The Kimmel Cultural Campus is excited to present A Tribute to Jerry Blavat, a one-night-only event in the Academy of Music celebrating Philadelphia’s iconic radio DJ.
Concert lineup includes Darlene Love, The Intruders, The Happenings, Bobby Wilson, and The Chantels.
The Kimmel Cultural Campus presents A Tribute to Jerry Blavat, a one-night-only event in the Academy of Music on Saturday, October 21 celebrating Philadelphia’s iconic radio DJ, the late Jerry Blavat.
Jerry Blavat AKA the Geator with the Heater AKA the Boss with the Hot Sauce was a fixture on the Campus and an even greater presence in the city of Philadelphia and music world for decades. Lineup includes: Darlene Love, The Intruders, The Happenings, Bobby Wilson, and The Chantels.
“The entertainer of a generation, Jerry Blavat
was a beloved friend & fixture on our Campus for years,”
said Frances Egler
Vice President, Theatrical Programming & Presentations on the Kimmel Cultural Campus.
“He found joy doing what he loved for a lifetime – bringing music to the masses – so what better way to honor his legacy than to assemble a series of special guests to continue keeping the magic of his shows alive.”
Starting in 2002, Jerry Blavat began bringing high-energy performances to the Kimmel Cultural Campus.
Voted “Best Philly Icon” in a recent poll conducted by Philadelphia Magazine, Blavat spent decades filling Philadelphia’s radio waves with golden oldies. He gained local fame hosting live dances in the area and led his own independent radio station, helping to break many acts in the 1960s, including the Four Seasons and the Isley Brothers.
With over 60 years in the business, at the time of his passing, Blavat was still a DJ for multiple radio stations, including WVLT, WXPN, WTKU, WOND, and WBCB. In 1972, he opened his nightclub, “Memories”, in Margate, NJ, where he put on shows throughout the summer. He was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia’s Hall of Fame, Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Tickets
Tickets go on presale to members on Tuesday, June 27, with a public onsale Friday, June 30.
Local Spirit KLYR Rum gets poured throughout Pennsylvania with better flavor, healthier Ingredients.
Adam Lehrhaupt, Amish Patel, and Neil Kahrim started a Pennsylvania-based spirits company with the simple goal of creating a better-tasting American rum.
As they started adjusting their recipe for flavor, they soon found health benefits and great cocktail and food pairings. The result? A purer, cleaner rum, with a flavor they claim creates its own genre.
One thing’s for sure, Pennsylvania cocktail lovers are ordering more and more.
The following is a conversation (via zoom) with Adam Lehrhaupt. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Find the full, un-edited talk at our Youtube channel.
Let’s start by saying you’re in a car right now and can you tell us why you’re in a car right now?
Adam: Yeah, so I’m in a car right now because today’s a big day for any sports people, but especially in the Philadelphia area.
KLYR Rum being poured at a Phillies game
We’ve got a 1 o’clock Phillies game. And as a rum company, we like to go down to those games when we can and just hang out at the ballpark and buy rum for people. Introduce them [to our KLYR Rum brand]. Either something they’ve never had before or if they are already a fan, getting them another one. So I’m heading down to the ballpark today to catch a ballgame and hang out with some Phillies fans. And then tonight, we’ve got the draft, so the ballgame will roll over into some fun at Xfinity Live. So we’ve got our products in Xfinity Live now.
So we’ll pop over there and roll into a little bit of draft night. See who everybody’s favorite football teams draft.
I love your guerrilla marketing style. You’re out there meeting the people.
Adam: [Points to his shirt] This is my Phillies KLYR shirt. It’s our KLYR K, but it’s in the Phillies pin stripes. I don’t know if you can see it’s got the Philly pin stripes on it.
Tell us about the KLYR brand itself and what you’re trying to accomplish.
Adam: Basically the idea for creating KLYR rum and I’ll start back at the beginning. One of my two main business partners, his name’s Amish Patel. He is a dentist. He grew up as a dentist. His dad is a dentist. His brother’s a dentist. Thirteen cousins are dentists. There’s nine more in dental school. He has another group of cousins who all work in dental laboratories.
So they make dentures and things like that. So he comes from a dental family in Pennsylvania. I think they’re around 93 offices now in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, the mid-Atlantic region.
He came to me over Covid and said he was done being a dentist and he wanted to do something different. And he had a friend who had been in the spirits industry, somebody he went to high school with, who created Whistle Pig and he said, I wanna create spirits.
And I said, first of all I’m in for anything spirits related, I’m a big fan and I went back and did a little bit of research to see what the market needed. So everything that we do is market driven, so we do research and figure out not what we think it needs.
What the market did have was a big kind of opening a gap in the Silver Rum area for something that was just very well made, but had flexibility. So a really good clean tasting silver rum didn’t really exist. So we set about trying to create it and that’s where KLYR Rum came from.
Now tell me a little bit about your background and the team itself. How the three of you got together.
Adam: So my current day job, when I’m not helping run this run business, is I write children’s books. So I’m a children’s book author.
Before that I was a senior art director for a company called Siemens Healthcare. Before that I was a roadie, but currently I’m a children’s book author and in my spare time I play hockey. That’s my little outlet for my extra energy. It’s my cardio when I’m working out.
And that’s where I met Amish. We all played against each other for years. And then finally a couple years ago, we ended up getting him onto my hockey team and we became pretty good friends. And when he presented this idea, I came back to him with rum as an idea.
He said, I have this guy I went to high school with. His name is Neil Kareem who’s from Trinidad. Let me get him on the phone. So we’re at lunch and he calls Neil and gets Neil on the phone and he goes, Neil, what do you think about, rum?
And Neil goes yeah, I like rum. Rum’s great. He goes, what about making rum? And Neil’s okay let’s figure it out. So really Neil and I were the ones who kinda went away for about five or six months and figured out how the whole distilling process worked, figured out how to build a distillery, put together all the numbers, and then Neil went out to try to find us a master distiller.
KLYR Rum Distiller Lexi Close
And he found somebody that we both really liked. And she agreed to meet us and we did this meeting and we just clicked right away. As it turned out, she was working for her family’s distillery, so we couldn’t hire her away at that time. But we did start working with her – her name’s Lexi Close and Lexi took my ideas and the flavor profiles I was talking about and the way that I described it to her, because it didn’t exist.
So I described it through other spirits. I wanted something with the clean taste of vodka or tequila, right? So I needed to keep that body that you get, but with the sugar of rum. You needed to have the mouthfeel of rum. What I wanted to lose was that harshness. There’s a harshness to rum that most people hide behind sugar.
