Latest news with #Nutcase
Entrepreneur
06-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
This Healthy Version of Nesquik Is Backed by Ninja and Steve Aoki
Jo Weinand, founder of Nutcase, shares one of the most unexpected startup journeys in the beverage world. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. All great company ideas start with a problem. For Jo Weinand, the problem was that she loved Nesquik but hated how it made her feel. "I grew up addicted to the stuff," she says. "But once I started reading labels, I realized I shouldn't be drinking it anymore." Stuck inside during Canada's COVID lockdowns, Weinand got bored enough to Google how to make her own milk. She threw cashews, cocoa powder, dates, and water into her Vitamix and hoped for something half decent. "I didn't expect it to work or taste good," she recalls. But one sip changed everything. What happened next is a wild startup story that combines poker, chocolate milk, star power, and a new kind of reality show. She breaks it all down on the latest episode of One Day with Jon Bier. From Vitamix to Vegas Weinand already owned a restaurant, so she bottled the cashew-based milk, slapped on a sticker that read "Nutcase Milk," and put a few on the shelf. "I didn't know what to expect," she says. "We just printed some labels and kept making more batches." They sold out almost immediately. "The coolest thing was seeing grown men walk in, see chocolate milk on the shelf, light up, and just chug it," she says. "And most of them weren't your typical nut milk drinkers." Other retailers started asking where they were sourcing the product. That's when the lightbulb went off. "I thought, okay, we might be onto something here." Scaling a fresh product was a challenge. The shelf life was only about a week, and Weinand couldn't find a co-packer willing to take them on. After a year of dead ends, she was close to giving up. Then she went to Vegas. Over brunch, she told some friends about the milk she'd been making. Turned out they had just launched a venture fund for CPG companies. "I knew them from poker. Had no idea they were doing that," she says. They invested $500,000 at a $5 million cap, even though she had no prototype. Related: Seeking VC Funding? Make Sure You Have the Answers to These 5 Questions Influencer power Weinand's husband taught her how to play poker, and they'd become friends with pros over the years. One of them was Phil Hellmuth, one of the biggest names in the game. When Weinand told him about Nutcase Milk, he tried some and went all in, becoming an investor. Next, he said: "You need to talk to Ninja." For the uninitiated, Ninja is a gaming icon with millions of followers and a personal brand built on clean energy, massive Twitch streams, and a loyal Gen Z fanbase. Weinand sent him samples. "He tried it and said, 'I'm in,'" she recalls. The two bonded over chocolate milk, Pokémon, and health. "He wanted to promote something he could actually feel good about." She made him a co-founder. Next came Steve Aoki. Weinand sent the EDM icon samples of Nutcase's new strawberry flavor—now a cult favorite. "He tried the chocolate and didn't love it," she says. "But the strawberry? He said, 'This is my jam.'" He joined the team, too. Related: Don't Collaborate With Just Any Influencer — Here's How to Make Sure You Pick the Right One X marks the spot With Ninja and Aoki onboard, the opportunities snowballed, including Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, greenlighting Weinand's appearance on a brand-new reality show airing on the platform. "It's a docuseries that follows our startup journey—but the viewers can actually invest in the company as the show airs," Weinand explains. "It's kind of like Shark Tank meets The Apprentice, but with a twist." The first episode drops May 6 on X, with a finale in June that culminates in a live-streamed equity crowdfunding campaign. "We have a wait list live right now. If you get on there, you'll get early access." The Nutcase team will be the "poster child" of the new series. "They wanted a female founder, a CPG brand, a creator-led company—we checked all the boxes." Don't call it luck If all this sounds too easy, Weinand's quick to say the story didn't start with Ninja, Vegas, or a reality show. "I've been doing this for over a decade," she says. "This network, this credibility—it was built long before Nutcase. And there's been a struggle, too. The beverage industry is tough. We've made mistakes. We've been screwed over. It's not all rainbows." The difference this time is the team surrounding her. "The best part of building this business is the people I get to meet and to share this journey with," Weinand says. "There's no point in partying alone at the end."
