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Philly’s Search for Love and Healing: The Orchid Book Conversation with co-authors Rocio Aquino, Angel Orengo

By Joe Winger — 8 months ago

Finding Your Power through healing: The Orchid Book Conversation with co-authors Rocio Aquino, Angel Orengo

Rocio Aquino and Angel Orengo, co-authors of “The Orchid” are, as their website shares partners in life and spirit, wanderers who found home in each other’s hearts.

Their journey together has been filled with a myriad of cultures, beliefs, and encounters with both the ordinary and extraordinary.

The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses

The story focuses on five of these women, each wrestling with unique life challenges such as closeted sexuality, career pressures, spousal abandonment, sexual abuse, eating disorders, and manipulative behavior.

As they engage with the program’s curriculum, they peel away layers of self-deception, pain, and societal conditioning, discovering that the love and solutions they seek already reside within them.

The Orchid serves as both the setting and the metaphor for their collective journey toward self-realization and empowerment.

Today’s conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit FlavRReport’s YouTube channel here.

Joe Winger:

We’re talking about The Orchid, The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.

I go to a lot of book events, and a few weeks ago in Los Angeles, I went to The Orchid’s book signing. What I was amazed by was there was so much emotion in the audience. Big smiles, happy tears.

What are we missing in our lives that your book, The Orchid, helps us recognize?

Rocio Acquino:

How beautiful [of a] question. I think, to be honest, that we are perfect already. And we forgot.

Angel Orengo:

Yeah, I think we forget that at the core life doesn’t need to be that difficult. It’s not that complicated that we allow ourselves to be complicated by the things around us, by the things that we’re told, by the way we think our lives need to be, by the number of houses, clothing, shoes – everything right that we need to have.

The moment you bring it down to the basics and you’re like, yeah, life should be simple. We are okay. We’re just learning here. We’re back. We’re like in a school and the teacher wasn’t angry because we got it wrong. On the contrary, it was just like, Oh, don’t worry. I’ll teach you.

Joe Winger:

So what I’m interpreting is, people are having these emotional realizations because they’re remembering your message that they’re perfect already?

What do you think it is about that audience interaction that your book is giving?

Rocio Acquino:

I was in the front, so I was not as intimate like you and your perspective. But what resonates with me and what I see that can resonate for someone else is that they know and they understand that they are not alone on this journey.

The struggles they are feeling are real. They feel the difficulty. Everyone at some point is [feeling] who here has a difficult path? Everyone is like me. That connection is not superficial, but it’s more in a deep way when you are in a group setting after being so disconnected really to talk about the important things that matters in life has another connection.

Angel Orengo:

We’ve gotten large amounts of feedback by now. Some people are touched by the fact that someone has written a book selflessly to help them. I know there were people that were touched very much by that.

I think you understand what that means really, it was all about how do we help the reader get to a different place, right?

Go from point A to point B, right? There are people that for the first time find themselves in an environment where they can treat themselves with some kindness, where maybe they haven’t stopped to think about that before. Because we try to block it.

It’s easier to numb pain than to experience it and let it go.

Other people are [having the realization that] it’s not that complicated. I’m just so happy that I found this now. I think it’s just all of that energy.

The energy in the room that day was really powerful. When you’re in the presence of that energy and by presence, the collective – it wasn’t us. It’s we – emotions come to the surface, and that’s how we clear emotions, and that’s how we clear energy.

Thank you for sharing that because I didn’t realize that was happening.

Rocio Acquino:

We didn’t have any idea and remember, we have two teenage daughters. They bring us back to reality really quickly at our house.

Joe Winger:

Going to the actual book itself between the characters, the descriptions, their backgrounds.

What’s real? What’s fiction? And for fiction, what inspired it?

Rocio Acquino:

Everything happened, everything is real, but never happened all together.

Angel Orengo: And not to those people.

Rocio Acquino: We know that some of the places exist and all the situations exist.

The fiction is today there is not a place that you can go for free to heal in this way. But we hope that someone will open it. Let’s hope we can do it..

Angel Orengo:

Yeah, the characters, the book is absolutely real.

Every single thing that happens there has either happened to us or happened to someone we know, or we’ve read it in the news.

The story about the model and the sexual abuse that’s real, right? It’s happening in the modeling industry now where they have gone through their own “Me too” movement.

There is a scene in which “Olivia” is doing a silent walk and she has a vision of her mother near her. [to Rocio] That’s something that has happened to you, about your own mom who passed away.

There’s a scene in which “Olivia” is speaking to her father. It was a difficult relationship and her father wasn’t the best version of a father that he could have been.

That a lot of it is after my own experience with my own father, who I met three times in my life. One of which, the longest, was five hours. So we took pieces and through the help of everyone who collaborated in the book to construct these characters that brought together all these experiences.

We wanted to write the story of Rocio, who morphed into “Sophia”, and then we realized that we wanted to tell more that we needed that in order to be of service to the people who would be reading the book, we needed to tell more stories because there are so many things happening to women out there that we don’t hear about that we wanted to do justice by representing as many of them.

That’s where it all comes from.

Rocio Acquino:

The same happened to us when we were reading, not writing the book. We were crying constantly. At one point I put it down, we were crying [so much]. Then we did it first in English and after in Spanish and then we were crying in Spanish so was like, “Okay I’m continue to heal.”

The process for us was really intense

Angel Orengo:

The experience that you’re having [the audience and reader’s emotion], everyone is sharing similar things. It’s simple, but as I’m going, I find myself thinking about things that I’ve never thought about in my own life.

I need to put them down. Sometimes it takes me a little bit before I pick it up again. So it’s like peaks and valleys of intensity.

Joe Winger:

As authors, how are you feeling now knowing that so many people are having such extreme feelings and discoveries from your pages?

Rocio Acquino:

You never know how your work is going to be received, to be honest.

Even though we have a very strict culture of not judging anyone, being totally neutral, we are going to make suggestions.

Now that people are seeing the book, it’s a pleasure, it is humbling.

Angel Orengo:

There was intentionality in what we were writing. The book came after our first year of deep introspection into who we were and how we wanted to change our lives. [We studied] a lot of self help books. At the time that we started writing, it was about how do we share this with people who normally don’t have access to information

Also for people who don’t have resources to go and spend time in a retreat for a weekend or spend $5,000 or even $500. [We thought] we should do television because this is our background. But let’s own the intellectual property, the story behind it.

[We thought] we should do television [series], but let’s own the story behind it.

So when we sit down with the people who are going to help us craft the TV show, we have a say in how it’s made. Right now what ends up happening is that people don’t think that love is powerful enough to deal with the issues that you have around you.

We think that we have to combat anger with anger or force. That’s what we’ve been raised to believe. We’ve gotten to a point where love really does conquer all, but not in the way in which we were taught.

So when we approached a book, it was, “Let’s do it with a lot of love,” we said, and if we can help one person, it’ll have been worth it.

Everyone who we are connecting with is having similar reactions so it’s humbling. We’re filled with gratitude beyond belief that we were chosen, selected, inspired to write what we wrote and to put it forth.

Not just write it, but really now be the face of it and take it to as many places as we can.

Rocio Acquino:

That’s the main point. When someone says “Thank you”, because now that means I can continue to share with more people. If more people feel better about themself, that is incredible. That’s our main point to invite everyone to our party.

If more people feel better about themself, that is incredible.

And the part is really, if you are feeling better about yourself? Great! So it’s about that.

Joe Winger:

During your book event introduction, you mentioned one of your goals is to bring The Orchid to real life. Where are we today with that goal? How can the audience help you?

Angel Orengo:

Everything in your life begins with an intention. Waking up in the morning, getting off your bed, right?

Everything is intention after intention. The first and most important thing that we want is for people to truly enjoy the book because through the enjoyment of the book, there is a transformation that’s taking place.

