la.foodblogging

At Oscar time last year, Kate Mantilini’s got on TV for serving a ginger-flavored cosmopolitan, then calling it a “Knock Out Punch” to tie in with “Million Dollar Baby.” The bartender used a local product made in by a guy from Santa Monica whom I recently met and found so interesting, I couldn’t stop asking questions. He’s the maker of Gingerita ginger margarita mix.

How’s that? Gingerita is a concentrated ginger mixer available at finer liquor stores, and some bars, and is exclusive to LA. With club soda, it makes an incredible ginger ale, very refreshing. What interests me most about his story is that he has no background whatsoever in business, he just had a good idea and went with it. A few years ago, he was running the bar at an Indian restaurant of all places. The restaurant made a ginger mix they used for homemade sodas. The guy, Bill Tocantins, tweaked the recipe, played around at the bar, and found something new and good when he started making margaritas with it. Customers flipped. He told the restaurant they should market this stuff, but since they weren’t interested, he jumped into business alone and unschooled. He started in his kitchen, and made thirty test batches before he found just the right root.

Three and a half years later, he’s a minor expert about ginger, and has a contract with a grower. How many of us can say that? He oversees the crushing, the mixing, the bottling, and of course, the selling. He’s not a millionaire yet, and maybe not even a thousandaire; but Yamashiro Restaurant goes through roughly a case of Gingerita a month. They’ve put ginger drinks on their menu, including the ginger margarita, ginger cosmopolitans, and ginger mojitos. Two of his customers use it in their bar and their kitchen: Santa Monica’s Shane’s restaurant uses it for marinades, and Mai Kai on Ocean Blvd. uses it in their ginger salad dressing.

Cool, huh?

You can get your own Gingerita at: Wally’s, Market Gourmet, John & Pete’s, Field’s Market, Surfas

By Why We Type (see more of his posts).