Hindustan Times
05-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Sushi, steak, cheesecake in a glass? Welcome to culinary cocktails
It begins with a sip. Then, a curious sensation follows. Wait, is that chilli chicken in your drink? You taste soy, a whisper of ginger, maybe even a hint of garlic. The essence of dinner, but in the form of a cocktail. Well, across India, bartenders are boldly pushing the boundaries of mixology. Gone are the days of just adding a splash of lime or a pinch of spice. Today, they are transforming popular dishes into drinks — nostalgic, quirky, and brimming with stories that travel from home kitchens to bar counters. Whether it's introducing Kolkata-style chilli chicken cocktail or guacamole margarita or a drink that gives a hint of Maggi, bartenders are going all out with experimentation. But what is driving the shift? Rahul Kamath, Corporate Beverage Manager, Passion F&B, predicts that this trend is here to stay. 'It is not a passing fad. Bartenders are thinking like chefs now. We are looking to the kitchen for inspiration. And guests are ready to embark on this journey with us.' Take Nutcase Etc in Kolkata, where the team wanted to give a beloved local dish a new twist. Enter Tangra Town, a savoury highball inspired by Kolkata-style chilli chicken. A mix of bell peppers, onions, garlic, and ginger, all seasoned with soy sauce and infused with tequila. What sets this drink apart is the addition of chicken stock, lending it a gentle, meaty richness. A spring onion garnish completes the experience. 'No good bar in Kolkata feels complete without chilli chicken on the menu,' says Swanan Sarkar, the mastermind behind this creation. 'So we thought, why not serve it as a drink? Once we voiced the idea, it just clicked. The whole team was immediately on board.' Perfecting this concept was no quick fix. Numerous iterations were tested before they landed on the right balance. 'Every ingredient has its own strong character. The challenge was to capture the essence of the dish, but in liquid form.' Nutcase also offers Rare Steak, a drink made with beef bone marrow rendered with garlic, rosemary, and peppercorns. This spirit-forward creation is fat-washed, giving it a rich depth. Other unconventional drinks on their menu include Make It a Salsa, which mimics a smoky chipotle salsa, and Sushi, which uses wasabi, vinegar, and pickled ginger to recreate the experience of eating a sushi roll. While these drinks are experimental, the pricing remains approachable. 'People will try bold things if they feel they are getting value. We want these drinks to be fun, not intimidating,' the team explains. Pricing, Swanan says, is based on ingredient cost and market comfort. 'We want people to try these. But some drinks are high on beverage cost. In our Sushi cocktail, just the nori costs ₹56 per glass.' Also exploring the savoury side of cocktails is EnCanto, where mixologist Raju Bora has created a guacamole margarita. This drink features avocado-infused tequila with a smooth avocado crush inside. A daring combination of jalapeño-infused gin, lime juice, and guacamole creates a unique experience. Yes, you read that right. Garnished with Sal de Pueblo and a taco shell, this clarified cocktail is a love letter to Mexico's culinary creativity. Raju says, 'One day, during one of our experimental sessions, we thought — why not try something completely unconventional. At first, it seemed like an unusual choice, but once we played around with the texture and balanced it with the right elements, it turned out to be an incredible discovery." He further adds, "These drinks are truly a process of trial and error—testing combinations, adjusting acidity, sweetness, and texture until we find that sweet spot where everything comes together in harmony.' At Mezzo Mezzo in Mumbai's JW Marriott, the drinks menu reads like a Mediterranean feast but in cocktail form. Think risotto, tzatziki, strawberry cheesecake, and olive oil cake, all shaken, stirred, or smoked into a glass. And yes, they taste just as wild and wonderful as they sound. Take the Gazpacho, a smoky, spicy mix of tequila, mezcal, bell pepper, basil, and citrus, or the herbaceous Tzatziki, made with gin, cucumber, whey, and oregano. If you're craving something sweet, try the Baklava, rich with pistachio and spice, or the Truffle Chocolate, a decadent blend of whisky, vodka, coffee, and chocolate liqueur. Even the classics come with a twist. There is a pine and elderflower highball, a smoked salsa picante, and breezy low-ABV choices like sparkling wine sangria or the Earl Fizz, a mix of Earl Grey, clarified guava, and citrus, which can be made alcohol-free. 'These are drinks that surprise people, make them smile, and maybe even remind them of something they ate years ago,' says Chinmay Pednekar, the bar's mixologist. The same is true at The Brook in Gurugram, a mountain-inspired bar from the team behind Sidecar. Their standout cocktail, Maggi Point, uses Maggi masala spice, tequila, Himalayan honey, fresh tomato, and pea water. 'People love it because it feels familiar. They are drinking a memory,' says Yungdup Lama, the owner. 'That emotional pull is what makes it work. Meanwhile, the pricing depends on market survey and beverage cost.' He also mentioned that it's not just India where this trend is happening; it's taking place in global bars as well. This trend extends beyond India. Double Chicken Please in New York City has a Thai Curry drink made with galangal, lemongrass, coconut water and Thai chilli. In Tokyo, the Glizztini at Tokyo Confidential uses sausage and onion brine, served with cacao butter to mimic ketchup and mustard, while the Zaru Soba at Danico, Paris's blend of cucumber, tomato, and soy sauce, is a nod to noodle soup.