We now understand that the way to change the world, and even though this is not the ultimate intention is the indirect intention, we can make this place a better place to be for all of us.

It begins by me feeling better about myself, and you feeling better about yourself. And it begins by all of the things that we create.

All these things these women are experiencing in The Orchid.

To your question, the first thing is for people – and it’s happening already – to say, wouldn’t it be awesome if this place really did exist and these transformations were taking place. If one person says it, it’s a big deal.

If a million people begin to think that way, or a billion people begin to think that way. Wow. It is about the power of what we have to manifest.

In terms of The Orchid as a retreat center, I think there are versions of it throughout the world already. There are many places that exist. I think those places will be inspired when they read our book to go to a different level. We can do more to expand the way we’re doing this.

There are podcasts down the line. There are television shows that we’ve mentioned. There’s a digital community that we would like to work on and develop. There is a nonprofit because there are going to be issues that will require that approach.

We’re going to continue building this community that ultimately is going to want to continue conversations as to how I deal with this.

Even though we attempted to do a very complete seven day experience at this retreat center, the truth is that the experiences can vary greatly.

There’s so much more out there.

We only depicted a number of healers. The number of healers and healing modalities out there are endless. I believe it will happen.

We have had initial conversations with certain people about it, but I would say it’s in early stages.

I would much rather encourage everybody who is already well advanced into a retreat center to look at themselves and see if there’s anything that can be learned from ours and create their own orchid so that we can help more people around the world.

Rocio Acquino:

Yes. Take the lessons, what you learn and it really is, “How I can begin to have a conversation with someone.”

Joe Winger:

As authors, can you talk a bit about what your writing process was like? What was the timeline going from idea to finished, published book?

Angel Orengo:

We began our process for the book at the end of 2021. So it took us about two and a half years.

We’ve come across a lot of people who say, ”Wow, that’s fantastic.” It took them nine years or 10 years and so on.

We were doing this 24 hours a day for two and a half years.

We relinquished everything else that we were doing and we dedicated ourselves to our growth, our personal growth and introspection, which in itself was the core of what’s at the book and to crafting putting on paper as many of the thoughts and ideas that we had.

The first step was Rocio and I basically went back and forth. We started thinking about which things worked. At first she was the guinea pig. She was experiencing things, a lot of healing practices.

Rocio Acquino:

It’s a process. Experiencing different things, and at the beginning you don’t have it very clear, but you begin, “Okay, this was my story.”

The main thing was to teach the lessons in a very original way. When you are relaxed, when you are in your house watching TV or reading.

You begin to question, is this serving me or not? The process of putting our learnings on paper.

Everyone is a creator. We can create and create.

No one is going to have our perspective. Angel was very clear [about] what he likes in life and has never spoken bad about anyone.

In my mind, I was not like that. I was speaking bad about people. But then I learned the power that [kind of speaking] represents and now I don’t want to do it.

But it’s those lessons that you begin to learn [from]. I grew up with that different paradigm, and now that I know another one, I prefer the new one.

Because it gives me more freedom, creativity, and everything.

We put everything in place. We worked hard to make this happen because our motivation was to do a book for [the younger version of] me 32 years ago when I tried to kill myself and I didn’t have the tools and I didn’t have anything.

So this is a book that I wish my mom had before she passed away 32 years ago.

The motivation was really to spread that another way of thinking was available. So we were in a hurry, like this needs to be available for those Rocio’s, for those Pepitas who were out there, who are out there and need to have something that they can grab quick, and they can begin to see a change.

Angel Orengo:

I would add, the process of writing the book was truly experiential. It wasn’t just spitting it out, we were living certain things.

There were times we stopped the book to have an exercise of releasing energy.

What we realized as we were writing, there were things inside of us that needed to be addressed.

Whether it was an experience that happened when you were a child…

I can’t tell you the times where we were crying, deeply moved by what we were writing and reading and how that was cleaning us inside and how that was changing us.

We went through different hurdles.

For example, we realized at an early stage that the book could not be judgmental about anything. if we were going to connect with readers, right?

We had no idea that we needed to ensure that the people at the Orchid, Mary and her staff. [They] never looked at anybody and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry.” It’s more, “We know we’ve been there. You too can heal from that.”

And so all of those things emerged as we were writing.

There was intentionality and some clear ideas as to how we wanted to proceed. The truth is that we were experiencing and adjusting as we went.

Rocio Acquino:

With a lot of respect.

Angel Orengo:

With a lot of respect for each other, the people we were collaborating with, and the reader.

Joe Winger:

The book is called The Orchid: the Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.

The color scheme, it’s primarily female names, from a traditional or direct point of view, it’s geared more toward a female audience.

As the authors, trying to get a guy in a woman’s life to read it. What would you encourage them to say to get a guy to read it?

Rocio Acquino:

#1, I’ve been a woman and reading many books about guys, written by guys and I love it.

So maybe it’s time for a guy to be open minded. I can do this and I can read a book about women.

#2, it’s incredible to go in the deepest way of thinking of women. So try to understand how they work and what they are thinking. This is a fantastic opportunity. It has so many good sides because you want to have a better understanding of your mom, of your sister, your girlfriend, your wife, your daughters.

Then you’ll have a better way of how women relate to each other, but how do they relate to themselves, and how you can be an ally in their process.

Angel Orengo:

Recently I was writing a brief article for a fraternity that I belong to and I was very active when I was in college.

Essentially the article is to inspire them to read this book. The issues that we talk about, whether it’s sexuality, limiting beliefs, the power of forgiveness, the power of gratitude or any of the other issues that the women who are there are speaking of, they’re universal.

They’re not gender based, right?

So any opportunity that you have or that you give yourself to relate to those issues, it’s an opportunity to grow.

I think for men for far too long, we’ve defined masculinity as “the absence of emotion” or perhaps the “existence of physical strength.”

More and more we’re finding out about emotional intelligence, right?

That emotions in general and our ability to share them to be vulnerable is powerful and can only enhance the people that we are.

I would say be open minded. The issues are truly for everybody. You can learn a thing or two, not just about yourself, but about the women in your life.

It’s and it could be really powerful. Plus let’s face it, the better we communicate with one another, the better we relate to one another across genders the better our community is going to be, and we need more community in the world.

I think if anything has shown us, and this is true at any time, right?

Every person you speak to, we’re all longing for community. We need connection. We need to connect more with each other.

Rocio Acquino:

Deep connection, not superficial.

Joe Winger:

The book is called The Orchid, The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses.

Wrapping up, for people out there who want to buy the book after hearing about it, Whether it’s websites, social media, how can we follow you? How can we buy the book?

Rocio Acquino:

There are so many ways right now. We have a website: TheOrchidBook.com

You can find the book in English and Spanish.You can buy it on Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, Apple, and we have the audiobook too.

And the exercise, if you want to do a book club with your friends, you can do some exercise that are on the website.

Instagram, Facebook YouTube, TikTok. All @TheOrchidBook_

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Upgrading Your Philly House? Start by Choosing Your Best Mattress in 2023

By Phil Moreno — 1 year ago

Upgrading Your Home? – Your Best Mattress in 2023

Reviewed and revealed. Time for you to find your mattress in 2023. Most of us spend a third of our lives asleep. Science says it’s how we repair, recharge and dream. With hybrid work or work from home, we sometimes rest more. Some of us work from our bed.

You’re moving? You upgraded your house? Either way, it’s time for a new mattress. And a lot of changed since the old days of mattress shopping. Even if “the old days” was just 5 years ago.

Big changes. Real science upgrades depending on sleep position, body type, health conditions, body temperature, temperature of the room and flexibility, adaptability of all of these variables.

It’s a lot of decisions that you probably don’t want to research. You just want an awesome night’s sleep.

