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Welcome to the 1000th post on the Whynatte Blog. This would seem to be an ideal time to give a huge “thank you” to everyone that’s had a hand in making it all possible. Thank you to all of the people who sent in photos, told their friends, supported our crazy mission, and anyone who’s helped build the Whynatte community. Thank you to all of the Whynatte drinkers, bar owners and bartenders, investors, our amazing coworkers, and the kind creative people of Atlanta.
To celebrate the 1000th post, we’re giving away a Whynatte a day, for an entire year, to one lucky person. That’s right, we’ll keep you stocked for an entire year. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post about your first Whynatte experience. If you’ve never tried Whynatte before, let us know how you first heard about it. Next Friday (3/25) we’ll select one entry at random, and that person’s life will be enriched with Whynatte for 12 months.
People always ask me how I got started in this business, so here’s the story of how the Whynatte came to be:
It all started with a hungover morning in Santa Cruz, CA. The Summer of 2004. Andy and I were out visiting my old roommate Wyatt, and he’s just picked up a fancy new espresso machine. We’d been out drinking all night, and we woke up feeling pretty bruced out. Wyatt was in the kitchen making lattes, and Andy and I were laid out on the sofas. Half joking, Andy says to me, “how much would you have to get paid to drop a shot of Jager in that latte?” To which I replied, “Why natte?”
With that, I dropped an ice cold shot of Jager into a piping hot latte, pounded it, and the first Whynatte was born. Here’s video of Wyatt drinking one that day (needless to say, iPhones didn’t exist):
That night, a bunch of us went to a bar named Clouds, in Santa Cruz. We convinced our server, Mary, to make us Whynattes. She looked at us like we had beaks when we told her that we were going to drop Jager shots into piping hot lattes, but she eventually obliged our request.
Here’s a photo of Mary (she’s the one in the middle). On the left’s Katie, who was there at the house the morning the Whynatte was created:
Andy and I started drinking Whynattes on a regular basis, and we began spreading word of this amazing new concoction to our friends. Sometimes it was just the two of us drinking Whynattes…
…and sometimes it would be a bunch of us drinking them at house parties. The Whynatte was still served with a piping hot latte, and there was definitely an art to preparing the Whynatte just hot enough to cause fear, but not so hot as to scald the thorax:
Anytime our old group of friends would get together, the Whynattes flowed smoother than New England clam chowder:
Whynatte preparation became a ritual, and we became accidental baristas:
Old school Whynatte drinking was a messy undertaking, and one did so wearing a white shirt at their own peril:
One afternoon, in the Summer of 2006, I pondered the future of the Whynatte. Everyone who tried a Whynatte loved it, and it was totally unlike anything that was currently on the drinking scene. A cold shot of Jager dropped into a piping hot latte. A Whynatte. On a whim, I went online to see if www.whynatte.com was available, and sure it enough it was.
I bought it, called Andy, and said, “I bought a website,” to which Andy said, “what is it?”
“Whynatte.com,” I explained.
“What are we going to do with it?” asked Andy.
“We’re going to make the Whynatte into a drink that people order by name,” I said.
It all started off innocently enough, we’d created the Whynatte cocktail, and our mission was to make it into a drink that people ordered by name. Think about it – the “Kamikaze,” or the “Buttery Nipple,” I mean someone had to name those drinks, and now you can order them from coast to coast and it’s the same recipe.