Mint
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Why classic cocktails will never go out of style
If the fictional British spy James Bond were to seek a drink in India in 2025, he might find himself sipping an olive-oil washed, clarified Martini with a caviar-topped cracker as its edible garnish. The sun is shining over the Indian bartend-ing community, with a slew of bars command-ing the attention of the international hospitality fraternity. As exciting as this is, the trade-off is a pronounced difficulty in finding timeless tipples aka classic cocktails dating back to pre-Prohibition era—such as Old Fashioned, Manhattan and Sidecar—defined by their simple use of ingredients and fundamental mixing techniques like shaking and stirring. Unless you're at Kolkata's buzzy, new cocktail parlour, Nutcase. Most bars put their signature and experimental pours at the beginning of the menu. But Nutcase starts theirs with zero-proof drinks, followed by modern classics (drinks such as Negroni, Penicillin and Picante invented in the latter part of the 20th century, known for their innovative flavour combinations and mixing methods). Classics like the gimlet or daiquiri, bubbly-based originals like the French 75 and an entire section for Martinis find equal importance. That classics would need prominence became clear to co-owner and chef Rituparna Banerjee during trials. 'We had people from our inner circle testing signatures, but a sour or Negroni would always be their point of reference or what they'd compare it to. So we thought: why not highlight the point of reference?" she says. Also read: You are in for a sweet surprise with new-age dessert menus at restaurants A shift in India's drink-scape became imminent about a decade ago with the appearance of early players such as Delhi's speakeasy-style PCO (Passcode Only) Bar and Cocktails & Dreams Speakeasy in Gurugram. This set the ball rolling for India's cocktail culture, heralding a new generation of mixologists for whom the focus was artistic expression with creative libations. As these drinks, known as signatures, took centre stage, classic cocktails were overshadowed, helped along by practical challenges like difficulty in finding the right ingredients. But for many patrons, their enduring appeal and familiarity remained paramount—a realisation now driving the resurgence of classics. Seconding this, Mumbai-based marketing professional and a home baker, Yeshi Chaudhary shares, 'Most good restaurants now have a special cocktail menu, with fancy ingredients. And while I love those, I still can't find a great pina colada or daiquiri." One reason could be that India is limited when it comes to classic cocktails, points out Vipin Raman, co-owner of the bars Jamming Goat and Dali and Gala in Bengaluru, and Room One and Feri Bar in Goa. 'There are 200-plus recipes for classic and modern classics together, but we can hardly replicate ten. Some of these require specific ingredients such as Plymouth or Jenever gin (used in gimlet, Negroni, Martinez, etc .) but they're difficult to get a hold of here," he explains, adding that reasons range from high import duties to lack of demand and therefore, supply. Banerjee echoes this when she outlines the challenges in sourcing bitters, spirits and liquors like Peychaud, a bitter used in the Sazerac cocktail, or the French herbal liqueur Chartreuse, required for popular modern classics like Naked and Famous or Last Word. For Anirudh Singhal, co-founder of the bar design company SpeedX and a judge for The World's 50 Best Bars, the mixologist's expertise is equally important and could explain why some bars have moved away from classics. 'If you're making a Martini, you need to get the basics right—the perfect combination of spirits, the temperature of the glass, etc. You can get away without a lot of this with innovative cocktails because there's fanfare and glamour around them," he reasons. The value of skilled barkeep isn't lost on the customer either. For Kolkata-based Asha Saha, a marketing professional and a cocktail enthusiast, drinks that seem 'performative and pretentious" don't usually cut it. 'I don't need glitter and rose petals in my drink. Bars like Nutcase and AM PM in the city have classics and then they have their twists—I like that. And if there's a skilled bartender, they can make you pretty much anything. It's not always on the menu, but you just have to ask," she says. Pankaj Gussain, bar manager at Gurugram's Thai restaurant and bar Banng, concurs that asking might be your best bet at getting a classic. 'Even when a particular classic isn't listed on the menu, our bar team is well-versed in preparing them when a guest asks for it." Despite having an innovative craft cocktail menu, Banng's top-sellers include the Picante, Bloody Mary, Tommy's margarita and whisky sour. Singhal, who is exposed to the global bar industry via his work with World's 50 Best, has observed a slow but steady resurgence of classics overseas. 'We tend to look towards the West for inspiration, and internationally we're seeing the best bars are now moving back to classics," he says. Bars in India are already working to bring classics back, but with tweaks. Soka and Bar Spirit Forward in Bengaluru, for instance do a Martini-style drink and a version of the Old Fashioned, while Goa's Boilermaker serves versions of the highball, and Rick's at Delhi's Taj Mahal Hotel has a new menu inspired by classics, he points out. While it's always going to be interesting to sample a truffle-based Negroni or lacto-fermented mandarin-based Bee's Knees, on some days all one wants is a perfectly dry Martini—unadorned, save for possibly an additional olive. Also read : Weekend food plan: High-tea menu and food pop-ups Suman Mahfuz Quazi is a food writer and the creator of The Soundboard, a community dedicated to gourmands in India.