So we did the mattress research for you

Brooklyn Bedding’s Signature

What’s the best mattress overall?

Brooklyn Bedding’s Signature is pretty amazing. The Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid is the brand’s flagship bed.

The mattress offers three firmness options, a strong steel coil foundation layer, a comfy “give” that rests your aching bones, strong and durable hybrid construction.

Their hybrid mattress (a bed made with coils and foam) offers a neutral-foam feel that’s more light and airy than traditional memory foam. It also offers improved edge support, thanks to a thick layer of pocketed coils with reinforced coils around the edges of its support bed.

Accommodating for all body types and even suits any sleeping position.

If you time it right (they have sales), it’s surprisingly affordable.

Price is usually closer to $1200, but with the right timing (discounts), you can sleep well for under $1000.

Layla Hybrid mattress

Best Mattress for Side Sleepers

Layla Hybrid mattress is special! Generations ago, flippable mattresses were popular and the Layla brand is bringing back the trend. So yes, it’s flippable and both sides offer different firmness levels – so yes, you have two choices to pick from to match your personal preference. One side is soft and pressure relieving while the other is firmer and more supportive.

Also, Layla’s primary comfort layers are made with copper-gel memory foam which helps regulate temperature, while the material feels ultra light and airy. This is more responsive than the foam’s traditional slow-bouncing nature.

The Layla Hybrid is ultra plush and soft. Indulgently comfortable. A. great choice for side sleepers of all body shapes and sizes.

The Layla Hybrid comes in a range of sizes: twin to California king sizes and prices range from $1,299 to $1,899.

Saatva Classic

Best Firm Mattress

The Saatva Classic offers both plush comfort with premium support. Its thick and supportive construction provides contouring that fits each of your body’s curves. Unique from most hybrid beds, it offers two coil layers (one innerspring layer and one pocketed coil layer), memory foam, Lumbar Zone Active Spinal Wire and a quilted, zoned pillow-top add to a luxury experience. Designed to promote comfort and spinal alignment.

The innerspring mattress hybrid construction is the magic behind why this bed is so supportive and firm.

The Saatva Classic’s special lumbar technology is designed to keep your spine aligned while comforting your shoulders and hips.Also allows you to choose how firm you want your firm bed to be.

The Saatva Classic comes in sizes twin XL to split California king and prices range from $887 up to $2,296.

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Is Philly ready for new Milk? These Noodles? We asked Chris Langwallner from WhatIf Foods

By Phil Moreno — 1 year ago

Is Philly ready for new Milk? These Noodles? We asked Chris Langwallner from WhatIf Foods

WhatIF Foods believes in a better better.

Tasty, delicious foods that are better for our bodies, better for our taste buds and farmer buds alike. Better for degraded lands, our eco-systems and naturally… better for cows.

Today I had the chance to have a conversation (via zoom) with WhatIF Food’s Chris Langwallner to talk about inspiration, their foods, their flavors and the science and technology making it all happen.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. For the full conversation visit our YouTube channel.

Today we are here with Chris Langwallner from What If Foods. Thanks for joining us today.

Absolute pleasure. I cannot thank you enough. It’s fantastic to be here and letting our story get out a little bit. So thank you very much. I’m excited because it’s gonna be a lot of fun.

We’re talking about plant-based foods, we’re talking about planet based foods and for a “better-better” world. I’m hoping you’ll clarify that for us.

I look forward to it. Yes, it’s all about a planet based food company. It’s all about regenerating. It’s all about reconnecting to communities, restoring the greater land, and making sure that we are replenishing the nutrients we need on a day-to-day basis.

What inspired you to get into plant-based food?

To be honest with you, as a planet based company I think what really inspired me to get into a better way of doing things is actually a call out of my grandfather.

He has been always saying, leave this planet a better world than how you found it. When I was a young boy, I couldn’t understand. It was too abstract. I couldn’t really get my head around. But as I was then working in the industry for 20, 25 years you look behind the scenes, and you see how food is being manufactured on large scale and how profitability over shadows a lot of decision making.

And on the other flip side of the coin, there is a community out there, about 2.6 billion people. This planet makes a direct income or an indirect income from farming activities. And the vast majority, more than two thirds of these people are the poorest of the poor. And we are leaving them behind. And that’s not fair to them because what we have on the plates has been harvested by them.

They take care of their land. And if we leave them behind in the current state of affairs We’ll see many tears in their eyes. And it doesn’t have to be that way. It can be totally different. And hence my strife was really to look at the planetary health and its affairs as well as humanity overall.

And thinking about that must be a better way of doing things and how can we improve it, not incrementally, but really make a system change. And here we are basically inspired by my grandfather.

On your website, you take some very science-based heavy content and you make it fun and easy. Talk about that process.

It’s a team effort. Honestly, there’s a huge team behind the scenes that works tirelessly on improving our communication and our style and our tone. But the essence of it all is that we understand that Gen Zs and today’s youth are essentially those consumer groups that are on this planet.

Probably the first sort of generation that is fully educated in sustainability. And they have their ability today by one click of a button to really look behind the scenes and understand whether or not there is BS or whether or not there’s transparency, there’s honesty, and there is a different approach to things.

So that is one aspect of things. So we wanted to really make sure we are speaking to the youth on this planet. The second aspect of it all is that, You open your social media feeds today, or you open a media channel, you switch on your television and you are bombarded with bad news, after bad news.

And quite frankly, I have worked in universities and with students and I have been shocked by the fact that people, young guys, talk to me, ‘Hey, I don’t care about sustainability. I don’t care about our planet because it’s so crappy. Everything is so bad. I might as well just enjoy the time span I have on this planet.’

And I was shocked in contrast to what my grandfather told me. Today’s youth, some of them, not all, a fraction of them think like that. Or in other words I met this young girl and she says, I don’t know if I want to have children. Because I don’t know whether or not I would like to give birth to people that then inherit a planet that is so hot.

And all of that together was just making me restless and I wanted to really change things and and take this finite time span that I have on this planet to try as hard as I possibly can to leave it better than I found it. And that’s what I strive for. Hence we’re speaking with a fun and engaging voice.

We are speaking with colors and we are speaking with cartoons so that we basically get this heavy message across in an uplifting way and saying, Hey, you can be part of something. That actually does the opposite. It’s not grim. Yes. If we change, we can make this. We’re a better place and here we are.

Thanks for the call out. The credit goes to my team.

As we segue into the products themselves, what I wanna highlight is this BamNut Is that the nickname for the Bambara Groundnut?

Yeah, so we came up with Bamnut as a short version, as an acronym for the Bambara Ground Nut, which in reality is a legume, a legume that helps us fix nitrogen organically in soils that are essentially degraded and left behind by intensive agriculture.

The Bamnut word came about in Singapore. We actually did not quite know when we started using it. We didn’t quite know how the Americans would pronounce it. And then we found out, alright, it’s the Bamnut. So it all turned out to be so witty and entertaining and just perfect fit for a “better, better” to be honest.

Because that’s a main ingredient in all of your food. Let’s talk about what is a BamNut. Why is it magical and unique?

I was walking through the world of agro food over the past 20 years, and I’ve always been hugely concerned about the massive speed of land degradation, particularly on arid land.

And that’s getting accelerated because of climate change; and the weather is changing; and the rains and the monsoons are not hitting regularly anymore. So it becomes increasingly more difficult to plant, the planting season to make sure that you are having the seeds in the ground before the rains hit them and so on and so forth.

So it becomes really challenging for folks. So land turpitation has always been a huge concern of mine because another, on the flip side of that, we are losing about 25 soccer fields worth of arid land every minute, while at the very same minute, the same amount of primary forests have been cut down.

So if you compare and contrast these two figures, what it tells me is that in order to make way for the old food industry, we actually cut primary forest and we leave land behind. And that is the wrong thing to do. That is one aspect of things.

