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they log in, they go to the vodka class, they learn about the martini, the pop culture of
<br />the martini, who made the first martini, and then about the different vodkas, and then
<br />about vermouth, what is vermouth? Why does vermouth belong in the refrigerator?
<br />These kind of things, so when I came back to Kona, I realized that this was really like a
<br />need, and part of the bottle shop is that this could be a place where I can do tastings
<br />that are also teachings, so I can offer that to the local community.
<br />Taniguchi: Wow, thank you.
<br />Maser -Smith: My pleasure.
<br />Okabe: Mr. Greenwell?
<br />Greenwell: No, that was my question, where did this so-called academy come from,
<br />that was my question.
<br />Maser -Smith: It's online.
<br />Okabe: For our Commissioner, Mr. Espejo, what is the name of this site that you go on
<br />to find out this information?
<br />Maser -Smith: It's konacocktailacademy.com. So, it's a lot of work and I did it all by
<br />myself, so it's still a process. Basically, you buy the first 25 classes, and then I'll be
<br />developing the next 75 classes, because I really feel like it has that much information,
<br />like learning how to make syrups and shrubs and ferments. But, I started with general
<br />knowledge, what is vodka? What is gin? What is beer? What is wine? One of the
<br />challenges in the service industry is like I feel it's so hard for us to find trained
<br />employees and people don't want to spend the money on training anymore. So, kind of
<br />falls on the employee to or the person learning to find it, and what are you going to do?
<br />Go get a million different YouTube videos and watch them all, you're not going to get
<br />everything. This process I basically took from my study Of wine from my intro
<br />(introduction) into this master court of sommeliers, and I realized like wow, like you can't
<br />do this for m ixology, there's nothing like this so I kind of tried to create that.
<br />Okabe: Thank you because our exiting Commissioner Espejo, this might be something
<br />that you might explore, he is definitely a connoisseur of alcohol.
<br />Espejo: That was going to be my question, how are you gonna start off with your
<br />inventory because it's thousands of spirits and bottles of wine, so how are you gonna try
<br />and
<br />Maser -Smith: I've recently opened up Aloha Vibes in Kona for CJ Kanuha, and I've
<br />opened and runned over 15 bar programs, so I have my spirits that I have chosen that
<br />think are the best tequilas, the best whiskeys, the best local spirits, a lot of the local
<br />industry spirit companies came up while I was also learning mixology, Kohanaiki,
<br />Kuleana, all of the beer, Waikiki beer, you know craft beer went from nothing to this
<br />explosion in 10-15 years, and I was kind of part of that locally. So, my particular list,
<br />MINUTES - LIQUOR COMMISSION MEETING - THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2025 - HILO PAGE 20 OF 71
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