It used to happen a lot with tequila as well. Luckily, Lexi’s a big tequila person, so she saw the change in tequila [from years ago, it’s much better now].
But she understood when I was talking about harsh tequila and she went about trying to [fix it]. She and I worked together. My work was just tasting it and making suggestions. She worked really hard.
She managed to create this whole new category of product that we are calling American Rum. To differentiate it from Caribbean style rum. We wanted to really delineate that this was something unique and different and it wasn’t like something you’d had before.
So let’s talk a little bit about flavors and the cans themselves, the process of making them?
Adam: Let’s start with how we got there first. Because when I started thinking of what drinks I would make with this great rum I was thinking summertime. A little sugar-free lemonade.
Then I came up with this idea for a drink at the ballpark. I called it “Clear sky”, so it had a little blue curacao in the lemonade, it was like a light blue kind of color.
We had that all last summer (2022) at Citizens Bank Park. Then we’re also up at the Iron Pigs Coca-Cola park where the Iron Pigs play in Bethlehem.
It was really light for a lemonade. It didn’t have a lot of sugar in it. I wanted to create that as one of our first cans. Then we were gonna do the traditional Orange Crush. Orange Crush is the big flavor down at the Jersey Shore towards the middle of last summer.
I expect it to be even bigger this year with all the peach crushes and everything that is happening. There’s a whole crush bar live now that’s how popular these are.
So we go in and we’ve got our flavor guy, Mike. He was concocting the mixes for us, and I wanted to keep them below 99 calories. That was very important to me, to go after the seltzer market, ready to drink’s or the White Claws. They’re basically made with cheap alcohol, hidden behind bubbles.
So we sat down and we started trying these lemonades, [testing for the] right amount of flavor. I tried the low flavor lemonade and I went, hold on, can you do this, but 20% less flavor?
I’m thinking we can get it to taste like water and it will be KLYR water. With the partnership with the Phillies, we’ve got Clearwater in Clearwater, right? Because that’s where they hold spring training.
He really took a lot of the flavoring out and basically something that tastes like ice cold water with a twist of lemon in it. So that was how we came up with that first flavor.
Then we had to create Crush. We did; and I thought it was good, but it was 99 calories. It had a lot of flavor to it, like an orange crush. As we’re going through and I’m drinking them, I’m [always] throwing in another shot of KLYR.
So when we decided to expand the water line to four flavors: the original OG water that has light, lemon flavor.
We have a tangerine water, which is really subtle, but it’s got sweeter, tangerine flavor to it. Still less than 99 calories.
Passion fruit which has got a little bit of that sour pop that passion fruit has.
Then the last one I really wanted to do a spa water, so we did cucumber mint. Which is my new go-to. I drink it all the time.
I knew that we wanted the flavors to be unique and different.
I didn’t want it to be sweet. When you get more full flavored, it ends up being more than 99 calories.
So the crush line became 6.5% [alcohol]. Because as I said, I kept adding an extra shot of KLYR to it. We could lower the sugar that we put in to give the flavor body so that we would get that kind of Crush body when you’re drinking it.
So they’re 6.5 %, they’re only 190 calories. We’ve got Orange Crush, Pineapple SmashBerry Lemonade Blast and Fruit Punch, which is like a tropical fruit punch. This is the juice bag of my youth. So I created those for people who like a little more pop, a little more flavor, and for anybody who goes into a bar and orders that double or triple IPA.
Is that why you didn’t want it sweet, for the calories?
Adam: No, I didn’t want it sweet because I don’t wanna hide the rum. I want you to be able to taste the rum. The flavorings might be great, but the rum is what we’re showcasing. So whatever we made, I wanted you to be able to still get those hints of the rum and enjoy that flavor as you’re drinking it.
For foodies, food pairing wise, what have been some great food combinations?
Adam: Let me go through the flavors of the crush line, because it splits, I think about them as like red wine and white wine.
So the water line is like a white wine. So you can have the waters with pizza, pasta, fish.
The Orange Crush and even the Pineapple Smash with Indian food or Mexican food where you have that spice but a little of that sweetness cuts through it and you have the body of the rum on the finish. Those things come out really well together.
[Now Adam has parked and is walking through their KLYR Rum office]
How much of your office is Pennsylvania based? Where’s your distiller?
Adam: Our distillery is in Lewisberry, so that’s in Pennsylvania out by Harrisburg.
Our headquarters is in Westchester. I am here in Bluebell. Keith is based in Quakertown.
Where can we find you? Where can we buy, where can we shop? Where can we follow?
Adam: In Pennsylvania we’re available through the PLCB (Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board).
We’re in 30 different stores right now, but we’re in the distribution centers, so anybody who doesn’t have it in their PLCB store order it to have it delivered to them.
If you are in the greater Philadelphia, Eastern PA area, as far as Bethlehem and out towards Harrisburg we do home delivery.
We have a whole thing on our website everywhere that you can find it. So you can put in your zip code and it’ll tell you where you can get it near you.
In Eastern and Central Pennsylvania use the code: Adam2023 at checkout and get up to 35% off you order.
Tell us which social media channels you’re on and how to find you on there?
Tina and Amy are coming to Philly! Tina Fey And Amy Poehler Announce New ‘Restless Leg’ Tour Dates
After the incredible success of their first live sold out tour this Spring, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey announced their Restless Leg Tour will continue. The comedy icons, writers, producers, actresses and Saturday Night Live alumni will first stop in Cleveland, OH followed by Denver, CO, Austin, TX, Las Vegas, NV, Philadelphia, PA and Portland, OR.
TICKETS: Presales begin Wednesday, June 21 at 10 AM local time, including an artist presale with code RESTLESS. General on-sale begins Friday, June 23 at 10 AM local time on tinaamytour.com.
Limited VIP merchandise bundled tickets will be available at each show.