The other aspect of things is I had once the fantastic opportunity to have an interview with Dr. Roy Steiner of the Rockefeller Foundation. And he gave a casual shoutout and he said, nowhere in the world do we produce and consume enough legumes. And I was thinking, why does he say that? But then it’s quite obvious if you think it through, because we are depending so much on crops that the land that basically holds the crops is deprived from organic nitrogen fixing crops like the legumes, and in the absence of nitrogen being fixed through the legumes, we throw endless amounts of synthetic fertilizers on the ground in order to make up for it.

That’s an aspect of things that also worried me. But today the input costs have gone through the roof is it unravels all over the world and it has gotten more and more expensive to do so the degrading of land in one pocket, I was basically going through my work with that sort of lens.

Then there’s this whole water issue. We are big time irrigating crops, but what does that do? It just slows down the loss of water tables because the moment we take water out of the ground, the water tables are collapsing. I have numbers for that. I had a business in India a long time ago, and it used to be 30 meters, and today it’s probably 90 to 120 meters.

So water is basically a huge issue. There was another lens through which I looked at, and then I was at a conference in Jakarta, and I happened to run into a scientist. He said to me that he works on the Bambara groundnut. It’s a complete crop. I thought, “Oh, that’s interesting. So what does that mean?”

And I started to really explore that much more deeper. And a complete crop turns out to be essentially a crop that has all micronutrients in the sort of right balance that we need. On top of it, it has all nine essential amino acids that we need. It has rich fatty acids, quality fatty acids, as well as car complex carbohydrates. So fiber.

You remember the forgotten macronutrient fibers for our microbiomes? So I got really inspired. So I looked up the amino acid profile and I saw it is rich in plutonic acid or spartic acid. So these are very cool amino acids in terms of generating nice flavors. And off I was; I organized the first couple of five kilos and the trial started, and that’s years and years ago.

In the meantime, the Bambara groundnut actually taught us a few lessons because it’s a very hearty nut and it really takes an effort to make cool products outta it.

It’s called a complete product, is that correct?

A complete food. A complete crop or complete food crop.

Right now all of the products on your website are based from BamNut. I see Bam Nut milk. I see noodles with seasonings, and then there’s bundles and swag and all kinds of delicious things.

In the future, are we expanding that beyond or what’s the scope?

We would love to explore new categories as we build our business. There are so many occasions throughout the day where we can actually incorporate the bambara ground in exciting products, and we look forward to doing that.

Our focus right now is definitely our milk portfolio. It’s a wonderful product. I encourage everybody to have a little taste and Judge for yourself. We have a client in Los Angeles, a coffee roaster, who said ‘This is the closest thing to cow milk that I’ve ever seen in plant-based milk.’

We call it planet based milk. I have to say again, shout out to my team in the R&D side of things because they have established a wonderful product essentially with just three ingredients: that’s water, the bambara groundnut, not coconut oil. The rest is essentially technology behind the scenes that actually makes it foam nicely, very stable foam, small bubbles. So you can do latte art.

Our Airy [flavor] is essentially the one that I would use for a nice drink, like a shake.

In between there is the Every Day [flavor] that goes essentially into my cereal in the morning.

What are the flavors?

Today we are in the market with three different products.

The first one in a slightly black sort of packaging is the Barista. It has the richest mouthfeel. It is the creamiest. We have designed it to perform fantastic or be able to perform fantastic latte art. So it really goes into the cappuccino sort of an experience rather nicely.

I personally take it also for Boba tea. I might as well use the bambara groundnut and foam it up.

I have my little trick with the barista. I actually froth it in the frother and I put my espresso shot into the frother with the barista together. So I froth it together. But that is just me. I just like it that way.

Then we have the purple package, which is our Everyday. My wife uses it in baking. We do make cakes, like traditional Austria style, and we totally use only the Everyday [flavor] for that.

Friends of mine [pour] it into their cereals in the morning. It’s a little bit richer, earthy, nutty in character because we do tend to roast the nuts a little bit stronger in the process of making it.

Last but not least, we have our Airy [flavor], which is the lightest one of it all. It is the mint colored package. It is the one that people take into milkshakes and protein shakes.

Let’s move on to Noodles

We wanted to create technologies that help us regenerate what’s broken. And today a large portion of all ramen that is being consumed on a day-to-day basis globally is deep fried in palm oil. Palm oil leaves huge banks of land degraded behind, particularly after the third cycle of palm plantations being grown.

We see the aftermath of the palm plantation industry essentially now in Southeast Asia. Therefore we were alerted when we started this project to basically say no to frying and no to deep frying and no, to essentially dehydrating instant noodles or ramen using that sort of process.

So we invented a technology that actually took that sort of challenge away. We invented an industrial scale air frying technology. Once you actually don’t fry anymore, you save about 20% of the space because 20% of palm oil is [based] in the noodle product of classic ramen. That’s what it absorbs in the frying process.

So if you don’t deep fry, you save 20%. Now nutrients will survive. Now colors may survive. Then we replaced all the palm oil with the Bambara.

We started to actually say, how can we bring color and different flavors and textures on the plates of consumers? And we created these four different products with the four different colors, which is essentially the black one, which is charcoal driven, moringa is green, pumpkin is orange and the original is yellow.

So four different options, all the same philosophy.

The backbone of making it is the same, but then we add different nutrients to it to have fun, and then we add fancy seasonings to it, which makes just a nice flavor experience as well.

Our audience is passionate, hungry, curious, foodies. What does it actually taste like?

I’m extremely proud of our Noodles because even without the seasonings, you can cook them up and eat them and you will have a wonderful experience.

Try and contrast that with other ramen that you find in the market, and you will come back to our offering immediately because they’re just tasting nice.

So our starting point of then adding the seasonings to it, like hot and spicy, or the mushrooms is an easy undertaking. It is actually an easy sort of concept to work with because if you have a neutral and nice taste to start with from the noodle base, you can build interesting flavor profiles on top.

Rather than having to use heavy flavors to mask off-flavor from a product base, or not so nice processes or even crappy raw materials. We don’t have that challenge.

We also decided very early on to keep the salt at a minimum to stay away from any flavor enhancers. No MSG, we’ve tried to keep it as clean as we possibly can.

We’ve tried to use as much spice as we can access. No flavoring and stuff like that. I’ve been in that industry for over 20 years. We thought let’s stay honest, to the product as well, to the noodles as well. And that has been a fantastic journey.

Our “Original, is a hot and sweet, hot and spicy pairing. In Southeast Asia, it’s based on wok cooking. That’s my personal favorite. I eat it on salads with a little bit of a balsamico dressing

We have with Sesame Garlic, many kids who go for a green one.

Pumpkin with the traditional Indian curry offer a great pairing. Watch out, it comes hot and spicy. Typical Indian flavors.

Last but not least is our charcoal with mushrooms. It’s fantastic for, if you go out to have a beer and come home and wanna have a bite, go for it. It’s a good one.

How did you decide which flavors to choose? Was it a lot of trial and error?

There’s a lot of trial and error. There’s a lot of pairing up with our noodles.

What we have tried to do is really look into what are the best pairings for these sort of flavors.

From that point of view, we also wanted to stay with our seasonings. We wanted to stay essentially planet based. None of our ingredients have any animal derived products in it.

You look at the charcoal, you cook it up, you eat it, you give it to a chef, let him experiment around.

We had a Spanish chef take our charcoal and put it into a paella. All of a sudden there was a totally different sort of recipe.

The way we actually derived the final products has also a lot to do with people that actually use it day-to-day in the kitchen and learn from them.

What’s the future of WhatIf foods?

We are going to enter new categories of food and we are gonna expand our existing categories with new products.

