and, and are. 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 can sizes with the 21 and old or 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 video, but this is crafted at Noon Whistle Brewery in Naperville. There's 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 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.
B
What's going on.
A
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. They're leaders in their industry. And they're treating it like that in, 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 and what it should look like. And I, I think it's a, you know, kudos to you for, for being ahead of that.
B
Yeah, no, thanks. It was, you know, Noon Whistle. I mean, nailing the head. I mean, they've been in business now for over 10 years and, and they've got just a tremendous reputation, you know, statewide. Just a great name and a great product. 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 over 10 years. And yeah, they just did a great job, you know, manufacturing, you know, putting together this pause product. And you know, to your point, you know, we say like we say it's, you know, it's handcrafted right here. A lot of, you'll 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 the fact that we get involved and we're hands on in every single step of the production, that's all right here behind us. You know, 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.
A
Absolutely. And while I was there, and I can attest to this, Joe had mentioned before that they test everything. And 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.
B
The, the, the bright tanks.
A
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 really refined and, and definitely I keep saying impressive because I've never seen anything like that before. So now I will say that I've seen Jack Daniels made in the distillery, which is very cool. I have seen like Anheuser Busch, 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. It behind the back wall there at noon whistle in 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 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 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.
B
Yeah. Thanks, Jim. It's. And it is. I appreciate your kind words. And it is full steam ahead all, you know, all the time because it's, you know, like we talked about, it's, you know, the product here. And I believe we got such a, you know, great product, a unique product. But it's so much involved is, I guess, being in this industry, so much involvement in education.
A
Yeah.
B
Getting people to understand, you know, the concept of it. It's, it's, you know, what is this? And the questions from, you know, you can't drink weed and how do you put pot in a can? And that doesn't make any sense to trying to walk them through and what this is, and why is this legal? And there's just an awful lot of education that goes into it. And it's slowly but surely, one by one, you know, people are starting to understand it. You know, they have. 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 and, you know, some of the different sort of marketing slogans we have, campaign slogans, whatever you want to call them is, you know, welcome to the world of a hangover. Free buzz.
A
Oh, yeah.
B
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.
A
Go, that's a good thing for, for those that if you have a group of people that get around, 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. 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 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.
B
Yeah, for sure, Jim. It was first of all the conference a couple of weeks ago in Chicago, what is called first time ever. But they named 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, a conference, a full day conference and talking about alternative beverages. Certainly the THC beverages were a big chunk of that space conversation because it's so new and it's becoming so popular so quickly. And it just went into some of the things that we were talking about earlier in terms of people, more and more people, all age groups, from people from 21 year olds to 101 year olds Type thing. It seems like everybody's talking about drinking less and you know, for various reasons, for health reasons, whether they're, 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 sort of news that we've seen, you know, seems to be certainly ramped up over the last couple years about the, the dangers of alcohol. I think people are becoming a little bit more aware of that. And I don't think that means that people are necessarily going entirely away from alcohol and say, that said, I'm never going to drink again. But I think they want to use it more of a, hey, for flavor and for taste, I want to have a glass of wine, maybe a glass of red wine with a steak type thing, or a glass of white wine with a piece of fish if that's what they like, or an ice cold beer 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 intoxication and one after another after another to get that, I think people are realizing, hey, there's, this is probably not the best idea in the world. And if I do want to sort of get that altered state, there's better ways to do it, healthier 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 a coffee a couple around the campfire, right, With a pitcher of lemonade. Let's talk, you know, I made a pitcher of lemonade. Let's sit around a campfire, you know, all the above. And yeah, that, you know, that campfire experience is a good call by you there. It's, it's, you know, it's.
A
So I really want you to talk about the craft beverage movement and how they, they had the happy hour set up. If that's. I really want you to talk about that, if you wouldn't mind.
B
Yeah, no, be happy to. So after the conference, so many of these things, they have a, you know, happy hour. It was like an hour and a half, maybe two hours for people to sort of network and picture a conventional cocktail bar, just a regular bar like we've all seen so many different times. But they had. Not only could you get canned THC drinks, but they had cocktails where you could have. For example, I got a margarita and it was high end from. They were squeezing the fresh limes and they had an organic, some sort of agave syrup. You know, it's not alcoholic. And when I ordered the margarita, the question they asked me, they said, would you like 4 milligrams or 8? The strength of the drink, you know, And I was like, this is my first. Let's test it out. And you know, went with the 4 milligrams. And sure enough, he had, the bartender had a, Had a, old school, like a. I'm not sure what you call. But a double shot glass. You know, you had a smaller shot.
A
A jigger. Is it a jigger?
B
Like a jigger? Sure. And. And the bigger, the bigger one on the bottom and he flipped it, picked it up and I had the smaller drink size. He poured the 4 milligrams of THC out of a bottle that was flavored with an agave and a, and a lime, A base. Lime flavored THC base. Poured that shot into a, into a mixing glass along with the lime juice and the other mixtures that he had. Shook it up like a cocktail. Put on a glass with a salted rim and a little wedge of lime on it. And it was absolutely delicious.
