Coffee& Ep. 6 (Transcript)
Q: Wake yo' ass up and get some coffee.
Nate: To us, coffee isn't just a beverage, it's a community. It's an accumulation of the global network of fair trade farmers to the independently owned coffee shops working together to bring the freshest coffee to their local neighborhoods.
Q: You're listening to Coffee& powered by Acme radio Live.
Good morning. How everybody doing today?
Jimmie: How's it goin'?
Q: Welcome to Coffee& podcast powered by Acme Radio Live. It's a, nice beautiful day outside. It's a little cloudy but it's-
Nate: Almost jacket weather.
Q: It's almost jacket- I'm wearing a jacket.
Nate: I brought one with me, I haven't committed to it yet but I'm excited.
Q: 'Ey, I appreciate it. 'Ey, my name is Q uh, got my buddy Jimmy in the building.
Jimmie: Yo.
Q: My homie Nate.
Nate: What's up.
Q: And we got our special guest, Dave Pellaconne.
Dave: How's it going?
Q: Who is the proprietor, is that the proper word to say that word? Propri- bluh- bluh- bluh. I can't say that.
Speaker 5: (laughs)
Proprietor.
Jimmie: He runs things at Nash- uh, uh, Nashville Hemp?
Dave: Nashville Hemp.
Q: And we're happy to have him today. And I think we're gonna jump right into because there's a lot information that I want you to share with the people. So I know school's back in session so hopefully we got some more listeners out there. And I want you to talk about your story, your background, and how you'd get involved in, the hemp business and uh, where your located and all that good stuff brotha.
Dave: All right, cool yeah. Nashville Hemp is over in West Nashville on Charlotte Pike. It's 5916 Charlotte for anybody interested. Uh, but yeah, uh, Nashville Hemp was opened up last year and uh, it kind of, grew out of uh...
I also own Nashville Vapor uh, the electronic cigarette company and yeah, people were comin' in all the time and asking a lot of questions about CBD, I'd say about a year and a half ago and you know I kind of thought uh, you know yeah, there's- there's definitely something going on here and I thought it warranted maybe having it's own operation.
So, yeah, we opened up Nashville Hemp llast year uh, I guess uh, September 1st. So yeah, we're just a few days away from our- our one year anniversary.
Q: Congrats, man.
Dave: Yeah-
Q: Congrats.
Dave: Yeah, thanks,
Q: Let's- let's circle back one second though because there are people out there and, myself want to want to know what is- what is CBD? Like?
Dave: CBD is Cannabidiol, it's uh, it's one of the key ingredients in the Cannabis plant. Uh, it's more traditionally thought of as, you know an extract from hemp but you know most- a lot of people don't understand that hemp and cannabis is- it's the same plant.
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: It's just different strains are grown with... you know more dominant uh, chemical profiles, I guess-
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: I mean you know, when- I don't like to say the word chemical because most people think something synthetic but-
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: It's all natural but uh, yeah-
Nate: There's still compounds present, right?
Dave: Yeah, of course. You know hemp is basically just uh, a low THC form of cannabis and you know, CBD is generally extracted from the plant. Uh, and yeah, people are using for a ton of different things.
Not everybody totally understands exactly how and why it does the things that it does but you know, without making any health claims it seems to be helping an awful lot of people for a ton of different things that you know, you can almost... barely even comprehend how many things are really helping people with so-
Q: Yeah-
Dave: It's pretty interesting.
Q: And that's what I'm hearing. Like you know, people that I talk to who you know, whose into the CBD things. Like, man I- I have a headache, or um you know, if I'm exhausted. It's just like all kinds of different examples of people out there who are saying like, it makes me feel this. It makes me feel that, It gives me an extra boost of energy or it just vibes me out, make me more chilled out if I got anxiety and things like that. So you know, I think that's dope you know, so it's always a good thing when people are feeling better, so.
Nate: Yeah-
Dave: Yeah, for sure.