Thur Sept 21 – Cleveland, OH – State Theatre at Playhouse Square
Sun Oct. 1 – Denver, CO – Bellco Theatre
Thur Oct 12 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall
Fri Nov 10 – Las Vegas, NV – Resorts World Theatre*
Sat Nov 11 – Las Vegas, NV – Resorts World Theatre*
Thur Dec 14 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met
Sat Jan 13 – Portland, OR – Alaska Airlines’ Theater of the Clouds
*not a Live Nation tour date
About Tina Fey:
TINA FEY is an award-winning writer, actress, author and producer, known for creating and starring as ‘Liz Lemon’ in 30 Rock. 30 Rock holds the record for the most Emmy nominations in one season for any comedy series (22), and received a total of 103 Emmy nominations and 16 wins over 7 seasons.Prior to creating 30 Rock, Fey completed nine seasons as head writer, cast member, and co- anchor of “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live. While at SNL, Fey also wrote the screenplay for the hit comedy film, Mean Girls, which Fey subsequently adapted for Broadway(12 Tony Award nominations) and again as a new musical feature film, now in pre-production for Paramount.
On film, Fey starred with Amy Poehler in Baby Mama and Sisters, with Steve Carell in Date Night, as lead voice in Pixar’s Oscar winning animated feature film Soul, and co-stars in Kenneth Branagh’s “A Haunting in Venice.” Fey also co-created, with Robert Carlock, the Emmy nominated hit Netflix original comedy, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Mr. Mayor starring Ted Danson. Fey Executive Produced the Netflix animated series, Mulligan, as well as Girls5eva from creator Meredith Scardino, which wrapped production on Season 3 for Netflix. Fey’s memoir, Bossypants, topped the New York Times best seller list and remained for 39 consecutive weeks, and went on to sell over 5 million copies in the US thus far.
About Amy Poehler:
AMY POEHLER is one of Hollywood’s most versatile and sought-after talents, with credits including actress, writer, executive producer, and bestselling author. Poehler, perhaps best known for her starring role on the Emmy-nominated NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation, can currently be seen as co-host alongside Maya Rudolph in the second season of Peacock’s Baking It, where she also serves as executive producer. Other recent projects include serving as executive producer and narrator of Peacock’s unscripted series The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, co-creator, executive producer, and the lead voice of FOX’s animated series Duncanville, executive producer of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated series Russian Doll, Amazon’s Harlem and Adult Swim’s Three Busy Debras. On March 4, 2022, Poehler made her documentary directorial debut with Amazon’s Emmy-winning documentary Lucy & Desi, where she also executive produced alongside Imagine Documentaries & White Horse Pictures. She recently starred and directed in Netflix’s Moxie and appeared as co-host (alongside Nick Offerman) and executive producer of the hit crafting competition series Making It. She has several additional projects in development as part of her successful production company Paper Kite Productions, including the upcoming First Time Female Director, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, thriller-drama The Mother-In-Law, and the Netflix animated feature Steps.
Moscato d’Asti Brings Perfect Summer Flavors to Midtown Manhattan Lunch
A perfect welcome to the season as Summer truly begins.
On June 19, Consorzio Asti DOCG and Marina Nedic from I.E.E.M. hosted a masterclass and Moscato d’Asti DOCG tasting at Midtown Manhattan’s Il Gattopardo Ristorante
Cha McCoy led the discussion with: Giacomo Pondini, Director of the Consorzio Asti DOCG and representatives from the wineries: Luigi Coppa of Coppa, Stefano Chiarlo of Michele Chiarlo, Marco Dogliotti of La Caudrina, Gianpiero Scavino of Vignaioli Santo, Stefano Ceretto of Ceretto and Andrea Costa of Marenco.
Sommelier, Public Speaker, and Beverage Programmer Cha McCoy led the discussion with a panel of experts, including: Giacomo Pondini, Director of the Consorzio Asti DOCG and representatives from the wineries: Luigi Coppa of Coppa, Stefano Chiarlo of Michele Chiarlo, Marco Dogliotti of La Caudrina, Gianpiero Scavino of Vignaioli Santo, Stefano Ceretto of Ceretto and Andrea Costa of Marenco.
Consorzio Asti DOCG History and Importance
The Consorzio Asti DOCG was founded in 1932 for the protection, enhancement and promotion of their wines. Based on their efforts, Asti received the DOC in 1967 and the DOCG in 1993.
There are 6,800 producers with over 9,900 hectares of vineyards. Production reached 60 million bottles of Asti Spumante and 42 million of Moscato d’Asti, under the leadership of the Consorzio. Over 90% of the production is exported. Moscato D’Asti and Asti Spumante share the same DOCG.
Moscato d’Asti DOCG comes from Moscato Bianco (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) strain of grapes. One of the oldest known varieties of wine grapes and grows in the Piedmont regions of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato, a zone located between Italy’d Ligurian Coast and the Alps.
Moscato d’Asti is only slightly sparkling (called frizzante) and low in alcohol (5% ABV). It is vintage dated and suggested to be drank by the vintage date.
How Moscato d’Asti is produced
The technique for Moscato d’Asti has become known as the “Asti Method”. The fermentation of the grape juice is stopped earlier so that sweet wines do not lose their character and retain high sugar content. The method does not include secondary fermentation.
Moscato d’Asti is a wine that is can be enjoyed on its own or paired with desserts and appetizers from seafood to nuts and cheeses.
Tasting Incredible Moscato D’Asti
Today we were fortunate to taste through several examples of incredible Moscato D’Asti. With each on, aroma, tastes, and food pairing inspire your palette.
Moscato D’Asti “Moncalvina” 2022 Coppo
Moscato D’Asti “Moncalvina” 2022 Coppo
Moscato D’Asti “Moncalvina” 2022 Coppo. The vineyards are in Canelli. The wine is made from 100% Moscato Bianco di Canelli. The soil is calcareous marl and the vineyard is at 250 meters above sea level.
Straw colored with subtle green reflections. On the nose, floral notes along with peach and pear. Fresh, elegant and aromatic on the palate with a light fizziness. A great pairing for cakes, cookies, fruit based desserts.
Moscato D’ Asti “Nivole” DOCG 2022 Michele Chiarlo
Moscato D’ Asti “Nivole” DOCG 2022 Michele Chiarlo
Moscato D’ Asti “Nivole” DOCG 2022 Michele Chiarlo The vineyards are in the historical area most suited for Moscato Bianco. The soil is of sedimentary marine origin, white and sandy.
Brilliant straw yellow in the glass. Elegant, tropical fruit aromas with peach and apricot. Fine bubbles and a crisp finish. Excellent pairing with fresh pastries, add some strawberries and peaches.
Moscato D’Asti “La Caudrina” 2022
Moscato D’Asti “La Caudrina” 2022
Moscato D’Asti “La Caudrina” 2022 Azienda Agricola Caudrina The vineyards are located in Castiglione Tinella at 280 meters. The soil is marl-limestone and the exposure is south/southwest. Harvest is by hand.