But I probably would love to use the opportunity to take you along on a more philosophical sort of journey for WhatIf foods and what comes hopefully in the next couple of years to come, because I think we have a better opportunity that needs doubling down now.

What I’m talking about is really the cost of the way we are making everything right from originating bambara groundnut, with partnering farming communities in all parts of Ghana. Encouraging them, making the ingredients ourselves, and then making the food applications, making the food, and then basically taking it to retail all the way through to Manhattan and other parts of the US.

So it’s that entire regenerative value chain that we have created and what that actually represents to us is an opportunity to really explore the intersection between soil health and restoring the soil that has been once degraded from intensive agriculture.

It is that intersection of renewable energy because the Bambara groundnut now grows in a shell and hence the shell has energy in there and can be used in order to fire up essentially for power.

If you do that smartly, you generate biochar. With biochar, you then actually sequester carbon from the atmosphere into the soils permanently for hundreds, if not a thousand years to come.

And last but not least, another intersection is wellbeing for consumers. We call them “Better Believers” as well as farming communities because we work with them directly.

We are proud of the fact that we have increased profit, not income; profit of farmers who work with us by 300%.

At 2.5 acres, these farmers are permanently uplifted above the poverty line. That’s the intersection we really wanna double down to. Again, soil health, renewable energy, carbon sequestration.

Well-being for both the better believers as consumers, as well as the farming communities. Its possible and we’re looking forward to doing that on a large scale. If we wanna fulfill the demand that we hopefully can create, then we will probably need about 20,000 farmers to do that in the next five to ten years to come.

And then generate all the energy that we need internally to be there for carbon zero. Even further carbon or maybe even participate in the carbon market through certificates. That’s our next challenge. That’s where we wanna go.

Find more about What If Foods on their website

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Adventure and Family: Perfect Father’s Day Gift ‘Near Death Lessons’ from Chris Jankulovski

By Contributor — 2 years ago

Fathers Day is coming up and every family is searching for Dad’s perfect gift. Chris Jankulovski’s book Near Death Lessons offers story of family, adventure, motivation, and life lessons.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Chris Jankulovski (via zoom) to talk about his Father’s Day wishes, business success, family, health concerns, empowerment and more.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Watch the full conversation on our Youtube channel.

Congratulations on your new book, Near Death Lessons.

Thank you. Been a journey to get it out there, but I am so honored and privileged to do this work.

It is an inspiring and a motivating book, and I would say equally important is not only is it inspiring and it’s motivating, but for somebody who wants to break-through, you actually give us the lessons that you use to accomplish it so we can follow those lessons as well.

What was the hardest part of writing the book for you?

Friends tell me, Chris, you gotta write a book, man. Seriously, you’ve got some wild stories. It almost killed me when the tumor bursted in my head. I couldn’t walk, couldn’t talk. I was in bed for three months.

I knew that the moment I could stand upright, I wanna write a book for my sons. I want them to know who their father was. Because yet again, I just confronted a serious adversity where 60% of people normally die on the operating table. I somehow survived it. I’m the lucky 40%, and I just had my operation one month before the birth of my second son, Billy. And I wanted my six year old and my new son to know who their father was.

I’ll give you a timeline. We’ll plot it all, and then we’re gonna give it to a ghost writer who’s gonna somehow be able to direct our story. Then we’ll put the muscles in it, and then we’ll build it all up.

And that’s the journey I went on until I gave it to an editor who completely shut it down and it took me about a a year to correct everything. No kidding.

Okay. So how long from the moment you started with your writer through the editing process, what was the timeline from inception to on the shelf?

Oh wow. So the first year after my brain operation, I’m still writing this book. A year later, I’m in the pool, rehabilitating [with the book notes] still in front of me.

I’ve got this diagnosis of doctors telling me, Chris, you gotta have these cancers removed asap. They’ve taken off. I don’t know if your kidney is gonna survive removing six cancers. You might be on dialysis. Doom and gloom.

I’ve just gone on a journey of learning how to walk and talk for eight months. I’ve got so many defects going on.

My tongue didn’t half work. I couldn’t even talk. It was affecting my speech. So I’m there in this scenario and at the height of my worst moment in life, I’ve got this outlook. That’s a disaster.

'Near Death Lessons' by Chris Jankulovski

I’m trying to run in the pool because I’m learning how to walk properly and I’m about to confront this adversity again.

I’m thinking: Why am I buying a future that no one knows? This is all just estimates, predictions, guesswork. I don’t have to accept this. What if I dare hope that the best is yet to come? Why don’t I look forward to the life ahead of me? That it’s the best?

And that was the most pivotal moment in my life because, I went from a $4 million house to a $16 million house.

Eight months later, I go off to double my business from 8 million to 16 million. I go off to do all these things, and now I’m in America taking it to another level.

I was in the hospital room, that’s year one by the way. I bargained for my life because things were not looking good, that’s when I decided to take my story public.

And since the moment I’ve taken the story public. I wrote the book initially because I didn’t want to give any advice to my sons because I didn’t want them to hate me from the grave. I didn’t wanna just share my story. I wanted to share the lessons.

I wanted to share the things that have transformed my life. So I hired a resilience consultant, and I said to her, can you please read my book? Put a spotlight on how I respond to adversities compared to a more common response because I just keep bouncing back stronger.

She read my book five times. We ended up having 26 zoom sessions, and then from that we unearthed 11 distinctions. We gave those to instructional designers which then they came back to me with the five life lessons that I shared in the book.

That’s a heck of a journey. Tell us about some of the diagnoses you’ve had all the way back from your teenage years.

So at the age of 19, we went to a specialist clinic to understand what was causing tumors in my eyes. The doctor was puzzled. There was this new genetic testing going on. So I had the genetic test done. I [was diagnosed] with Von hippel-lindau syndrome. A hereditary condition, means maybe your mom and dad have got it. I go, no one’s got it, okay?

The average life expectancy is 30 years, so you’re probably gonna have a short life and you’ve probably got cancers now.

I was like, what? I’m gonna be dead by 30. What do you mean? That was my brutal wake up call and I went to my car and I cried.

I couldn’t relate to anyone with this problem. I told my parents, I told my friends, I couldn’t connect with anyone about this. I just decided to ignore it. I thought if I pretended deep down I never got this, perhaps it would disappear.

So that’s what I did. I ignored it from the ages of 19 to 32 when my first brain tumor finally caught up. And when it did, it almost killed me. It was so big – five centimeters. I had to contour my body to go to the toilet and had these weird electric shocks running down my spine.

When I got the operation, I transformed. I looked at the sky and I said, God, kill me. I’ve had enough of living this victim life. I’ve had enough of being disempowered, always reacting to my circumstances.

I choose to focus on life. I choose whatever happens. I’m gonna choose to make the most of whatever life I have, but I’m not living like that anymore. So that was a pivotal moment.

I’m now 50, so I’ve had a good run for the last six years. At age seven, my appendix burst, almost killing me. Two weeks in hospital. At the age of 21, I almost drowned.

But one of the first times I crossed over, out of body kind of experience and a different time dimension was a few years later, 25, when I woke up [during] an eye surgery, I felt the needles sliding on my eye, like on an egg, and they’re poking in.

I woke up and flatlined. I was looking down at myself. I could see the machine flat-lining until everything went white. And then I felt like I was in a different time dimension. I just felt ‘Whoa. Where am I? Let’s go. Hey, I’m not going anywhere. It’s my sister’s wedding soon. And then I snapped back into life again with the nurses all about to zap me.

So that was at 25 and then at 32 is the brain tumor. And then two months later was the removal of my right kidney because it was occupied by cancers. Some as large as four and a half, five centimeters. Which is way too dangerous. They’re all very aggressive..

The reason why I called that a near death experience as well is because I survived my cancer battle and it didn’t spread. It killed my dad, it didn’t kill me. And then two years later, I had to remove four large cancers from a remaining left kidney.