I called up my brother, who’s now Whynatte’s Creative Director, and asked him to build a website dedicated to the Whynatte. He agreed, and the first incarnation of the Whynatte website was a blog. We sat down with a few chalupas and hammered out a logo:
So now had a website and a logo, but how to make the Whynatte into a popular cocktail that people order by name? Andy and I decided that the best way to get the word out was to visit different bars, get the bartenders to make Whynattes, snap photos, and post them on the Whynatte blog:
For the most part, random people were pretty receptive to the idea of pounding a scalding hot latte:
It didn’t take long for the word of the Whynatte to spread, and we soon had people from all over the world sending us photos of themselves drinking Whynattes:
The Whynatte became an underground phenomenon, and Whynatte drinkers around the country took lattes into bars, so that they could drink Whynattes:
Bars around Atlanta started serving the Whynatte by name:
Then, in November 2006, the Whynatte was mentioned in Rolling Stone Magazine. That was flat out insanity:
To continue spreading the word of the Whynatte, Andy and I started throwing a weekly Thursday night Whynatte party at El Bar. It started modestly, with a small group of Whynatte aficionados, and a box filled with latte…
…which quickly turned into two boxes of latte, and then three boxes of latte. We soon outgrew the boxes, and had to move onto gallons:
To offset all of the money we were spending to brew latte for the parties, we started selling Whynatte clothing:
Pounding lattes until 4am every Thursday night started to take its toll, so we started throwing monthly Whynatte parties at various bars around the city. On the day of a party, we’d typically spend about 8 hours brewing latte in my kitchen. Eventually we landed an unpaid high school intern to help us brew the latte (he has stock options):
We had to buy a bunch of church style urns to keep the latte at the proper temperature. I managed to get this particular urn from my grandmother’s basement:
The urns quickly became the object of many a woman’s affection:
The monthly parties were a blast, and they really helped introduce a lot of new people to the Whynatte. Once, we did a full scale Whynatte party at Ma Li, a Thai restaurant in Virginia Highlands:
We also threw a smorgasbord of rooftop parties with the fellas from Esperanza, who still help out with a lot of our design work. We had an ongoing battle to see who could make the bigger banner (we won):
While the Whynatte movement was growing legs, there was still one tiny problem: We had created a brand around the Whynatte, and a market for latte as a mixer, but we didn’t actually have a product. The Whynatte was a brand with no product, which given the fact that this whole thing started as an inside joke, shouldn’t really come as a big surprise. We never set out to make Whynatte a business, we just wanted to make it a cocktail that people ordered by name.
Regardless, we were spending more time on the Whynatte than we were our real jobs, and it came time to either let it go, or figure out how to make it our real jobs. We knew that we needed our own latte, specifically made for mixing, we just had no clue how the hell to make it.
While perusing the mustache classified ads, we stumbled upon Jim Natoli, who’d spent over twenty years developing beverages with the largest beverage company in the world. Jim knew how to turn our vision of the Whynatte Latte into a reality. Jim put his money where his lactose was, and joined the company:
After over a year of taste tests, finally the day came when we traveled to an enormous dairy manufacturer in Cabool (Missouri) to make our first batch of Whynatte Latte. It was pretty overwhelming to see tankers of milk being brought in to make the Whynatte. It gave much relief to our high school intern who no longer had to make the latte in my kitchen:
Then, on a rainy night at the Days Inn in Cabool, we prepared the first ever Whynattes using the Whynatte Latte as we know it today. It had been over 4 years since that first Whynatte was consumed in Wyatt’s kitchen, and we were now ready to share the Whynatte with the world:
About The Author
jesse
Hello, I'm one of the co-founders of Whynatte, and currently handle the marketing, branding, and business development. I also handle the mail room, the black market primate side-operation, and most of the shipping and receiving. A little of this, a little of that. The fact that you're actually reading this indicates that you've lent us your time, and have an interest in Whynatte. Thank you. It's the gazillion people who've supported us along the way that make the difference. See you around....
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Monday, Mar 16, 2009 at 7:59 PM I sent an e-mail to Jesse asking “What’s this latte you’re selling? I wanna try it.” and Jesse issued me a challenge. I can still remember reading it, “Here is my proposal, and it’s going to be an exercise in trust. I’ll send you a few cans of Whynatte Latte, free of charge. If you honestly like the drink, give me the benefit of the doubt and order up a case. If you’re not really into it, or it’s not as good as the others, all I want is the feedback on how it could be improved. ”
At this moment, my life changed. Jesse shipped me a few cans and I began spreading the word of latte across the hills of Georgia. From dropping off cans at local gas stations to picking up a case at the Shell in Newnan on the way to Athens, from my first Whynatte I knew it was going to be a hit.