Nate: I liked your anecdotes about people who've been struggling with a certain ailment for a while and just decided to give it a try and noticed some sort of relief. Um, but do you think the main reason that there's so much mystery surrounding it is because of it's classification, as a Schedule 1?
Dave: Yeah, I mean, it's- it's combination of a lot of things the biggest obstacle for a lot of people you know, a lot of people who would, potentially be inclined to looking for some kind of alternative health and wellness lifestyles might... initially have a little... you know skepticism when they're thinking of anything that comes from the cannabis plant.
Nate: (laughs)
You know, but-
Evil!
Dave: Yeah, exactly. But it's changing you know, just in the past year and a half uh, two years you know, people who would've... initially never even thought about trying it you know? Have started trying it and a lot of people have had amazing results just a good example is somebody like my mom you know?
Nate: Uh-huh.
Dave: Whose uh, you know a 67 year-old lady. Pretty- pretty straight-laced for the most part. (laughs)
Nate: (laughs)
Uh... and you know, she's like "I'm getting older, I've got some joint issues. I played tennis". You know, "my knee" or whatever and "I'll give it a try" you know? And sure enough she's like, "wow" you know, "this really helps" and uh-
Q: But do you- do you feel high? Like, as like... if your smoking weed you get high obviously. Do you get the munchies on CBD? Do you... I mean is there- is there-
Dave: Yeah...
Q: Is there a level of like damn, I don't need to drive right now. I'm high as hell on this CBD.
Nate: (laughs)
Uh... probably for the most part no.
Q: Okay.
Dave: I mean it depends on how much you're ingesting and how you're ingesting. I mean there's so many ways to take it. Like my mom she uses like a topical cream which you'll you know, rub onto her- her joints after she's you know, been out playing tennis.
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: Uh, but you know, if you're taking a higher dose of CBD sublingually under your tongue or there are a lot of people who smoke the actual hemp flower. You know, you'll definitely feel a little mellow and relaxed. I don't know... I mean it doesn't have... for it to legally be classified as you know, a hemp or CBD product in the state of Tennessee-
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: It needs to be below... .3 percent so it's a minuscule amount of THC that's in there, which is generally thought of as the psychoactive ingredient.
Nate: Yeah so...we deal with plants a fair bit in our industry as well. There’s... two main, types of plants, the Arabica, the Robusta. One has a lot of caffeine, the other is more, um, more of a specialty product that people aren't buying just so they can get jacked on caffeine.
Dave: Yeah like Indicas and Cetivas.
Nate: Yeah exactly. Yeah, yeah, so I can't help but draw that parallel um... but like when we're sourcing obviously we're not buying coffee that was grown here, um-
Dave: Right.
Nate: On this soil so we have to build these relationships with people in Guatemala, El Salvador, uh, Ethiopia, these types of places. Are you um... what are you looking for when you’re deciding like what product you are going to market in Nashville?
Dave: Uh yeah, I mean - we like to carry as wide a selection as possible. We normally try to have you know, at least... eight to 12 different strains of you know, hemp flour. Uh, if you're just talking about the... purest form of how it's grown.
But uh, there's a lot of stuff being grown in Tennessee right now um, there's definitely gonna be some nice stuff being harvested this year. But you know, places where they have a longer history of- of growing. Uh, you know, places like the pacific northwest and Colorado, you're definitely gonna see... a little bit higher grade.
And again I haven't seen everything that- that's gonna be harvested yet this year in Tennessee, but, you know, the more time you spend growing obviously the better results your gonna have and I'm sure it's the exact same way with coffee. You know, if people plant some coffee beans probably their first year's return is probably not gonna be... and I don't know this for sure, but I'm guessing over time as you develop you know, the specific strain of coffee bean it's just gonna get better over time, but-
Nate: Yeah.
Dave: Am I right-
Nate: That makes-
Dave: Am I right about that or-
Nate: That makes sense.
Nate: Yeah. Yeah, typically it's uh, about four years before a coffee plants gonna yield... uh, an actual harvest-
Dave: Yeah.