The nose reveals notes of lemon, candied mandarin and subtle white fruit. The palate has a supple almost velvety mouthfeel. But a slight acidity provides balance with minerality. Candied white peach, white flower, orange blossom. Pair it with flaky desserts like tarts and strudels.
Moscato d”Asti “Vignaioli” Di Santo Stefano” 2022
Moscato d”Asti “Vignaioli” Di Santo Stefano” 2022
Moscato d”Asti “Vignaioli” Di Santo Stefano” 2022 Ceretto The vineyards are in Santo Stefano, Belbo, and Calosso at 300 – 350 meters above sea level. The soil is whitish loose marl composed of clay, sand and silt.
Straw-yellow. Vibrantly fruity nose which is aromatic and persistent as though it’s playfully tapping you on your chest to pay attention to it.. Beautifully balanced mouth with jasmine and honeysuckle, low alcohol, acidity, crisp freshness. Pair it with a flaky crusted pie or tart.
Moscato D’Asti “Scrapona” 2022
Moscato D’Asti “Scrapona” 2022
Moscato D’Asti “Scrapona” 2022 Marenco Vini. The vineyards are in Bagnari Valley and Strevi at 320 meters above sea level and the soil is calcareous marl. Grapes are manually selected and harvested at the beginning of September.
Intense straw yellow color. Delicate stone fruit nose with subtle balsamic hints on your second approach. The sweet, slightly viscous. Touches of almond on the finish. Pair it with nuts and soft cheeses like brie.
An incredibly afternoon of discovery and tastes thanks to: Consorzio Asti DOCG, Marina Nedic from I.E.E.M., Cha McCoy, Giacomo Pondini, Il Gattopardo.
Jocko Willink: A Decisive Engagement, at the Philly’s Miller Theater on July 22, 2023
The Kimmel Cultural Campus presents, in association with Emporium Presents, podcaster, author, and retired SEAL officer, Jocko Willink: A Decisive Engagement, at the Miller Theater on July 22, 2023, at 7:30 p.m.
In this special event, Willink will speak about human nature, leadership, war, atrocities, good and evil, and a myriad of other subjects, then conduct an extended Q&A session with the audience.
Jocko Willink: A Decisive Engagement, at the Philly’s Miller Theater on July 22, 2023
Jocko Willink is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer; co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win as well as Dichotomy of Leadership; host of the top-rated Jocko Podcast; and co-founder of Echelon Front, where he serves as Chief Executive Officer, leadership instructor, speaker, and strategic advisor.
Willink spent 20 years in the SEAL Teams, starting as an enlisted SEAL and rising through the ranks to become a SEAL officer. As commander of SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser during the battle of Ramadi, he orchestrated SEAL operations that helped the “Ready First” Brigade of the U.S. Army’s First Armored Division bring stability to the violent, war-torn city. Task Unit Bruiser became the most highly decorated Special Operations Unit of the Iraq War.
“Jocko Willink invites audiences into his world,
giving a unique voice to his experiences and sharing stories on our Campus for the first time,”
said Frances Egler
Senior Director of Programming and Presentations on the Kimmel Cultural Campus.
“With decades of knowledge and insight, we hope audiences leave informed and inspired, motivated to give their best in whatever they choose to pursue.”
Willink returned from Iraq to serve as Officer-in-Charge of training for all West Coast SEAL Teams. There he spearheaded the development of leadership training and personally instructed and mentored the next generation of SEAL leaders who have continued to perform with great success on the battlefield.
Willink is the recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and numerous other personal and unit awards. After retiring from the Navy, Willink co-founded the leadership consulting firm Echelon Front with Leif Babin where he teaches the leadership principles he learned on the battlefield to help others lead and win. In addition to his work in consulting, Willink is a jiu-jitsu instructor at Victory MMA & Fitness in San Diego and co-owns Origin USA, a company based in Maine, which produces lifestyle apps.
Willink also authored New York Times bestseller Discipline Equals Freedom Field Manual and the best-selling Way of the Warrior Kid children’s book series.
Other featured upcoming performances on the Kimmel Cultural Campus include John Mellencamp: Live and In Person (June 3, 2023, Miller Theater), Kevin James: The Irregardless Tour (June 16, 2023, Academy of Music) and WXPN Welcomes Rufus Wainwright: Folkocracy Tour (June 23, 2023, Miller Theater).
Jocko Willink: A Decisive Engagement Miller Theater on the Kimmel Cultural Campus Saturday, July 22, 2023, at 7:30 p.m.
EMPORIUM PRESENTS Emporium Presents is a full-fledged national event promotion company. With offices in Auburn, WA and Nashville, TN. Emporium creates, produces, books, and markets world-class live experiences including concerts, comedians, and specialty events.
Emporium Presents produces hundreds of events annually in the United States and Canada ranging from clubs to arenas.
To date, Emporium Presents has promoted thousands of shows for renowned acts like Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Dolly Parton, Jason Mraz, The Scorpions, and The Trailer Park Boys. Upcoming shows from Emporium Presents include Billy Strings, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Tommy Emmanuel, The Avett Brothers, Straight No Chaser, Parker McCollum, Home Free, Wardruna, Bruce Dickinson, Kaleo, Dream Theater and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live. As you can see, Emporium Presents specializes in a variety of genres; whether you’re a fan of rock, hip-hop, soul, country, jam-bands, and even comedy, Emporium Presents continues to produce all of your favorite events from coast to coast! K
IMMEL CULTURAL CAMPUS Located in the heart of Center City, Philadelphia, our mission is to engage the region’s diverse communities with art through performance and education. Our Cultural Campus serves more than 1-million guests per year and includes Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, and SEI Innovation Studio), the Academy of Music, and the Miller Theater (formerly the Merriam Theater) – representing more than 160 years of rich history for the performing arts along Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts.
We are home to The Philadelphia Orchestra and six esteemed Resident Companies: Opera Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, PHILADANCO, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Curtis Institute of Music. With nearly 9,000 seats per night, we are the region’s most impactful performing arts center, and the second largest in the country.
Our Cultural Campus serves as a preeminent and inclusive place to enjoy exceptional experiences that reflect the spirit of our region by cultivating a creative and socially responsible environment where our community shares experiences that are delivered with pride, integrity, and respect. As a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization, we collaborate on, present, and produce a broad range of relevant and meaningful events, we serve as an active gathering space for social and community events, we educate the region’s young people through access to quality arts experiences, and we provide support to artists in the creation of new work. Read Kimmel Cultural Campus’ vision statement, world view, and mission statement here.
Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and how it encompasses our mission, coworkers, and programs here.
Sting and Shaggy Co-headline One Fine Day Festival at The Mann in Fairmount Park in Philly Sat September 9
Sting and Shaggy have curated and will co-headline the One Fine Day Festival, a full day of eclectic music featuring a diverse artist lineup across two stages coming exclusively to The Mann in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, PA, on Saturday, September 9, 2023.
Headlining the main stage at TD Pavilion at The Mann, Sting and Shaggy will perform their biggest hits together, trading off and collaborating on ‘Every Breath You Take,’ ‘Englishman In New York,’ ‘Message In A Bottle,’ ‘It Wasn’t Me,’ ‘Boombastic’ and ‘Angel’ and more.
The One Fine Day performance in Philadelphia is the only time in the USA where Sting and Shaggy, both managed by Cherrytree Music Company CEO Martin Kierszenbaum, will perform together in 2023.
“I love howShaggy and I effortlessly push each other to the creative edges,”
says Sting.
“After having made the 44/876 album together and recording an album of Frank Sinatra covers in a reggae style, a day of hits and musical adventures in one of our favorite cities seemed like the next illogical step!”
“Sting is a catalyst for musical curiosity,”
adds Shaggy.
“When we collaborate, we combine our musical tastes, individual cultures and a sense of wonder. We wanted to invite some of our favorite musicians to gather in real time and share that very vibe at ‘One Fine Day.’”
Headlining the Skyline Stage at the Mann for One Fine Day will be two-time Grammy Award-winning Thundercatthe funky bassist who is known for his collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Erykah Badu and Mac Miller.
Tickets will be available beginning with an artist presale starting on Tuesday, May 16 at 10 AM EST until Thursday, May 18 at 10 PM EST. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on sale beginning on Friday, May 19 at 10 AM EST at ticketmaster.com.
An exclusive VIP experience which includes access to a private lounge with samplings of Sting’s wine, Toscana IGT from Il Palagio paired with Philadelphia’s own Di Bruno Brothers gourmet cheeses is also available.
Post Malone Returns to Pennsylvania with the ‘If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying’ Tour
GRAMMY® Award-nominated 8x diamond-certified global superstar Post Malone unveiled his anxiously awaited fifth full-length offering and one of the most anticipated albums of 2023, Austin, will arrive on July 28th, 2023. You can pre-order/pre-save—HERE.
Additionally, Post will release his next single entitled “Mourning” this coming Friday May 19, 2023 via Mercury Records/Republic Records.
Post also announced his return to North America with the ‘If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying’Tour following his highly successful trek across the US and Canada last year and Europe this year for his long awaited ‘Twelve Carat Tour’.
The 2023 North America run will give fans his signature exhilarating performance with music from his upcoming album as well as fan-favorites in a completely reimagined show. Produced by Live Nation, the 24-date run kicks off on July 8 at Nobelsville’s Ruoff Music Center, making stops in Detroit, Toronto, Charlotte, Tampa, Atlanta, Dallas and more before wrapping up at San Bernardino’s Glen Helen Amphitheater on August 19.
“I love y’all so very much and I’m so excited to get out and do some more shows for y’all. Help me put a baby through college and come on out. Some cool new production, new songs, and a very very handsome man up on stage. Sending love to you and yours.” Says Post
TICKETS: Tickets will be available starting with a Citi presale (details below) beginning Wednesday, May 17 at 10am local time. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning Friday, May 19 at 10am local time on livenation.com
PRESALE: Citi is the official card of the Post Malone tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Wednesday, May 17 at 10am local time until Thursday, May 18 at 11:59pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.
VIP: The tour will also offer a variety of different VIP packages and experiences for fans to take their concert experience to the next level. Packages vary but include premium tickets, access to the World Pong League VIP Lounge, exclusive VIP gift items and more. For more information, visit vipnation.com.
IF Y’ALL WEREN’T HERE, I’D BE CRYING 2023 TOUR DATES:
Sat Jul 08 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
Sun Jul 09 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Tue Jul 11 – Detroit, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
Wed Jul 12 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
Fri Jul 14 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Sat Jul 15 – East Troy, WI – Alpine Valley Music Theatre
Mon Jul 17 – Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
Mon Jul 31 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
Tue Aug 01 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Thu Aug 03 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheatre
Sat Aug 05 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
Tue Aug 08 – Houston, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Thu Aug 10 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
Sat Aug 12 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
Sun Aug 13 – San Diego, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
Tue Aug 15 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre
Wed Aug 16 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sat Aug 19 – San Bernardino, CA – Glen Helen Amphitheater
GRAMMY Award-nominated phenomenon Post Malone
A 8x diamond-certified GRAMMY® Award-nominated phenomenon, Dallas, TX artist Post Malone regularly rewrites history, blurs boundaries, and incites internet-breaking conversation with every move.
Emerging in 2015 with a genre-less brew that inspired a movement, he delivered the diamond-selling “Congratulations” [feat. Quavo], achieved back-to-back #1 debuts on the Billboard Top 200, received countless multi-Platinum certifications around the world, and smashed one record after another with his Hot 100-topping hits. In 2022, he pushed boundaries again with his fourth full-length offering, Twelve Carat Toothache, which marked his fourth consecutive Top 5 bow on the Top 200.
It also paved the way for his biggest headliner to date, The Twelve Carat Toothache Tour, taking over arenas for multiple dates in major cities throughout the year. He even scored “the highest-certified single in RIAA history” with the 17x-platinum “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse)” [feat. Swae Lee], netting the biggest single of his generation.
In 2023, he garnered a GRAMMY® Award nod in the category of “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” for “I Like You (A Happier Song)” [with Doja Cat], marking his tenth career nomination in six years.
Three years prior, his 2019 third full-length, Hollywood’s Bleeding [Republic Records], represented an audience and critical high watermark.
Not only did it arrive at platinum status and eventually go triple-platinum, but it also reigned at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 for four weeks and returned to the chart for a fifth week, making for the longest run atop the chart of 2019 and the first release to do so in over a year.
The quadruple-platinum lead single “Circles” seized #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. It notably occupied a spot on the chart for a record 39 weeks in total. Speaking of making history, he performed a massively popular Nirvana tribute concert on YouTube, raising over $10,000,000 for the World Health Organization in the fight against COVID-19. Hollywood’s Bleeding followed the immense success of the triple-Platinum beerbongs & Bentleys, which also landed at #1 a year prior.
