Une program.
It's so rare for me to be excited week days at nine, It's going to be very excited on fifty five kr CD Talk station Ato six to fifty five KR CD Talk station. Very happy Friday to you. It's thought his a good day when you get to talk to Keegan Corcoran, one step away from being these highest tier sammolier on the planet. He'll be getting it to it soon enough. On that also, he is the owner of Ignition Wines, which is a wine wholesaler. I love to put a plug in for that Ignitionwines dot com.
Keegan if he deals with businesses, So if you're a retailer selling wines, you're a you're a restaurant selling wise you just talk to Ignition Wines. He's got access to all these wonderful, wonderful wines pre tested and tasted. With his expertise, you're getting steered in the right direction. Welcome back to the fifty five Catsey Morning Show, my dear friend Keegan Corkoran, and it's always great having yall. Man. Hey, Brian, how are you doing pretty well? Happy New Year to you?
Yeah, thank you too. Man. I'm first off, apologies of my voice because I'm fighting a seasonal thing going on.
Well, you need to drink a little bit more in January, which is the point a having Keegan on. Normally he's in studio and we don't sample wines because you can't do that, but we talk about him. He gives us great wine recommendations at the right times a year, and you know, Thanksgiving and Christmas and the like. And we'll continue to do that with Keegan. But notably, and I had never heard of this, but apparently there's something out there in the world called dry January. It's analogous to lent.
I suppose you give up drinking during the entire month of January, and you made a public service announcement on your Facebook page the other day. Dry January hurts hospitality, slash retail and does nothing long term important emphasis for your health. Take one week and a month off instead.
Uh.
You got a lot of comments in response to that, and many of them are not pleasant. You didn't expect expect that, did you, No?
It It it led off a firestorm apparently, And and and you know what's funny is that, like a lot of people I think that responded to that negatively were interpreting that as some kind of personal attack and or uh, some kind of indictment on them participating in dry January or going sober, which I have done many stints of sobriety over my over my life for you know, personal or physical reasons or whatever, you know, trying to drop
some weight, especially around the holidays. I understand it. My point was, though, is that you know, when restaurants and bars especially, you know, still a lot of them still reeling from the post COVID effects. And then also, uh, you know, I mean we see articles, I feel like every single day of new restaurants and bars closing left and right. So this is historically a very difficult time
for restaurants and bars post holidays. It's usually the slower period, the weather is usually you know, I mean, shoot, Cincinnati, look outside, We've got you know, a foot of snow still on the ground. So it's it's uh, it definitely has an impact on those hospitality and industry workers, and it's it's just kind of a funny thing. And and and so my my point was, listen, you know, you could take one weekend off every month, so that's per year,
and that gives you twelve different weekends. The just my pure arithmetic, you got a better and more sustainable lifestyle change that's healthier for you, it's better for your pocketbook. But I don't think a lot of people really bought it to do the math on that. And then I you know, it's funny as I had a bunch of people send me private messages off off h you know, off off the actual thread and and and you know express there like hey, what why is everybody so angry
at this? It's like, I have no idea.
Yeah, I don't understand it either. And I mean some people call it insulting. I mean obviously kind of mens from folks who did it alcoholics and have been on the wagon for any given period of time, say well, you got a lot of people try and do it a chance and be good to maybe his initial stepping stunt to consider not drinking at all. But I guess why pile up in one month? As you point out, you know, and and and and I guess why January? It makes perfect sense that post holidays that the bars
and restaurants would be doing less business. Everybody's been partying it up since Thanksgiving and so obviously people may be less inclined to go out again. The winter weather alone might keep people away, But why January, why not you know, June or something.
Yeah, I'm not sure. I think a lot of it has to do with uh, you know, maybe it's everybody indulges a little too much over the holidays and they want to try to give their their bodies a little reset. And again I'm empathetic with that. I understand that. I totally understand people going after but my whole argument was say, like, let's let's not just dedicate and entire months of the year. It's particularly the slowest time of the year for bars
and restaurants to do this. And finally, not an indictment, Yeah, exactly, And it's not an indictment on anybody's you know, attempt to get sober or anything like that. If you want to make good choices for yourself, if you have a bad relationship with alcohol, for example, it's probably not a good idea for you to indulge at all, let alone, you know, just the one month out of the year. But then the other thing is is that just like most resolutions, it's it tends to be something that people
don't stick around with. So it's it's to me, it kind of seems like a feudal effort that hurts an industry. Now, the the afteris all this is I am well aware of, you know, people maybe raising an eyebrow. It's like, oh, hey, you know you've got a guy that sells alcohol that's telling us to keep buying alcohol. Isn't that Isn't that coincidence? And and I would say, you know what, my counter that is, Brian, don't buy my wines in January? How
about that? I don't, I don't care. This is this is a this is a larger statement that I think I would like to make on behalf of the service industry, which you all know. I I spent all my entire adult life in Jeff Ruby's and worked with them and uh and many other restaurants that I've worked with, And so the hostility and bar restaurant industry is near and dear to my heart, and I've I've witnessed and felt
personally the impacts of that over the years. And uh, yeah, it's just one man's uh, one one man's personal mission.
I think that is important point to emphasize that you're you're not just a wholesale wine distributor now you are now, but you have such a familiar relationship with the hospitality industry. Again, you're the sammier for Jeff Ruby's restaurants plural so for a very long time. So you actually saw all this real time. You understand the reality lities that the restaurants
face at in the month of January. And of course, I guess, is this dry January a growing phenomenon that actually enough people are doing it that it could have an impact. You're trying to nip it in abud before it becomes something bigger. What's what's your what's your take on that part of it?