Nate: From the time that's in nursery plant. Is that similar too as well? Like these people who have uh... who are now growing in the state of Tennessee. Are they seeing yields, you know, the very next year or is it...
Dave: Yeah, I mean, they'll- they get something. I mean, you know the plant, if it grows, it's gonna be a viable hemp plant. But, you know, there's so much selective breeding that goes into it. You know, people take the best traits of their best plants and generally clone them, so then the next year, you know, like anything they're harnessing all the best properties of it and over time it's gonna get better and better and better.
Uh, you know, there's a lot of plants... like when you think of industrial hemp, like the stuff they make rope out of that stuff is inbred specifically to be high in CBD. So, it will have it in there but it might be you know, four or five percent. Whereas, if people are growing a strain specifically to yield a high amount of CBD.
You know... last year a lot of the stuff that we were seeing in Tennessee was coming in about 10, 11, 12 percent um, whereas the stuff from you know, Colorado and Oregon, could be 22, 23 percent CBD in it. So, you know, I expect in the next two, three years they'll be... creating you know, strains here that are on par with anything grown anywhere.
I mean, you know, Tennessee growers are serious about what they're doing and you know, they wanna create stuff as good is anything being grown anywhere. And I'm fully confident they will you know?
Nate: We're rooting for it too.
Dave: Yeah, for sure.
Q: It- it seems like, it's just so many things I wanna ask you. I mean, yeah, can we- do we have t- do you want take a break right now? And I wanna, actually go back a little bit, but we'll take a break first in come back.
Dave: Yeah.
Q: And I wanna ask you some more questions. We got my man Dave Pellaconne in the building uh, Coffee& powered by Acme Radio Live. My name is Q. Got my buddy Nate.
Nate: Yo.
Q: My homie Jimmie.
Jimmie: Hello.
Q: Our awesome guest, Mr. Dave Pellaconne, from Nashville Hemp.
Dave: Hello.
Q: I wanna take it back. So, what I wanna do man, I'm try- you... your education... your knowledge is amazing and... imma say something I think you are going to be... 10 years from now people are gonna look back and say this guy's one of the forefathers of bringing the hemp and the CBD thing to the- to the masses and to the forefront of Nashville.
So my question to you is, how did all this happen? Where did you grow up? How did you get into this? I want you to get tie-in- tie-in like the story of Dave and like how did all this happen?
Dave: All right.
Q: Was it just like you chilling and smoking weed at the crib you just had a revelation?
Nate: (laughs) Or you just got others ways off popping this off.
Dave: Uh, yeah. Once upon a time many, many years ago when I was living in New York and I was in, the music world. There was you know, some plants that were floating around the music scene. I was uh... a bit of a fan and- and dabbled a little bit in it uh, once upon a time. (laughs)
Q: You're not talking about succulents
Nate: (laughs) No, no.
Dave: Yeah.
Q: The real thing and uh, you know, I always just thought you know, that the laws surrounding you know, cannabis were just... insane. I mean in a way I was, waiting my whole life for this to kinda, you know, start to gain some broad acceptance in society because you know, the stigma for a plant is just rooted in- in so much misinformation and fear.
Dave: And you know, for this, I always saw the cannabis plant as having some magical properties. And not just for you know, how it can get somebody stoned but something that kinda transcends that in a way, and I talked about this with Ernest a little bit before. Um, I see the plant as a uniter you know?
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: For a lot of people who come from, you know, really various backgrounds, with different political and religious and whatever different beliefs. Uh, kinda all seem to be on the same page with the possibilities of what can come from this plant.
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: Uh, you know, it's healing properties alone, you know... it's just started to really be studied. And people still really don't understand how it has the ability to help so many different people with so many different kinds of things. Um, but the fact that this kind of came up, here in Tennessee and obviously you know, recreational marijuana use is not legal here in Tennessee yet.
Q: Okay.
Dave: But it will be. Um, but you know, when I first opened up Nashville Hemp the reason I did it was I was a little afraid at first to start hemp products in the electronic cigarette stores at Nashville Vapor.