In the wake of beerbongs & bentleys, Post crushed a record in place for 54 years. He charted nine songs in the Top 20 of the Hot 100, notching “the most songs in the Top 20 of the Hot 100 ever.” Moreover, he also trounced the record for most simultaneous Top 40 Hot 100 hits with 14.
As of 2023, his catalog comprises the GRAMMY® Award-nominated “rockstar” [feat. 21 Savage” (Diamond), “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse)” [feat. Swae Lee] (Diamond), “I Fall Apart” (5x-platinum), “Psycho” [feat. Ty Dolla $ign] (5x-platinum), “White Iverson” (5x-platinum), “Better Now” (4x-platinum), and more. Not to mention, he sold out numerous arena tours and hosted and curated his own mega-popular Posty Fest in 2018 and 2019. It all started with his quintuple-platinum influential 2016 debut, Stoney. With records under his belt that will likely never be surpassed and a generation of artists and audiences worldwide under his spell, Post Malone simply doesn’t stop.
You’ve Got Your Coffee All Wrong, shares Maurice Contreras at Volcanica Coffee
Just about everyone has their coffee preferences. But the truth is, most of us aren’t enjoying coffee the best it can be and we don’t even know it. The beans, the grinding, the flavor (or lack thereof).
And before you ask, nope, good coffee doesn’t need to be expensive. Actually most great coffee is more affordable than the bad stuff you’re currently drinking. True story.
But I wanted to get answers and advice from a coffee expert, so I had a conversation with Maurice Contreras from Volcanica Coffee.
Maurice Contreras, Volcanica Coffee
Native Costa Rican Maurice Contreras started Volcanica Coffee to import excellent-tasting coffee from volcanic regions, such as his homeland, to consumers. He started the company in his garage and now operates a coffee plant near Atlanta with 20 employees, including his wife and two adult children.
What is your favorite thing about coffee?
My favorite thing I like about coffee is really the flavor. That actually was how I got started. I’m from Costa Rica and for a long time I would do annual trips with the family. It was a family vacation. One of our trips we did a coffee farm tour. And just got to learn about coffee. And this is back in 2004. One of the things that dawned on me is how coffee in Costa Rica was so much better than coffee in the United States. I just didn’t understand why a 3rd world country had better coffee. The quality of coffee in the United States has really come down over several decades. So that’s when I thought that there was an opportunity to bring better tasting coffee or specialty coffee as it’s known today to the United States. That was really how it got started. It really was more about the flavor and just enjoying the richness of a Costa Rican coffee.
Is there a simple reason why first world coffee just isn’t as good?
Yeah, the general sense was because it became more of a highly produced, big production, big coffee house; and I’ll tell you a quick story. A lot of people don’t know this, the word Maxwell House, it actually is a chain of hotels. Some of them are still in existence. And so Maxwell House started from the Maxwell House Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. They served breakfast and they had really good coffee and it became really popular. It became very famous, and then eventually it became its own brand Maxwell House, and then it ended up getting acquired by corporate conglomerates. And that really good tasting coffee just turned into [not-great] coffee.
So that’s really what happened to coffee in the United States. At one time, back in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, people would really appreciate good coffee and then just kind of lost sight of what good coffee was.
From a coffee lover’s point of view, what would you say to convince them to give your coffee a try?
That coffee really is an enjoyable drink to be appreciated and enjoyed for the flavor of what it is. It’s not just something to wake you up. But really coffee and all the different varieties, there’s a lot of flavor notes, a lot of different flavors to be enjoyed. A lot of it depends upon the different regions. My recommendation is try it out and get some good coffee with some flavor notes that you enjoy. Like, for example, Ethiopian coffees, they have a lot of berry notes, a lot of fruit tones, even red wine notes. Some of those things can really open up people’s perspective on coffee.
Before we jump more into coffee, I wanted to ask you about your background as far as the work you did before Volcanica Coffee
My career was in marketing specifically I was in the wireless telephone industry. It really was just about creating a brand. I was part of the startup team at TracFone Wireless which is now a part of Verizon. I was the National Director, I created the brand. In fact, there’s still a lot of things in the brand that I created. I had a passion for marketing.
It was kinda like, “Hey, gee whiz, what if I created my own brand and just created a business?”
And so I actually was on a hunt for a couple of years thinking what would be a good business? And then I just kind of stumbled on coffee because it was staring me in the face.
There’s such a message in there. The success you’re currently riding is because you took industry knowledge of marketing, a personal passion for coffee, and took the risk of putting them together in a business start-up.
Yep, that’s true. It was a risk because I was making a good living, I had a young family, I didn’t wanna affect any of that. It was something part-time, working nights and weekends, that’s how it all started out. I
How did your family feel about that? Was there anxiety?
It was definitely a struggle and I loved spending time with them and being with them. But part of how I resolved that was I would just wake up early in the morning and spend 1-2 hours before I had to go to work doing this. I didn’t want to neglect my family and I didn’t.
There’s so many people out there who aspire to take those steps and they always find reasons not to, but you found a way. When people are drinking your coffee, they’re not just drinking delicious coffee, they’re supporting someone who took a huge chance, who followed his passions.
So segueing to the actual coffee part now.
Your website mentions coffee regions and how the region’s soil contributes to the taste. A lot of our audience who’s into food and wine will realize the terroir aspect is very familiar to that.
Can you pick two or three regions and explain their soil and how it contributes to the taste?
I’ll start with African coffees. Their soil is very unique. Coffees from Africa tend to have a lot of berry notes, a lot more flavor of fruit which is very unique and very different compared to coffees from Indonesia.
Indonesian coffees tend to be lower in acidity. Acidity provides flavor but they’re still very good tasting coffees, even though they’re lower in acidity.
Also the coffee in Indonesia, Sumatra, for example, Papua New Guinea, and even Hawaiian Kona coffees, those tend to have a lot of boldness. When you taste the cup, your mouth just tends to [recognize] that bold flavor, which you don’t get in African coffees. So those are a couple examples.
So really it is like old world wine versus new world wine. A noticeable difference in mouth feel depending on what region you’re going after.
When people ask, Hey, what kind of coffee should I buy? I always ask, what kind of flavors do you like? Start there. Then for people that are experimenting, try different coffees from different regions.
You mentioned that you’re from Costa Rica. So tell us more about the Costa Rican volcanic regions.
