February 27, 2025

By Simon J. Lau

After my 180-mile ride yesterday, I didn’t want to do anything strenuous today, so I kept it very leisurely. Had another interview in the morning, soaked in the hot tub, took a nap with the boys, and then, when Jean was done with work, we headed over to Joshua Tree Distilling.

For most of our visit, we were the only ones there. When we arrived, we noticed a small motorcycle parked out front, which we later learned belonged to the owner. I ended up talking to him about riding for at least half an hour—Jean was totally bored. Eventually, we moved on to the distilling and manufacturing side of his business. I mentioned how Jean and I make dog treats and how, since starting it, I’ve realized how frustrating manufacturing can be when you consider the value chain. He agreed and shared a ton of unique insights about his business.

He told us a couple of funny stories about his experiences with sourcing bottles. He and his business partner had glass bottles and labels made abroad—it was actually cheaper to have everything done there than to source just the bottles in the U.S. Unfortunately, they didn’t get trademark approval for one of their products. By the time they started selling it, they got a cease-and-desist letter. Now they’re stuck with 25,000 mislabeled bottles that they have to sandblast and relabel as Giant Rock Gin.

He also told us about a woman from Orange County who offered him 50,000 free glass bottles. Her mother had produced amaro, a type of Italian herbal liqueur, but after she passed away 20+ years ago, the bottles just sat in storage. Now, the daughter was dying and didn’t want to leave the responsibility to her kids, so she gave them away. He took them, but it cost him over $5,000 to transport them, and while labeling is a huge pain, he loves the bottles. They’re unique, but from my perspective, I wouldn’t have taken them—labeling those things looks like a nightmare.

Later, Jean did some snooping and found out that several of Joshua Tree Distilling’s staff had recently left. “No wonder he [our host] was so bad at selling,” she said.

I asked, “What made his sales pitch so bad?”

“I loved his stories, but he’s clearly a back-of-the-house guy. He knows everything about the manufacturing process, down to the intricate details of placing labels on oddly shaped bottles. But he spent two hours with us and only managed to sell you one bottle—and that was just because you wanted a closer look at his sandblasting method.”

My response: “First, that was a $30 bottle of gin. Second, I also paid for a $20 tasting. And finally, don’t forget my very generous 20% tip. If you ask me, he was the perfect front-of-house salesperson.” 😅