Orange disco on the tongue: the founding story of Satoshi Spirits

At Satoshi Spirits, the dream story of every start-up in the gourmet sector has become reality: delicatessen, red wine, schnapps, selling Bitcoin for start-up capital. The manufactory from Swabia combines a fascination for natural quality, full-flavored ingredients and oranges. In this interview, co-founder Thomas Neff tells us how a small idea, three connoisseurs and 1.3 Bitcoin turned into a distinctive spirits brand and manufactory that not only inspires with its taste, but also with its creative story.

Difficult question first: what do Bitcoin and schnapps have in common?

The color and round shape of the Bitcoin logo happens to correspond to the orange that everything revolves around here. Otherwise, however, Bitcoin was merely the vehicle for financing the share capital and the first batch of bottles. Since our initials are in SAToshi - Sebastian, Alessandro, Thomas - the orange didn't fall far from the tree and we became a Japanese-sounding gin from Swabia overnight. (Note: Satoshi Nakamoto is the alleged inventor of Bitcoin)

The initials of the founders - Sebastian, Alessandro, Thomas - are in the brand name SAToshi

Tell us about your fascination with Bitcoin and how you found yourselves as a team.

If we saw Bitcoin as the holy grail, we certainly wouldn 't have sold our 1.3 Bitcoin back then and invested it in the company. It is still exciting to see what Satoshi Nakamoto's idea will become, but Schnapps is much more exciting.

We love stable percentages with only 0.3% deviation allowed by law. The name Satoshi and the topic of Bitcoin is our founding story, nothing more. We got to know each other in Alessandro's delicatessen in Ludwigsburg. I was in charge of Alessandro's tastings, Sebastian presented his now discontinued Heckengäu Gin and Alessandro was the host.

When the guests left the delicatessen, we forged a plan to take over world domination of the orange schnapps business over some very fine Italian red wine and even finer southern German schnapps . Completely unrealistic with only 1.3 Bitcoin (around €25,000 at the time), but whoever stops dreaming has stopped living. 5€ into the phrase box. Haha!

How do people react to your homage to Bitcoin?

First of all, it has to be said that at every trade fair with 1,000-3,000 visitors, there are a maximum of three visitors who know what Satoshi is all about. The first contact is therefore more likely to be "but you don't look very Japanese" or "do you speak German?" 99% of people don't see Satoshi as a homage to Bitcoin, which was also the focus of the final decision to choose the name. Satoshi sounds catchy, Japan stands for top bar culture and our founder story breaks the ice.

For die-hard Bitcoin fans, we were delighted to hide Easter eggs in the bottle design. Of course, it is more difficult to start with an atypical name that requires some explanation, but there are no monkeys living in the Black Forest and Campari is no longer only drunk in Holland. The important thing is that the content is memorable, then the easy-to-remember name will work.

Is your unusual and exciting idea already attracting the crypto community from abroad?

We have importers in CH and A, but not because of the "crypto community", but because of the unmistakable natural taste of our products, the beautiful bottle and probably also because of the authentic founder story.

Everything at Satoshi Spirits revolves around the orange - for example in the London Dry Gin with real Sicilian blood orange

In recent years, many small companies and individuals have launched their own coin. Have you ever discussed this?

Normally we would say "next question please" because it's completely irrelevant. However, since the globally known Trump Coin, a public debate is unavoidable. The market for alternative coins needs to be massively regulated.

You seem to have a penchant for Italy in your recipes and ingredients. What connects you personally or in terms of taste with the Italian world of indulgence?

Italian cuisine focuses on the natural quality of the ingredients. That's what the name Satoshi stands for, even if it doesn't sound very Italian.

Japanese cuisine is very close to the minimum of Italian cuisine. Italian and Asian cuisine has had an extreme influence on top international gastronomy over the last 50 years. The combination is therefore not absurd, but rather a logical consequence. Thanks to the coincidence of our initials, the 1.3 Bitcoin and the name Satoshi, we have a prominent and at the same time unknown namesake.

Personally, of course, Alessandro has a great love for his home country, but it didn't have to spill over to us. This love has always been there. To be honest, not loving the Italian world of indulgence is pretty cringeworthy.

How does your background in the creative world of animation influence the way you develop and present distillates?

My main influence on Satoshi Spirits was the basic knowledge around spirits and cocktails I acquired privately since 2012/2013, as I hosted caterings and cocktail evenings. Of course, Satoshi also benefited from my experience in design.

However, the quality standards in the development of our products arose from our shared love of natural quality. From day one, we have avoided the use of bought-in flavorings, colorants, glycerine and many other aids used in industrial spirits production.

The ideas for our products come more from a feeling than from the marketing drawing board. What goes into the bottle simply has to taste good, be accessible and immediately awaken the memory of the original taste of the raw material in the sensory memory.

The attention to detail in production and the aroma of blood and bitter oranges make Satoshi Spirits' spirits unmistakable

What can we expect from Satoshi Spirits in the future - will it stay with oranges or will there be more "crypto in a glass"?

We are sticking with blood oranges, bitter oranges and other fine citrus fruits. Crypto in a glass? No, orange disco on the tongue!

You can find all Satoshi Spirits products at a glance here.