A
Making my mouth water, going. Visualizing that being made and going, yeah, that would be kind of good right now, but. Oh, yeah, that's good.
B
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, you know, for the.
A
That's cool, right?
B
And the boom and shaking the thing over their head. And then they get the result. And then that was my first sort of, you know, THC beverage or beverage of the day. And the 4 milligrams, you know, it's something like, just almost like if it was a regular margarita, you know, an alcohol based.
A
Right.
B
You know, over a course of time I finished it, but after I finished the margarita, I know I had a margarita, you know, in control and whatnot. But, but still, you know, you had that, you had something and it tasted good and, and, but to see that they had margarita, they had a couple different types of mules, like a Moscow Mule and another type of mule, a, A Manhattan, a sort of a bourbon.
A
Oh, wow.
B
THC infused drink. So they were, you know, all over the map in terms of flavors that, you know, that you could order and get. And 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 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 a, in the not too distant future.
A
That's kind of cool. I could see for sure, like Vegas, you know, spotlighting something like that. An alternative lounge. Chicago for sure. But I, 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 pretty successful as 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 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 the 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 DTN420. So that's DTN 420 for the discount. And thank you, Joe, for providing that for our listeners. I. I definitely appreciate that.
B
Y. For sure. Yeah, thank you.
A
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 list that I'm going to create for today's episode. And there's also going to be the Link for the DTN4 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 Alstatt 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 Paws 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 DTN420 discount code when they order other pause products. There was a four milli. 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 DTN420 discount code as well as the 2 and a half milligram A6 pack, which what is. Well, I guess that was a four pack before as well. Well, but it's now $13, so you can get a two and a half milligram six pack for $13 and use the DTN 420 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.
Guest: Joe Guthrie (CEO, PAW Sparkling Water)
Host: Jim Alstott
Date: May 9, 2025
Theme: The Shift from Alcohol – Navigating the World of Alternative Beverages
This engaging episode of "The Drop the Needle Podcast" explores the societal shift away from traditional alcohol consumption toward healthier, alcohol-free alternatives. Host Jim Alstott welcomes back the podcast's very first guest, Joe Guthrie, CEO of PAW Sparkling Water, to discuss innovations in nonalcoholic and cannabis-infused beverages, the motivations behind consumer choices, health benefits, regulatory shifts, and the exciting future of social drinking.
“[The switch from alcohol is] getting more and more pronounced… people are looking for a healthier way to recreate…”
— Joe Guthrie [03:48]
“You drink one or two of the pause beverages… 10 days later… little aches and pains go away…”
— Jim Alstott [06:30]
“Pause Plus… [CBD and THC] are in a one-to-one ratio… in the industry, they call it the golden ratio.”
— Joe Guthrie [09:00]
“We say, ‘Welcome to the world of a hangover-free buzz.’”
— Joe Guthrie [30:27]
“THC that we use comes from hemp… made legal by the Farm Bill in December of 2018.”
— Joe Guthrie [20:39]
“You haven’t consumed any sugar, any calories, any carbs, and you wake up and you’re good to go.”
— Joe Guthrie [30:41]
“[At the So Curious conference happy hour]… the bartender said, ‘Would you like 4 milligrams or 8?’… He poured the 4 mg of THC out of a bottle… shook it up like a cocktail… absolutely delicious.”
— Joe Guthrie [33:51]
| Timestamp | Segment Description | |------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:48 | Joe on cultural shift away from heavy alcohol consumption | | 06:30 | Jim's personal testimonial on healing and social comfort | | 08:16 | Joe on PAW’s health benefits and daily use | | 09:00 | The ‘golden ratio’ of CBD to THC in PAW Plus | | 11:39 | Explanation of “sessionable” beverages and drinker tolerance | | 14:55 | Application for athletes, hydration, and golf courses | | 16:24 | Release and flavor profile of the new 20mg Pineapple Express drink | | 18:30 | Delta-9 THC, hemp, marijuana – legal and chemical explanation | | 21:25 | Regulatory trends and anticipated changes for THC beverages in IL | | 25:46 | The role of Noon Whistle Brewery; transparency and production pride | | 27:08 | Rigorous lab testing for content accuracy | | 29:47 | Overcoming customer confusion—educational challenges | | 30:27 | Hangover-free buzz & responsible socializing | | 33:51 | THC craft cocktails at the So Curious conference |
Conversational, pragmatic, and enthusiastic, with a spirit of curiosity and genuine excitement about expanding the options for social drinking and daily wellness. Both Jim and Joe balance personal anecdotes, industry insight, and humor (“Oil can!,” golf jokes) with an underlying message of health and empowerment.
If you’re curious about the future of social beverages, hangover-free relaxation, or just want to understand the THC craft drink movement, this episode is a must-listen. And don’t forget the playlist and discount code in the show notes!