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: Because I was worried that you know, certain people were gonna, come in and see that and that would turn them off to the whole... you know, electronic cigarette vapor business. And you know, which I started to try to help people quit smoking.
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: So I didn't want to put anything in there was gonna make people feel like they were going into a head shop or something that was seedy or... uh, but really quickly I started to realize nobody cares anymore. Nobody's has that like evil fear of the dreaded weed anymore you know? I mean when- when I started seeing 85 year-old women coming in who've never-
Q: (laughs)
Smoked a joint in their life-
Nate: (laughs)
Telling me how CBD has like, changed their life.
Q: Yeah.
Dave: Uh, I was like wow you know? This is... this is an amazing thing you know? I mean there’s really nothing else like it that I can think about that has... has found a way to bring so many different people from so many diverse backgrounds the kinda all be on the same page and say, you know what... there's something to this plant.
Q: And that's crazy because I mean, now CBD is kinda... stepping in and doing and creating it's own path too. So, you know, it kinda parallels in a lot of ways, so.
Dave: Yeah. You know, I mean when we started Nashville Hemp I wanted it to be... a Nashville thing. I wanted you know, Nashville to... to be able to, have it's own, hemp and... identity, I guess. Where people can realize oh you know, Tennessee has the potential. You know, everybody thinks of places like Colorado, and California but I think you know, there's a huge potential for Tennessee to really put itself on the map as one of the... premiere you know, hemp-growing destinations in- on the planet you know?
Q: That's awesome.
Dave: The conditions here and the history are right, you know? I mean Tennessee and Kentucky you know, have such a long history of you know, tobacco farmers. And that industry is obviously died out for a lot of them so this is like a huge revitalization for a lot of farmers who've just been waiting for something that they can grow again where like you know... and this is huge.
Q: So talk about like... with Nashville Vapor leading over to Nashville Hemp as far as like your branding and building the business. If there's any kind of regulatory challenges that you've been facing, throughout this process that you wanna chime in on.
Dave: There's always challenges in this industry. There's a ton of challenges right now for the vapor industry and even after the farm bill had been passed last year, which made hemp a federally legal crop, product, plant; whatever you wanna call it. Uh, still nobody wanted to touch as far as banks and credit card processors, I mean, we're on our third credit card processor right now because again there's still that stigma where you know, a lot of people are just... pulling back and holding on to see where the industry's gonna go.
Um, you know, so right now, it's so early in the game. It's hard to know where it's all gonna go right now but, I think regardless of what happens, even if marijuana was legalized federally or in the state of Tennessee tomorrow there's still going to be... it's not like if we got legalized people would stop using CBD specifically for CBD. It's not like, a replacement you know, it has it's own place, you know, because it- tomorrow my mom if weed was legalized uh, she's not gonna start ripping bong heads.
Nate: (laughs)
She will still keep using CBD cream-
Q: Right.
Dave: 'Cause it works, yeah. Uh, so yeah, there's so many possibilities of where the industry can go right now.
Nate: So one of the questions on my mind is sustainability. We kinda look at the world around us and see how many non-renewable resources we're using. How much damage we're doing to the planet, just to kinda maintain our... disposable lifestyle, especially here in the United States. Um, how interested are you in the industrial side of hemp. Like what are... what are the boundaries of you know, how this could revolutionize the way that human beings live. And how how many jobs are we gonna create globally when hemp becomes sort of this commodity that we're using in almost everything. The same way that you know, plastic is in everything or styrofoam is so common.
Dave: Yeah, that a great question. Um, people don't... when I said the plant is a miraculous plant uh, the potentials for it go way beyond even just you know, what it can do for people, individually for you know, health or relaxation or whatever. Uh, you're right. Hemp, if we start- I mean, there's so many things that could be made from hemp, you can barely even comprehend. Uh, I just saw something the other where a guy just made a plane that is- was made from hemp and-
Nate: No way.