A decade later, another six cancerous kidneys. Before that one was the second brain operation to remove two tumors in my head, and that was the most serious.

Let’s talk about a deliberate life. You mentioned it in your book, what does a deliberate life mean to you and what are the main steps? How do we get there?

I have nearly died, came back to life, and every time that happens, it’s like a reset button in my heart.

Everything’s up for grab: my values, my behaviors, my patterns. Because I’m back again. You go through many of these experiences.

Everything you’ve been holding true gets re-evaluated, and therefore, all of it – fears, insecurities, all gets washed away. And what remains is what’s most important and true. For me, every time I go through these experiences, I get an onion layer experience. I get more to the core of who I am and who we are.

All of us, including me, are remarkably powerful. I can’t believe the more I get to me and the core of my authentic me, the more energy, the more light, the more vibrancy, the more drive, the more of everything is there.

I’ve always been spending money looking for advice and solutions outside myself. Deep down, the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my life was when I meditated in silence for three weeks in India. Silence. Every time I nearly died, I’d go into this black void. Vibrancy, energy, and I don’t understand why I’m still consciously pressing, but then when I return, now I know I’m gonna say something really taboo, but life and death coexist in my mind because when I close my eyes and I’m in this black void, if I can meditate to a point where I’m outside of my sense of skin, brain patterns, feelings, and just be presently alert of my awareness.

Man, that’s the same space I go to when I’m in a different time dimension. Hence why I believe that life and death coexist and that fuels me. That just fuels me even more because our mortality is what should fuel all of us. Why? Who are we to take our time for granted here?

This drop of time that we have here, how selfish of us to be caught up in our own doubts and fears and insecurities. We are so much more than that.

There is just this magic and energy in us that wants to drive. Follow that drive, follow that energy. Don’t restrict it. It communicates in feelings and glimpses of vision.

I live a deliberate life because of these adversities, and I keep coming back to life. I wanna optimize. If I’ve got anxiety. If I was to listen to Steve Jobs, live as if it’s your last day of life. I get anxiety. I can’t be strategic, I can’t plan. I’m always challenged every year with my scans.

So the way I play this game is every year when I get a MRI scan for my brain and spine and kidneys and all this stuff. When I get the results of those scans towards the end of the year, I see them as a certificate to go live life to the fullest. So I get this scan results. I go, yes, I’ve got a free run. Then that following year, I’m bolting. I’m a hundred percent, I’ve got one more year to live. I see every year as if it’s another year to live.

What I’ve realized over 30 years of doing this is, I can’t live deliberately, so I can’t live my life to the fullest every year unless I’m living deliberately and I can’t live deliberately unless I have clarity with what I wanna do, because otherwise I’m spending time on all these things that aren’t important.

I linked my goal to an image and I put it on a board because visually I know that the only way my subconscious relates to this is by image and feeling. Now, I know people call it vision boards, but they’ve got it all wrong. You gotta really link an image to a goal. That image needs to excite you. That simple solution allowed me to focus my energy throughout the whole year towards these things.

You offer a ‘free gift’ in your book. Can you give us a sneak peek of what it is?

Since I’m talking about life so much and living life to the fullest I wanted to show people the 10 things that were often affecting me and stopping me from living a life to the fullest.

What does success mean to you? It’s different for everyone and so is living life to the fullest. But, for people who are driven, success-oriented, ambitious people, they would relate mostly to this because that’s who I am.

I wanna spend more time with my family. I wanna smell the roses. I wanna see how far I can go and I wanna see the kind of impact I can make because I don’t wanna just pass and it never even be known that I even existed.

So living life to the fullest means you are embracing your true power. You are embracing and optimizing your most important resource, your time. You are embracing the fact that you’ve got an ability to create.

So if we can do these simple things, we can achieve our dreams. That’s as simple as that. If we’ve got the right mindset, if we stop responding to life as if we have got no control, if we are always victims of it, I’ve been thrown these incredible blows from the universe.

So many battles outside of my control. I refuse to not take responsibility. I actually take responsibility. Look, the tumors happen genetically, but I take responsibility. It’s a game. Okay? It’s just a game. It’s a game of self-empowerment.

Chris Jankulovski’s book, Near Death Lessons on sale at Amazon now.

If we want more from you, where do we find you? What’s your website? Where do we find you on social media?

I’m building ChrisJankulovski.com and then you’ll be able to access other things.

What does the future look like for you? What are you gonna be up to next?

I’m developing my personal brand and what that represents to the world. What that represents to the American people. What I strive to do in terms of impacting..

I’ll be working very heavily on my business, but I’ll also be putting myself out there to meet people, to talk to people and more media of course.

When I said I’m gonna inspire millions, this is the deal. And that deal isn’t just writing a book. That deal is to connect with people. One-on-one or in groups or to speak, and not because I’m looking to become a speaker, but because I’m looking to deliver this incredible energy, this incredible passion, this incredible lessons and distinctions with no bullshit on what gets results and how what you gotta do to optimize your most important time here on Earth.

Chris, I wish you huge success with the book Near Death Lessons. I think there’s so many lessons about either launching a new life or breaking through. It’s a great New Year’s. Gift and a great Father’s Day gift.

Thank you mate.

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You’ve Got Your Coffee All Wrong, shares Maurice Contreras at Volcanica Coffee

By Gerry Jones — 2 years ago

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.

Website: https://volcanicacoffee.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gourmet.coffee.beans

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VolcanicaCoffee

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/volcanicacoffee

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Philly loves Italian Wines – Incredible time at ‘Charming Taste of Europe’ Holiday Dinner

By Joe Wehinger — 2 years ago

Italian Wines poured for ‘Charming Taste of Europe’ at Holiday Dinner

Italian wines can be the preferred choice for the holidays or equally suited for every day drinking, whether tasted alone or paired with a meal.

Old World history, diverse varietals and styles to match every dish and palette, and are surprisingly affordable – especially compared to wines of similar prestige.

Lincoln Ristorante hosts Italian Wines from Charming Taste of Europe

Tonight’s dinner takes place at Lincoln Ristorante beside NYC Lincoln Center’s reflecting pool and iconic Henry Moore sculpture.

Hosted by Italian Wine Expert Susannah Gold for Vini D’Abruzzo, Kavala Coop, Sweet Bordeaux and the European Union.

The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Kavala (Kavala COOP) was founded in 1927. Today it has 500 members that include producers from the provinces of Kavala, Nestos and Thassos.

Lincoln Center’s iconic Henry Moore sculpture

Lincoln Ristorante offers an authentic interpretation of Italian cuisine by sourcing the best local ingredients, relying on local farmers, Tucker Square Greenmarket and importing from Italy. Then preparing the menu with authentic Italian methods.

They honor traditional Italian dishes making their own fresh pastas, grissini, and focaccia.

Lincoln Ristorante offers an authentic interpretation of Italian cuisine

Enjoy! It’s from Europe

We’re tasting Italian wines with our holiday dinner.

With over 36,000 hectares (138 miles) of vineyard space and producing 3.5 million hectoliteres (350 million liters) each year, viticulture is one of Italy’s strongest agriculture industries.

Nearly 80% of grape growing and wine activity takes place in Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.

There’s a truly impressive amount of quality wine coming from the area. 200 private wineries and 40 cooperatives in Abruzzo’s Chieti province.

Italian Wines from Charming Taste of Europe

Nearly 80% of grape growing and wine activity takes place in Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.

Abruzzo’s Wine

The region has a variety of wine producers, something for every palette, pairing, and budget.

There are 2 DOCG: Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane Docg and Terre Tolesi or Tullum DOCG.

