Tineo on tap at The Rough Draft
Windsor, California
Hi everyone,
If you know me, you know that I’m not exactly a natural salesman. I love making things, and I love hearing that people enjoy what I make, but I was honestly pretty nervous about going out into the world, walking into businesses, making cold calls, and trying to sell Tineo. I assumed it would be a necessary but not particularly enjoyable part of starting this company.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Getting out and meeting the incredible business owners around Sonoma County has turned out to be one of the most rewarding parts of this entire experience. I’ve met some fascinating people, heard their stories, and been genuinely surprised by how supportive everyone has been. Almost every interaction has left me feeling like the people I meet are truly rooting for Tineo to succeed.
And I’m excited to share that, after just one month of selling, Tineo is now available in 10 locations across Sonoma County, from Petaluma to Healdsburg!
You can find us in grocery stores, specialty markets, and even on draft at a few local taprooms.
Even more exciting, we’ve started getting our first reorders. Our first keg at The Rough Draft in Windsor sold out in just five days, and Andy’s Produce in Sebastopol has been consistently selling through its inventory. In fact, I’ll be making my third delivery to Andy’s right after sending out this newsletter.
Seeing people come back for more has been incredibly encouraging. It's one thing to convince someone to give a new beverage a try. It's another thing entirely when they enjoy it enough to buy it again.
A little taste of what's next
With Tineo finally out in the world and gaining some momentum, I’ve also started thinking about what might come next.
One project I’m particularly excited about involves a wild yeast strain from Patagonia that I had the opportunity to work with while I was living in Chile last year. I originally made a small, five-liter batch of mead using this yeast in a little cabin in Patagonia, and the results were delicious.
Next month, I’m planning to take that experiment to an entirely different scale: a 100-gallon batch using commercial fermentation equipment and much more precise temperature and fermentation controls.
There’s still plenty of experimentation ahead, but I’m hopeful this yeast will produce something with a really distinctive aroma and flavor profile. If all goes well, it could eventually become a second offering in the Tineo lineup. I'll be sure to share how it turns out.
In the meantime, my focus remains on getting Tineo into more locations, meeting more people, and making sure our production can keep up with the demand we're beginning to see.
One last story
I want to finish with a small moment from this past month that meant more to me than just about anything else.
I was sitting at a local bar when someone next to me ordered a Tineo. They had absolutely no idea that the person sitting beside them was the one who made it.
I got to sit there and listen as they tried it, enjoyed it, and talked about it with their friends. No sales pitch, no introduction, no reason for them to say anything other than what they genuinely thought.
It was a pretty surreal experience.
After all the time spent developing recipes, building out the meadery, figuring out equipment, designing cans, and wondering whether anyone would actually enjoy what I was making, there I was, watching a complete stranger order a Tineo and genuinely enjoy it.
That moment meant the world to me.
Tineo is finally out in the wild, and people are drinking it. I couldn't be more excited to see where this goes.
Thank you all for following along and supporting this little adventure.
Cheers,
Chris
Tineo Mead Company