Dave: And fueled by hemp. Uh, and this isn't a new idea, I think it Henry Ford had made a hemp car like you know, 70 or 80 years ago that the entire car was made from hemp and ran on hemp seed oil. And without getting into like, you know a dark holes where I'm sounding like some crazy conspiracy theorist or anything, there definitely was, you know... active you know, measures taken to prevent all of the potentials for the hemp plant from ever really like, being realized.
And know I'm really hoping that people are starting to realize okay, you know, resources are not infinite. Um, we see all these terrible things happening you know, in the amazon right now and you know... if people start to realize that you know, you can yield five times as much fiber from hemp plants that you can from cutting down trees. And you know, where it can take years and years and years for a tree to reach full maturity, you're talking about a matter of months where you can get the same amount of usable hemp fiber from the hemp plant. Uh, obviously that's not the focus of my business, as far as Nashville Hemp goes. Uh but yeah, the potential... you can make anything out of it uh-
Nate: And the more we de-stigmatize and legalize too throughout the states and stop pretending like this thing is as harmful to us as heroin.
Speaker 5: (laughs)
Oh, course.
Nate: Like, as soon as we break down those barriers I feel like we- we're going to rapidly learn more while we create more jobs and we're just pouring into the economy as opposed to uh, pillaging the earth and uh-
Dave: Yeah.
Nate: Creating a less clean environment for especially poor people. But when we think about like the global impact of this. Like if especially if America was like willing to just say we don't care about you know, protecting oil companies anymore. Like we don't care about making non-renewable energy our main thing. We're gonna de-stigmatize, we're gonna stop pretending like this is uh, a potentially harmful idea to embrace.
Dave: Yeah. And I mean that's what I think everybody whose a little progressive-minded is hoping that we're reaching a point right now where there needs to be some, cosmic shift in the way that people are thinking about everything and uh, the way that you know, human beings, our place in the earth and what that all means. And yeah, I mean, hopefully right now you know, enough people are starting to realize okay, you know.. things have to change.
The fossil fuel needs to change, pharmaceutical industry needs to change you know, there's- there's just so many things. And, you know, the cannabis plant is a huge part of that because I think it helps without getting too New Agey here, it's a collective spiritual evolution for people to start realizing okay you know, we have to start thinking about things differently.
We have to start thinking about fossil fuel industry differently, we have to start thinking about sustainable products differently. We have to stop thinking about, you know, the way we use plastic, which is just becoming catastrophic for the entire planet. And so many of these products right now, you know, these single-use plastic items, can be made from hemp.
And all of the hemp that's being grown right now you know, even after, all of the beneficial, medicinal properties can be extracted from, the CBD and everything. There's still going to be... millions and millions and millions of pounds of what they call biomass leftover. Which is... we don't know what's gonna happen yet but, they're not gonna throw this stuff in the garbage. And you know, these are plants that even after they've been processed, the fiber that's leftover, you can make things that- that... can essentially replace plastic. Um, so I'm- I'm keeping my fingers crossed and I'm trying to be hopeful that you know, people get their act together quicker than- than later. You know, 'cause we're- we're running out of time.
Nate: Totally.
Q: Man, you got a lot of knowledge brotha. I'm glad to have you. My man, Dave Pellaconne, we're gonna take a quick break and we're gonna uh, come back back in a minute. Coffee& powered by Acme Radio Live.
Nate: This is Nate, you're listening to Coffee& podcast powered by Acme Radio Live.
Q: Coffee& podcast, welcome back. Powered by Acme Radio Live. My name is Q, got my homie Jimmie. Got my brotha Nate.
Nate: Yo.
Q: Got my homie Dave in the building, talking about Nashville Hemp.
Dave: Right.