I’m so glad I’ve been able to be apart of such a great movement and I look forward to the future of having Whynatte’s on every corner. Good luck guys and long live the lemur.
Cool blog! first time i’ve ever seen these photos in chronological order along with the great story that is Whynatte. I remember the first time we connected with you on Twitter, via Dean and Chris.. and wondered WTH is a whynatte? Which led to MY first whynatte experience!
One day my friends Chris and Dean tweeted to this Jesse Whyatte guy, and always curious, I snooped and found out about this brand new phenominom in a sleek black and gold can. Always the opportunist I convinced this Jesse Whynatte guy to send my friend Grace and I a free sample, bribing him with the idea that it would be ‘the first Whynatte consumed in Canada’. He went for it
A short time later, this amazing package arrived in the mail – a beautiful 6 pack of precious brew. We were so in awe of the priviledge of being ‘the first’ that we treated it with the respect due! We took photos of the package before unwrapping it. We took photos of the unveiling of the cans, and we dutifully took photos of us holdiing the cans – all to send to this Jesse Whynatte guy for later on his blog. Then we sat down to business!
Gathering enough booze to rival any bar or nightclub, we retired with shot glasses, notepads and paper (and yes the precious whynatte), to my friend’s back garden and proceeded to test the whynatte with every sort of alcohol we could think of – and even some we couldnt! AND of course we tried it iced alone, heated up and in a Jaeger whynatte shot… and we came up with 2 distinct personal recipes each. We used up 4 cans Whynatte, and split the remaining 2 between us… and i have to admint, that i was a scrooge and saved that final can for nearly 4 monhs before i finally consumed the last of my treasure
oh.. and my favorite way to drink a whynatte? Peat Monster scotch and Whynatte in a short tumbler with an ice cube.
Bob brought some cans to trivia!
At Mezzanine Sports bar in Houston, I would always hear a group yelling ‘WHY NOT, EH!’ when doing a shot, I eventually asked what was up with that. They bought me a shot and I’ve been hooked ever since, always making sure the house is stocked. In addition, I’ve introduced many people to it and every one of them love it!
These are great, thanks! Keep ‘em coming, love reading about everyone’s first time.
After a whirlwind night of mischief, involving Whynatte’s own David Perloe, my friend Abby and I had our first taste of the magical Whynatte and we never looked back. Best hangover cure ever, by the way!
On a ritual trip to Smith’s Olde Bar on a cold winter night, the wife and I noticed a loud, stocky man who calls himself the General Manager exclaiming the medicinal properties of a new beverage to which he had been introduced during his great journies to mystical lands. He reminded me of a snake oil salesman I’d seen once in the wild west as he was exhibiting the myriad ways this beverage could be consumed.
We approached this man with great intrigue, and learned of a potion by the name of Whynatte. It was magical. This potion could be consumed hot or cold, with alcohol or without, and were given a sample of a hot Whynatte and a shot of Jager. After making the man consume his first to be sure it wasn’t poison, we raised our vessels and imbibed.
“What a glorious concoction!” my lady exclaimed.
For in that that moment, our enjoyment of Whynatte had begun.
Brenden Poole, bartender at Diesel Filling Station, had a Van Gogh double espresso vodka and Whynatte on the rocks in a pint glass. // “What’s that?” I asked. “Van Gogh/Whynatte.” B replied. “Go ahead, have a taste.” // Immediately hooked by its awesomeness, I ordered one of my own. In the time it took me to finish the first one, which wasn’t very long, B had consumed another three. And so it goes.
That night at Smith’s Olde Bar with my husband Brad, the GM, and Brad the bartender I exclaimed “What a glorious concoction!” (see Brad’s post above) as this was the first time I was able to drink Jager and actually enjoy the experience. To this day I will only have my Jager with Whynatte. Whippets have become a favorite as well. Cheers!