Oh? Oh yeah, I mean, I mean there's there. Unfortunately, isn't too much data. There is some data that you know, I've seen over the years that a lot of bars and restaurants and even different different wineries and breweries have put out The estimates range from ten to twenty percent of impact on alcohol sales for bars and restaurants in
January alone. And that's that's not insignificant, particularly when you're dealing with excuse me, especially when you're dealing with already razor sin profit margins that these bars and restaurants operate often, so it's it's it's not it's not just you know, a drop in the bucket. And then and the counter of course too, there's a lot of people that say, you know, well, what about na beverages and and and low and no spirits and whatnot, which are starting to
gain in popularity, the maktai and the montail. Yes, but uh, this is this is one man's opinion. But I I have yet to encounter one that tastes decent. Uh. And when you talk about d out wine or or or d out peer, uh, you know again, I I I want to find one that actually is palatable and and and one humbles of his opinion.
And I get that. I I actually I quit trigger for I think it was seven solid years. Just woke up one day and said, you know what, I'm not gonna do that anymore. We did a lot of entertaining when I was a practice of law in Chicago, and you know, I brought the bad habits back with me, and I just thought, you know what, I have no reason to continue at this level. And so just sort of woke up one day and and went down road.
So I tried a whole bunch of non alcoholic beers over the time, and I don't think a single one was what I would consider palatable. So I share your your conclusions in that regard, but I don't regret, you know, drinking now at all. I thoroughly enjoy a cocktail and I find nothing wrong with it. And like everybody says, everything in moderation, it's something that allows you a certain
level of enjoyment in life. May be bad for you on some level, but you know what, I'd rather live life in a happy, positive way and enjoy a couple of bad things, and that's just what makes life worth living. You take everything out that's bad for you, but do you have left? You know, you can't smoke anymore, you can't drink anymore, everything's carcinogenic. You aren't supposed to have any more processed foods. Everybody here, here's your bowl of
quinoa and your salad, and that's all you get. I just, you know, there's a certain loss of enjoyment of life when it comes to things like that. Well, I just it's you know, the other component of the broader component, is that a simple what I would call inoki was opinion like that garnered so much not none of it's really angry or vile, but just so many just reactions along the lines of what you got. It's just a really interesting phenomena in and of itself.
Yeah, and again, you know, the the the argument was for moderation and for you know, just general control because uh and and perhaps you know, maybe I could have worshiped it differently. I don't know, but I thought it was pretty plain speakly or pretty plain speaking. But you know, moderation is is the better choice if if you want to have a better relationship with alcohol, assuming that someone may have, If there is someone that is struggling with alcohol,
certainly go get help. Certainly, you know, take a step back and whatnot. But for the vast majority of the people that are participating in dry January, it's you know, it's it's it's not with the intent of creating lifelasting change.
And I think that that, I mean, if we want to talk on a much more broader, esoteric level, Uh, it's it's uh, it's kind of an issue that I think a lot of people in this world today struggle with, is creating lasting change, creating you know, habits that are are are not only forthright, but also, you know, just beneficial for themselves and and for uh, you know, their communities surrounding them. It's it's it's it's something that you I guess.
Uh, well, yeah, I get where you're coming from.
You get what I'm saying. You get what I'm saying I do, and.
I know my listening audience does too. But ultimately, don't pile up on the restaurant and they're beaten up and battered enough. Fewer people are going out and there's there's less disposable income out there. But keep in mind your local you know, family and a operator, restaurant tours and the like, and support them and don't make things worse for me in the month of January. They're already struggling
coming off the holidays. I think we can leave it at that Keygan Corcoran, you are always welcome on the fifty five KRSE Morning Show. And next time in studio, maybe we can pretend to drink wine as we always do.
Yeah, and maybe next time I will sound like RFK Junior or something. You know.
There you go. Appreciate the clothing comments, KIGG, and happy New Year to you and your beautiful wife. We'll talk soon. It's eight eighteen at fifty five KRC Detalk station. The Honda CRV is in the shop right now. Jerry's carr now gave it to my son for Christmas, so now he's got the responsibility for maintaining it up keeping it.
And guess what it's at Foreign Exchange Westchester location of course, where Austin and the a SC Certified Master Technicians gave it a full front to back and found out actually
quite a few things going on with the Honda. I think he knew what he was getting into, but his responsibility and of course he's glad he took it to the Foreign Exchange because the price will be far better for the repair work that he needs, including one hundred and fifty one thousand mile maintenance and that's quite a bit of work there for that one. But if he'd taken it to the dealer, he would have paid a whole
lot more. And that's the point. You get an a SC Certified Master technician with data access to your manufacturer's technical information. They know what they're doing whether your car's from a traditional Asian or European manufacturer, and also Tesla's You can take your Tesla for service to Foreign Exchange. They know what they're doing with Tesla's as well Bosch certified business. But Austin understands, you know, economic times being what they are, but it's always been the case with Austin.
Don't pay as much as the dealer bring it in here. You'll leave with a full warranty on parts and service and more money in your pocket. Foreign X for in the letterax dot com Westchester location is the Tyersville exit off of seventy five East to Kingland, which is only two streets hanging right and you're there. Find them online again foreign x dot com fifty five KRC