There are 7 DOCs: Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Doc, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Doc, Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Doc, Abruzzo Doc, Villamagna Doc, Controguerra Doc, Ortona Doc

And there aerie 7 IGT: Colline Pescaresi Igt, Colline Teatine Igt, Colline, Frentane Igt, Colli del Sangro Igt, Del Vastese or Histonium Igt, Terre di Chieti Igt, Terre Aquilane or Terre de L’Aquila Igt

The Abruzzo region has a variety of wine producers: 2 DOCG, 7 DOCs, 7 IGT

Chieti is the most popular area with more than 75% of vineyards

The production areas are mostly in the hills and the coast.

The Chieti province is the most popular area with more than 75% of vineyards and 83% of production.

With quite a bit less, Pescara and Teramo, each account for about 10% of the vineyards, and 10% and 6%,respectively of production

L’Aquila is most modest area, with less than 4% of vineyards, and 1% of production.

The Scope of Italian Wines from Charming Taste of Europe

Italian Wines Pour 'Charming Taste of Europe' at NYC's Lincoln Center Holiday Dinner

The Chieti province is the most popular (75%), but other areas include Pescara and Teramo (10%) and L’Aquila (less then 5%)

Nic Tartaglia with Italian Wines from ‘Charming Taste of Europe’

Nic Tartaglia is a leader in the area with Tartaglia Farm in the little village Alanno, which is part of Pescara, 1010 feet above the sea level, within a 30 miniature drive of the Adriatic sea and the Appenini mountain range.

Winters are cold with plenty of snow, and summers are cool and sunny. Their aggressive climate, with clay grounds and limestone grounds encourage grapes that bring rich aromas, color and high sugar.

Perfect for Italy’s popular wine: Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo and Pecorino, and even more: Chardonnay and Cabernet.

Lincoln Ristorante Charming Taste of Europe Holiday dinner menu

Dinner begins – Italian Wines from ‘Charming Taste of Europe’

Long Island Fluke Crudo

First Course

Choice of…

Long Island Fluke Crudo

Pomelo, herbs, Pistacchio, Espelette, Meyer lemon, fried shallots

Misticanza Salad

Red Endive, White endive, Piedmontese dressing, toasted walnuts, crispy guanciale, gorgonzola dressing

Wine: Nic Tartaglia Trebbiano d’Abruzzo DOC 2021

On the nose, notes of pear and plum. Full body, good acidity and lingering finish. Would pair with grilled vegetables.

Risotto: Arugula pesto, Prosciutto di Parma, Filone Garlic Crostino, Maldon salt

Primi Course

Risotto

Arugula pesto, Prosciutto di Parma, Filone Garlic Crostino, Maldon salt

Fontefico La Canaglia Pecorino d’Abruzzo Superiore DOC 2021

Wine: Fontefico La Canaglia Pecorino d’Abruzzo Superiore DOC 2021

This golden-hued beauty has a full body and refreshing minerality. Balsamic and herbal notes lead to floral hints, with grapefruit on the finish. Would pair well with a light dish and gravy or meat sauce.

Dry Age strip loin

Main Course

Dry Age strip loin

Smoked Bone Marrow, Vinaigrette, Salk baked fingerling potatoes

Velenosi Prope Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo DOC 2021

Wine: Velenosi Prope Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo DOC 2021

This is a beautiful surprise. At first when you’re served a rose with your cut of streak, it can seem like a mistake. Most rose’s couldn’t stand up to the challenge.

But this story is different; and this wine is special.

Notice it’s intense bright pink color. The most confident welcome with the results to match. Beautiful notes of floral aroma, roses, red fruit. Rounded mouthfeel with raspberry and high acidity to cut through the steak and linger long after. Would pair well with sourdough, rib eye, gamey meat.

If you’re looking for a bold rose’ this is a great selection.

On left: Masciarelli Villa Gemma Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC Riserva 2017

Wine: Masciarelli Villa Gemma Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC Riserva 2017

This is the powerful wine you’d expect paired with steak. Deep Ruby color, with black cherry and spices on those nose. Plush, velvet with smokey oak. Very tannic, almost chewy. A young wine with lots of room to evolve over the years

Pinola Al Cioccolato: Chocolate Genovese, Semi-sweet Ganache, Milk chocolate crema, Pine nut gelato

Choice of Dessert

Pinola Al Cioccolato

Chocolate Genovese, Semi-sweet Ganache, Milk chocolate crema, Pine nut gelato

Cheese Course: Aged parmesan, Candied pecans, Honey, Fig spread

Cheese Course

Aged parmesan, Candied pecans, Honey, Fig spread

Wine: Chateau de Garbes “Cuvee Fut de chene” AOC Cadillac 2019

Shimmering golden color. The nose has fruit with slightly woody aroma. Refreshing honeyed notes of candied fruit.

Wine: Chateau Loupiac-Gaudiel 2017

Pale yellow in the glass. Apricot and peach on the nose. Very well-balanced with nuances of saffron, chive and ginger. The ginger brings a slight bitter ending that makes for a brisk palette cleanser.

Italian Wines from Charming Taste of Europe

CaliWater's Vanessa Hudgens and Oliver Treveno

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Your Summertime Adventures Deserve a Refreshing Taste, Here’s the drink for you

By Joe Wehinger — 2 years ago

Your summertime adventures deserve a refreshing taste, with healthy results and supporting a good case, taste CaliWater.

This summer many families are going on adventures – from a fun night out, to local road trips to traditional vacations and everything in between. Families are looking for flavor, looking for healthy options, when possible choosing to support social good.

Recently we tasted a solution that solves all of this and more.

CaliWater is the latest celebrity-driven brand on an already crowded grocery shelf to promote flavor, fun and health.

Before you judge it, have you tried cactus water? If not, honestly it’s worth a taste.

Open your mind (and your mouth) to the world of cactus water. Try the taste of CaliWater.

The Flavor

CaliWater comes in two subtle, but very different flavors:

Ginger + Lime

It’s a drink that adds a pop to your tongue.

Tasting-wise, on the nose is heavy lime that for me became a palette cleanser. Got a funky taste in your mouth? This can will save you. The lime notes carry over on your palette and the ginger adds a refreshing zing. The linger lasts, leaving a pleasant and refreshing taste.

Wild Prickly Pear

Tasting-wise, on your nose its a bit sweet and even floral. As you taste, it’s giving your mouth a sweet, refreshing bath similar to a bite of watermelon.

But How Healthy is CaliWater?

The simple answer is: very healthy.

Caliwater contains 5 naturally occurring electrolytes to boost hydration and is packed with skin fortifying antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, and 200mg of Prickly Pear Extract which is a proven hangover relief.

Prickly Pear Cactus has shown to lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar levels, and provides natural anti-viral properties. Known as a “superfruit”, the Prickly Pear Cactus has been the health solution go-to for many all over the world.

Proven Hangover Relief

Let’s repeat an important part. The drinks include 200mg of Prickly Pear Extract which is a proven hangover relief.

Cali water also serves as a fantastic mixer for your favorite cocktail.

Created with passion, love, and a clear mission in mind

Earth-friendly activists Vanessa Hudgens and Oliver Trevena bonded while enjoying a prickly pear margarita.

They launched CaliWater, California cactus water that goes beyond just hydration.

Created with passion, love and a clear mission in mind CaliWater hopes to promote healthy eco-friendly lifestyles and to make the world a better place.

With up to 75% of Americans being considered chronically dehydrated CaliWater offer the tasty yet healthy alternative to water that also presents benefits for health and well-being.

Giving Social Good

CaliWater’s goal is not only to provide health benefits to their customers, but also to raise awareness about the fight against childhood hunger.

Partnering with No Kid Hungry a charity working to stop hungry children, Cali Wter pledges to donate $0.05 for every can purchased with the goal of donating $1,000,000 by April 2022.

Read for a Taste?