This is only the beginning for your business.
These stories are hilarious.
on the gucci bandana music video with soulja boy! big shouts for the success of whynatte!
Dear Jesse,
Why the hell am i not in any pictures?
Love,
Lauren
I was on my deathbed with a seemingly incurable illness. Doctor’s tried everything — antibiotics, holistic therapies. Nothing had worked, even more cowbell.
Then one morning, a partygoer who’d forgotten to add the Whynatte to all the Jaeger she’d had the night before found herself passed out in my hospital bed. She wouldn’t budge but the can of Whynatte in her pocket sure did.
To this day, I don’t know if it was the coffee, the vitamin blend, or the exhilarating feeling of waking up to someone who looked in worse shape than I did to get me moving, but it was transcendent. So I will happily credit the Whynatte with my recovery, though I’d only like to win if the prize is shipped in bulk since my daily regimen is pushing three a day to keep the doctor away.
True story.
Your Comments
It was the summer of 2009 and Jesse and Andy were looking for a few good comics to try a stand-up comedy night at FPN Midtown in an attempt to sling some Whynatte. There was this one comic, Dave – me thinks, who heckled Jesse all night by calling him “Dude from Maroon 5″ and didn’t know he was the creator/sponsor of the show. That was my first night I popped the top on a can of Whynatte and I was sold.
After a few years of enjoying the delicious smoothness of said cocktail, I began telling all my friends that they had to try this shot. I told everyone. And, they told everyone. And, then… well… you get it. But, the problem was that Whynatte hadn’t hit the FULL Midtown (ahem) market. So, I volunteered to help tell the more “colorful world” about Whynatte. After a few fun nights introducing Whynatte to the likes of 10th & Piedmont, we tried Whynatte at Burkhardt’s. Let’s just say that the Queens loved Whynatte… and they LOVED them some Andy. Now Burk’s regularly sells Whynatte with Rumple. It’s not always a night you will remember, but one that you wished you would have.
Congrats boys! Whynatte Rocks!
Every single one of you has played such an important role helping us build this thing. Word of mouth at its finest. You guys are the tip of the latte spear.
I have yet to have the pleasure of trying Whynatte, but I have been following on Twitter for a while now. I’d love to try it, and introduce it to people.
Nora – what city do you live in? Also, what’s your bank routing #?
I was working at Wildfire Restaurant in Eden Prairie, MN when my manager Jim Cameron walked up to the host stand and started passing out cans of Whynatte. He explained that his wife’s cousin came up with this crazy idea and they wanted him to spread the word in Minneapolis. I’ve forgotten the rest of the story now…I wonder why!
I’ve never tried it, but wanted to. I first heard about it from Mike over at Buckhead Cigar Club in Atlanta.
I am still waiting on my royalty check for getting Whynatte into ROLLING STONE!
I was snorkeling in the waters near Patagonia while on an adventurous trek visiting my brother in Chile. As I was enjoying my divine swim and viewing mother nature’s beauty below, I was suddenly bumrushed by an oversized seagull.
It is said that in the waters near Patagonia, Rare, Immense walruses breed and the males tend to have large genitalia. Therefore the reason, I was attacked! The seagull had mistaken my snorkel for a Walrus Shlong and fought me until it had it’s long shaft in it’s beak and flew away with my snorkel.
Now, without any breathing apparatus to assist me, I was at a loss for breath from treading the waters for so long, blacked out and plummeted into the dark abyss.
Next thing I know, I come to. Only to find myself partially lying on some ocean stone being held by a beautiful mermaid with a Large wavy “W’ tattooed between her immense breast which she lovingly had me nuzzle against while nursing me back to health with her breasts that lactated Whynatte Latte.