It’s the most popular coffee growing region in Costa Rica, the Tarrazu area, which is very mountainous, goes up to 5,000 feet above sea level south of San Jose. Very steep.
The coffee beans, because of the volcanic soil, have a lot of flavor. It’s a very mild flavor, but very flavorful as well. And because of the elevations, the beans are also very dense. They’re a harder bean. In fact, there’s a designation strictly hard bean that is used in the industry because of that.
Being from Costa Rica I came here [to the U.S.] when I was a baby. My mom would tell stories about how she would assist with her father, which is my grandfather, in the harvest. Because my grandfather was a teacher, he would work out in the rural areas of Costa Rica where the coffee bean farmers worked. They would assist during harvest time with picking coffee beans off the tree. There was the connection going back a couple generations in our family.
There has been a coffee influence throughout generations of your family.
Yes. For decades, maybe even a century, coffee was the number one product for Costa Rica. Today it’s tourism.
I’m glad you brought up tourism. We cover a lot of travel. If somebody wanted to visit Costa Rica, maybe even a specific coffee lover, is there a place you can recommend to come visit?
One of the farms that we work with actually has an Airbnb right on their plantation. We’ve had several customers that have made trips there and have gone and stayed at the house. It’s gorgeous.
More people are working from home and making coffee at home. A lot of us making coffee wrong. Can you just walk us through step by step the best way to grind and brew your coffee?
The single largest improvement in the freshness of your coffee is by grinding your beans at home. A lot of people don’t know this: buying ground coffee, because it’s in smaller particles, tends to deteriorate very quickly. So you’re not enjoying the best of what coffee can be.
So first of all, grind at home and it’s the type of grinder.
We recommend a burr grinder. The other type of grinder is a blade grinder, which is a cheap type grinder, which does not do as well as a burr grinder.
Second thing is you wanna match your grind type to how you’re brewing. So there’s different levels, how fine or how course you want the coffee. If you’re doing a French press, you want to have a coarse grind. The opposite spectrum is an espresso grind. It’s almost like very fine sand. So if you had coarse coffee and an espresso maker, you’d have a bad cup of coffee. And the opposite too. If you had a French press where you’re using espresso ground coffee, you would not have a good tasting coffee. A lot of it has to do with the extraction and this is the chemistry behind coffee.
Then in the middle of that would be like a traditional drip grind, which most people have which is a medium coarseness of a grind type. That works best to pour over or a drip grind.
Once you buy the equipment, you’re saving quite a bit of money by doing this all at home. More value and quality out of doing it at home?
Oh yeah. A cup of coffee outside can cost $3-6. At home, 50 cents per cup. Plus you’re controlling the flavor, how hot it is and how fresh it is.
How many cups do you think the average coffee person drinks per day?
The average is between one to two cups per day. Wall Street Journal says 66% of Americans have had coffee within the last day.
So with volcanic, you’ve mentioned low acid. Tell us more.
Low acid coffee is actually a natural occurrence. There’s no additives that need to be added, at least we don’t add anything to our coffee. It’s just how it’s sourced. How it’s brewed also affects acidity.
So for example, the cold brew method tends to lower the acidity of coffee. Even more than if you brewed it traditionally in a drip grinder. It benefits people who suffer from acid reflux; and different types of indigestion abnormalities can benefit from low acidic coffee just because the pH is a higher number.
We have a lot of customers thanking us because they could not drink coffee before they heard about our low acid coffee, so now they can drink coffee again.
We have a blend of different coffees called the low acid coffee, plus 12 or 15 other coffees that are also rated as low acid. We rated them, we’ve done the pH levels on all of them, and all of them fall into that category of being lower in acidity.
Volcanica has built up a really strong community on your social media avenues. What have the results been like?
We’re on all the major socials: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok. It’s very easy to find us. We take customer feedback really seriously. We’re always looking for input and ideas.
We’ll get a request [to] carry a type of coffee or coffee from a region and we’ll always look into it.
We offer 100% customer satisfaction. We take returns, even when the customer just didn’t like a coffee, which is no fault of ours.
When someone does suggest a new bean, a new region, is that an easy outreach to investigate, or is that a whole process?
It is a whole process.
What’s a great online shopping strategy for finding the right coffee beans?
Align yourself with a brand that has a quality product. Look at customer reviews, their roasting technique. Then it’s a matter of what type of coffee do you like? What flavor notes? Something mild? Berry notes? Lower in acidity?
So I go onto your website to buy some beans. What’s a safe way to pick a bean that I’ll probably enjoy?
We carry over 150 different coffees, which is a lot. Visiting our website you have to know your preferences. Having some [filtering/search ] tools out there would be beneficial to people helping the selection process, that’s actually on our roadmap for the future.
Part of the reason why we have 150 coffees is because we’ve been listening to our customers over the years.
Tell us something about Volcanico Coffee that not everyone knows.
We love to give back. We’ve been blessed, we’ve been very successful, so we donate 1% of our website sales to an organization called Charity Water. They build water projects in impoverished communities around the world. This year we’re actually sponsoring a well in Ethiopia for a particular town. We know that we buy a lot of coffee from Ethiopia and we’d love to give back to them.
What is the future of coffee?
The future of coffee is specially curated lots. We call them our “Private Collection”. Farmers that are actually fermenting their coffee with mango, peach, different types of fruits. We have a few of them right now. We’re hoping to be carrying more in the near future.
Our audience is listening right now. What would you like them to do?
If you’re interested in finding out more about coffee and experiencing coffee, start exploring. We offer a great cup of coffee. Great different flavors and varieties. We even offer decafs, flavored coffees, something for everybody.
Philly Foodies want to know, what does Plant-based Honey Pair Well With?
You keep reading about plant-based honey. The environmental story, the nutrition. But how does it taste? What can you pair it with? Let’s find out in an exclusive interview with Mellody Food’s Darko Mandich.
Darko Mandich is a food entrepreneur in San Francisco. After spending almost a decade in the European honey industry as a business executive, Darko committed to reimagining the honey industry to become sustainable. Darko immigrated from Europe to California to launch Mellody, the world’s first plant-based honey brand. Darko is an advocate of saving the bees and wild pollinators.
Mellody Food’s Darko Mandich
Recently, I had a chance to talk with Darko.
You said you are a foodie. What are some incredible food pairings that you recommend with this honey?
When I like to talk about food, I always like to join food and beverage.
What does Plant-based Honey Pair Well With?