You can shop CaliWater here: https://drinkcaliwater.com/

You can also browse your local Erewhon, Alfred, Bevmo, Blueys Market & Cafe, Sunlight Organics, The Pie Hotel, Vintage Grocers.

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Erin Michele Soto Rises Through Her Trauma to Return to Her Hit TV Series

By Joe Wehinger — 2 years ago

Erin Michele Soto Rises Through Her Trauma to Return to Her Hit TV Series

Audiences know Erin Michele Soto from her work in the miniseries Shirley and Shelly and the TV series Studio City, the smash hit and Emmy – winning drama.

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Around the world audiences see stars on red carpets, TV and movie screens; and often never consider the challenges these performers face to live their dreams.

So many people recognize a star’s good looks, their talent, the laughs and tears from the characters they portray. But the audience doesn’t really get to know the person behind that work. Today Erin is sharing a deeper look into her journey.

Erin Michele Soto Reveals Her Bright and Her Dark

Recently we had a chance to sit down with Erin Michele Soto and she revealed the brightest and the darkest moments of her story and the excitement yet to come.

Erin Michele Soto

Like so many, Erin moved to Southern California with big Hollywood dreams. But she did not become the struggling cliche. She had the talent and good fortune to quickly find work as an actress and as a dancer.

Tragedy on a Celeb-Filled Dance Floor

Erin Michele Soto’s grace on the dance floor quickly brought her attention. She found A-list work immediately in Modern, Ballet, Jazz dance genres. Stars of the stage, small screen and silver screen all demanded her time, attention and help.

Erin Michele Soto Rises Above Her Trauma to Return to Her Hit TV Series

Then as her star was rising, suddenly it all crashed down. Literally. One day in the middle of dancing, Erin fell, hit her eye and the trauma from the fall punctured her brain.

The next moments created a chronic ailment that took Erin over a year for her to recover. The glitz and glamour lifestyle was replaced with being bed-ridden and living a small, dark, lonely life.

Hearing Soto reflect back today, there’s still a pain in her eyes and her voice. But a growing strength and courage in her soul.

Was her journey hard? Yes. Painful? Yes. Encouraging? No.

But, Erin wasn’t done yet.

Ironically, her body really thought she was finished. She rarely left the house. She couldn’t socialize with friends. She forgot how to do the smallest tasks constantly, things like closing her house door; she would routinely black out as she walked through her neighborhood.

The things most people find common, this talented star was suddenly struggling to complete.

“No One Can See My Pain”

Even worse, her mind was playing tricks on her.

This normally proud, healthy, optimistic person was suddenly having thoughts of self-harm. It was a dark time. The good news is, she knew better. Luckily, she never acted on those dark, harmful thoughts.

Your Village Supports Your Recovery Journey

To meet Erin is to fall in love with her. Her energy, her spirit, her intelligence, her motivation. Luckily, even in her darkest moments after her trauma, Erin’s community rallied to cheer her on and find ways to help her while she struggled to live daily life. She bravely chose to get professional mental help which also supported her and returned her closer to light and happiness.

She learned to over-power her own thoughts and regain positivity. She now meditates daily and credits that mental strength with her return to courage and creativity.

“I used my imagination

to get back into the world”

Back on Set

Just over a year after her life-changing trauma, Erin was itching to get back to performing. The injury focused her true passions in using her voice in acting. Performing, acting, dancing. But she was dealing with a very foreign feeling: insecurity. Could she remember her dialogue? Could her body move as gracefully as it used to? Would she feel as comfortable acting as she did before?

As a performer, Erin had to “learn to walk” again.

Erin was eager to return and try. She chose a small, local theater in SoCal’s modest San Fernando Valley.

“To her surprise, relief and excitement,

all of her worries went away.”

To her surprise, relief and excitement, all of her worries went away. Her mind and body cooperated and she had a blast performing again in front of huge crowds.

“If something brings you joy,

push through your fears”

Today, Erin is busier than ever. She’s currently working on projects for both stage and screen, taking meetings as an actress for both tv and film.

She credits her friends, family, health professionals and community with helping her overcome her dark moments. Her continued meditation keeps her mind clear and strong.

As a performer, she’s excited to be in front of an audience – whether you’re watching her in-person on stage, on your television or on the big screen.

With confidence, motivation, discipline and support from your community, everyone can rebound from their challenges and return to what they love. Erin Michele Soto is a brilliant and inspiring example of this.

Follow Erin Michele Soto on her social media at:

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialErinMicheleSoto

https://www.instagram.com/erinmichelesoto

https://twitter.com/erinmichelesoto

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Olivia Culpo Shows Off Her Favorite Women’s Health and Wellness Wearable – The Bellabeat Ivy

By Phil Moreno — 3 years ago

Olivia Culpo Shows Off Her Favorite Women’s Health and Wellness Wearable – The Bellabeat Ivy.

Olivia Culpo released today a video on her Instagram Story where she shares a few of the reasons Ivy tracker by Bellabeat is her favorite go-to wearable.

The Bellabeat Ivy is specifically made for women and has been seen in recent coverage as an outstanding health tracker to monitor and track a woman’s menstrual cycle, fertility, postpartum depression symptoms, menopause symptoms, and more.

The Ivy monitors the body’s reactions and daily habits continuously during both the day and night through advanced sensors.

In turn, providing women with a complete insight into the pace of life.

Elegantly designed, The Ivy is a smart bracelet and truly one gem of a find retailing at $249 on bellabeat.com and is available in four gorgeous colors.

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Olivia Culpo’s The Bellabeat Ivy

“I’m Obsessed with my Ivy tracker, and I know you guys will be too.

It tracks everything from my cycle which is amazing, my activity rate, respiratory rate, heart rate, stress levels, mindfulness, and hydration.

It really does it all.

Plus, the fact that it tracks your cycle is something that I’ve really never seen before.” States Olivia Culpo in a video found on the Bellabeat Wellness Youtube channel. “It is made for women by women.

It will give you a readiness score based on your body bio-response, and it will give you a wellness score based on your efforts throughout the day. If my readiness score is really low, then I know I won’t be able to take that important meeting, and maybe I need to take a break, and if it’s really high, then I know that I can do everything and pretty much conquer the word!

You can also gift it to your friends, and you can have a friendly little competition.”

Related: Love Styling your Furbaby? Cosmo and Ethical Products Team Up

A leader in creating wellness technology, Co-Founders Urska Sršen and Sandro Mur are the team behind the Bellabeat brand.

Bellabeat is aimed exclusively at women and recently announced that they have started the process of submitting an official application to the FDA for their product, the Bellabeat Ivy.

Obtaining a license from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would allow doctors and clinicians to officially use the Ivy wearable technology to monitor the menstrual cycle in the treatment of women.

“The Ivy tracker is designed as a statement piece; It’s such an elegant bracelet. Strong on the inside, processing all of your wellness information throughout the day, and beautiful on the outside.” States Urška Sršen, Co-founder of Bellabeat. “We are thrilled to have Olivia Culpo, a true celebrity style maven, standing behind us and bringing awareness to our brand as we do some amazing things in the Women’s health landscape.”

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“We decided to create a brand that develops tech-driven products focusing on the female user. We now have a whole ecosystem of connected products and digital experiences designed to help women track and improve their physical and mental health.” States Bellabeat Co-Founder Sandro Mur.

Related: Celebrate Your Departed Pets in a New Heartwarming, Personalized Pet Memorial with EverAfter

About Bellabeat

Bellabeat Inc. is a Silicon Valley company building tech-powered wellness products for women. The Bellabeat team previously released the disruptive Leaf health tracking jewelry for women and the first smart water bottle powered by AI. Bellabeat is now revolutionizing the FemTech space by taking natural cycles into account when creating its guided programs and Ivy Smart Bracelet, helping women reach their health goals more effectively and enjoyably. Visit https://bellabeat.com/ for additional information.