Once the flavor hit my tastebuds, I began having wonderful hallucinations of this magical concrete jungle called the A-T-L, where this Latte-liscious liquid flowed freely through the rivers and the streets! From that moment, I knew……
I knew this story of my first experience with Whynatte was a Latte (as they say in spanish…) mierda, but it was more exciting then just saying my first experience with you guys was throwing back Whynatte bombs on my b-day at TIn Roof at North Druids and Briarcliff.
I was very very drunk at the East Atlanta Beer fest and very full of beer. I needed something with caffeine and lo and behold there was free Whynatte! After downing one and taking another with me as the festival was closing, I was setting myself up for more booze that night and a fantastic hangover the next day.
I’ve got a lot of Jager. Heard Whynatte makes a good drink. Going to have to seek it out.
I heard about Whynatte from Twitter, and it was just as good as advertised.
Q: Am I still the only person to make a photo collage of their first Whynatte experience????
A: Yes
I once heard many a great thing about this mystical drink called whynatte. My best friend it was the best thing since sliced bread.
Many moons later, I sacrificed myself for the sake of my nephew’s happiness and hosted a sleep over for him and his best friend. I forwent sleep and chased around two crazy seven year olds all night and was on the verge of losing my last shred of sanity when his friend’s mom came to get him. She happened to bring me a few cans of this drink she invested in, whynatte. Needless to say, my sanity was saved by this delicious beverage and energy restored. I have been addicted ever since.
These stories are fucking awesome. Thanks!
And yes, Mikeydubs, you remain the only person to submit their first Whynatte by colage. In fact, here it is: http://www.whynatte.com/2006/09/whynatte-colage/
I first heard of Whynatte on twitter and started following about 6 months ago. Then shortly after that I “liked” on facebook
Like a previous commenter, I first tried it at East Atlanta Beer Fest last summer, but was honestly too drunk to remember what it was called or where to find it or anything.
I went to a Jeffrey Joslin concert at Smith’s a few months back where I heard the story and tried a Whynatte Bomb. I’ve been hooked ever since
trying to spread the word!
My first taste of Whynatte was around this time last year! I was at an event for Environment in West Atlanta, and was feeling a little lightheaded from chugging Pinot Grigio, this super nice bar chicky was like, “you should try a Whynatte, it’s reallllly gooood” & I was like, “ok” and then an airbending ninja jumped out and tried to steal it, and I karate chopped him into a zillion pieces, and as I was chopping the Whynatte flew into the air,and I caught it with my pinkie toe, and when I tasted it’s sweet milky, caffienated nectar, I fell in love….Thanks guys, not only do you have an amazingly yummy product, you are really nice peeps to boot! By the way, there was no airbending ninja, as you may have guessed, it was a Charlie Sheen Goddess in a head lock, but I won my Whynatte back & that is all that matters.
Haven’t tried one yet, but since Jager is my faorite shot, plan on ordering one up at my favorite watering hole Taco Mac.
I THINK my first Whynatte was in my apartment during VA Highlands Summerfest a couple years ago. Had a couple cans sitting around, been hearing about mixing booze in ‘em so hey, why not? Poured tequila in one drink, rum in another…what a way to get the party started! Um, yeah…as you can imagine, the day ended up quite nutty.
Since moving to ATL, I’ve seen Whynatte all over the local bars and loved it the first time I tried it. I ordered a few whippets recently at Pool Hall and was pleasantly surprised by from free swag- whynatte shot glasses! Love it!
My first Whynatte Experience, as related in the style of crappy 4th grade language arts class.
HAIKU FORM:
Tweet. Whynatte? What?
Gas Station. Rushing In. Late.
Total Liquid Bliss.
LIMERICK FORM:
I once heard of this drink from Atlanta
What’s this? A latte that lives in a can-a?
I tried a wee sip
A shout burst from my lips
Now this is top of my wish list from Santa!
And…by random drawing out of a Whynatte hat, the winner of Whynatte for a Year is Katherine! Thanks to everyone for your stories and comments, we appreciate it all!
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Thanks for all your insight. This site has been really helpful to me….