I’ll start with beverages first. I think this honey is perfect for mocktails and cocktails. It gives just enough of sweetness that someone is looking for in their alcoholic cocktail or non-alcoholic cocktail.
Will Plant-based Honey pair well With baklava
In terms of food, I would split it into savory and sweet. Sweet applications are my favorite, I just have a sweet tooth. My favorite dessert is Baklava because it comes from the part of the world where I come from. My wife, who’s a home chef, [used our honey to make] baklava and it was amazing.
We did an amazing collaboration with an upscale Italian plant-based restaurant in San Francisco Baia. They created this amazing, vegan panna cotta with our honey on top. It was culinary mastery developed by Chef Joshua Yap, who started working with Chef Matthew Kenny, who is also a well-known, plant-based chef.
Will plant-based honey pair well with a burger
In terms of savory applications, that opens a whole new world of opportunities. How we interact with stuff like pizza and honey, burgers and honey. Obviously honey and vinaigrette and olive oil, used as a dressing for salads, honey mustard, just name it.
What’s next for Mellody? What are the next steps out there for you?
Getting into as many restaurants as possible in this country. People are inquiring about the standalone product [separate from the speciality box] get it very soon at Eleven Madison Home.
Working on getting this product to as many people as possible, and just to invite everybody to participate in this mission of creating the sustainable future of honey.
I’m just excited about every tiny step in this journey until melody becomes the word for honey.
Eleven Madison Home’s The Specialty Tea and Honey Box featuring Mellody Honey
Is the honey currently available at Eleven Madison Home?
Yeah, the honey is currently available. The Specialty Tea and Honey Box launched for the Mother’s Day collection and Earth Month.
It’s a specially curated box of artisanal teas coming from different parts of the world with honey and also amazing, shortbread cookies. All plant-based, also made with our honey. That’s available right now
Sometime very soon a standalone jar [of honey] will also be available to Eleven Madison Home.
Eleven Madison Home’s The Specialty Tea and Honey Box featuring Mellody Honey
Tell us again what’s available, how to find it; and how to follow you and support you.
Yeah, follow us on Instagram and TikTok at MellodyFoods
In terms of purchasing, head to ElevenMadisonHome.com and you can purchase it there.
Saving the bees is learning more about them. Learning more about pollinators and you can do that on our social media.
And finally, if you’re equally passionate about bees and plants as we are, ask your favorite restaurant to reach out to us to offer Mellody in your favorite restaurant. It can be a vegan restaurant on non-vegan.
We are gonna work with all the restaurants that reach out to us where people ask to see our product offered, either on the menu, either within a meal, or just if you order a cup of tea and you want a side of Mellody.
Philly Foodies curious about Plant-Based Honey Taste? Mellody’s Darko Mandich reveals the Surprise
Philadelphia knows food. Adventurous foodies, curious eaters. Plenty of people have heard about plant-based honey, but what does it actually taste like?
People might worry there’s a “laboratory” flavor? Has it lost its texture? Vibrancy? Is there a “diet” feel to it?
Exclusive Interview with Mellody Food’s Darko Mandich.
Darko Mandich is a food entrepreneur in San Francisco. After spending almost a decade in the European honey industry as a business executive, Darko committed to reimagining the honey industry to become sustainable. Darko immigrated from Europe to California to launch Mellody, the world’s first plant-based honey brand. Darko is an advocate of saving the bees and wild pollinators.
Mellody Food’s Darko Mandich
Recently, I had a chance to talk with Darko for nearly an hour.
Let’s talk about the honey. What’s the taste profile?
There are three aspects of products that people care about. Number one by far is taste. Number two is price, and number three is nutrition.
In terms of the taste, what we’re really after is the best tasting honeys that are made by bees.
The taste has to match rare honeys that you would find in parts of Europe; France, Italy. Very high quality Acacia honey, specifically.
If we talk about New Zealand, Australia, that’s Manuka honey; and we’re matching that.
So no compromise there.
Moving to the price, I grew up in poverty and I really want to make sure that everybody has access to this product at some point. But it’ll take us some time. So right now it’s premium quality, but it’s also premium price.
In terms of nutrition, we wanna do better than honey coming from bees. How? First and foremost, honey made by the bees contains a certain bacteria that’s called Clostridium. With our product, without the bees [there’s no Clostridium] bacteria.
I’m really proud to say that our product is allergen free; and that for people with allergies to honey and pollen, this is gonna be neutral.
Finally in terms of super ingredients or superfoods, our honey has more than what’s usually found in some of the honey types made by the bees.
The sugar profile is the same, the calorie content is the same, but the twist is there’s a little bit more of certain powerful active compounds that come from the plants.
That’s absolutely incredible. It’s enhanced honey. Is there a better word?
I like to call it a plant-based honey. And that category of plant-based honey is already elevated to the level of being enhanced compared to bee-made honey.
I’m really happy that Melody is starting this category. We are the world’s first plant-based honey.
There’s exactly one same sentence that we get to hear across 5,000 people that were involved in tasting this before it hit the market.
That sentence is: It’s honey.
People taste it, they’re amazed with it, and they say, “Oh my God, it’s honey.”
There are certain plant-based products that have their heart in best place in terms of mission and impact, but are just not delivering on [flavor] expectations. We just want to make sure that people across different categories of nutrition say that this is honey and that they love it.
Eleven Madison Home’s The Specialty Tea and Honey Box featuring Mellody Honey
Is the honey currently available at Eleven Madison Home?
Yeah, the honey is currently available. The Specialty Tea and Honey Box launched for the Mother’s Day collection and Earth Month.
It’s a specially curated box of artisanal teas coming from different parts of the world with honey and also amazing, shortbread cookies. All plant-based, also made with our honey. That’s available right now
Sometime very soon a standalone jar [of honey] will also be available to Eleven Madison Home.
Eleven Madison Home’s The Specialty Tea and Honey Box featuring Mellody Honey
Tell us again what’s available, how to find it; and how to follow you and support you.
Yeah, follow us on Instagram and TikTok at MellodyFoods
In terms of purchasing, head to ElevenMadisonHome.com and you can purchase it there.
Saving the bees is learning more about them. Learning more about pollinators and you can do that on our social media.
And finally, if you’re equally passionate about bees and plants as we are, ask your favorite restaurant to reach out to us to offer Mellody in your favorite restaurant. It can be a vegan restaurant on non-vegan.
We are gonna work with all the restaurants that reach out to us where people ask to see our product offered, either on the menu, either within a meal, or just if you order a cup of tea and you want a side of Mellody.