Q: And uh... I feel like we're bunch a stoners in the because we kinda forgot that we're a coffee podcast and uh... we forgot... (laughs) what the original topic was. Which I wanted to see because I've been approached by a couple of people who are in the CBD business about doing like coffee-infusions and all this kind of stuff. And I've been hesitant because I was un- uneducated on the CBD side and uh-
Nate: Yeah, I actually had a huge question about that um, because I just kind of learned about CBD two years ago probably. Um, so this is- this whole industry is new to me, but coffee is not and I saw it hit the coffee industry by like, storm last year. It was in everything. It kinda reminded me, of like, I- I don't know 2010, 2011 when they decided bacon was gonna be in everything. They did like, bacon lollipops, bacon coffee, bacon- like everywhere. And that is how CBD looked to me last year. Um, CBD lattes, they were like hitting coffee shops. And as soon as it hit that, like both of those separate... I'm so into like... I love CBD, I see its uses. I love using it. Coffee obviously, I'm here. But, the mixture of the two I was like, wait this doesn't make sense. Like, it's like the Four Loko of the morning.
Q: (laughs)
Like, it was an upper and a downer I just... I'm curious what you think um, those two things... like how they can be used to together. Or if they should be? Or is it just a way to get CBD in front of people to de-stigmatize it a little bit and will it kind of, work itself out into the right areas?
Dave: I think...two point, not to go too far out with this but- but yes. You know, having the exposure for CBD is definitely, it was a good thing for the collective psyche of you know, just people in general would realize okay, this takes the stigma away from it, And yes, I mean now it's- CBD is everywhere.
I mean they sell it everyplace you can possibly imagine. And because it's so conducive to being mixed... or you know, since it can be put into so many things, just to give you an example to bring it back to the coffee uh, like there are a lot of people who are baking with CBD. And when we opened up there were two different coffee companies that were making CBD infused coffee.
And I thought okay we're trying to just carry you know, the most diverse assortment of hemp and CBD products. I mean you know, we don't just sell CBD there, I mean we have candles and cosmetics and books and clothes and everything you can think about over there, at Nashville Hemp, made of you know, or derived from the hemp plant.
So it seemed natural that there was gonna be, coffee with-CBD. What's this you know, why not? You know? So, we bought a bunch of coffee beans that were already infused with CBD. And um, I didn't how it was gonna sell. I didn't know what people were gonna think about so we started brewing a little bit in the store just to have out for customers to have at no cost or anything. Just to try it out... and it seemed like what a lot of people were thinking was you know, it kind of, you know...
CBD has become you know, a daily part of so many people's routines these days in the same that for so many people coffee is just you know... a ritual for them, were you know, uh... there's so many people who can't even think of, the idea of getting up in the morning and starting their day without a cup of coffee. Uh, so CBD is becoming kind of the same thing for a lot of people where, they're just using it as their base-level you know, thing to get them feeling... normal. If that makes any sense uh-
Nate: Right.
Dave: Uh, and- and obviously... you know, I guess if you (laughs) could combine the two together where you're getting there, a little bit of there... CBD and there a little bit of their caffeine at the same time, you know, I get it's not everybody. And uh, you know, I personally am not a huge CBD coffee drinker myself but I get it. You know, I get why people would wanna be able to... combine the two things. I mean, a lot of people don't mind the flavor uh, and some people actually enjoy that little bit of you know, that little planty-hempy flavor
Q: I feel like it'd be like coffee and tea at the same time.
Dave: Yeah I mean, it definitely has an earthy, organic taste to it. If I'm drinking coffee I just, generally want good coffee and I wouldn't want anything to uh, interfere with the taste of it. And by the way, you know, this coffee that you poured me is fantastic.
Q: Appreciate that.
Nate: (laughs)
Little shout-out there on coffee, it's really good coffee.
(laughs)
Um, so I- I don't know if I would necessarily wanna add any you know, hemp or flavor to this coffee-
I can see it from the efficiency standpoint. Like, the person who wants to put CBD in their coffee is probably also listening to this podcast while brushing their teeth in the shower or something like that-
Dave: (laughs)
It's just like, there's people just cutting corners all day long. We- well, we don't see you, but we hear you.
Speaker 5: (laughs)
We hear ya.
Dave: Yeah.
Nate: So like an efficiency standpoint, I can get that. But-
Jimmie: Thanks for shedding some light on that- that was something I wasn't sure how I felt about um... the constant use of it, everywhere. Or the uh, here's what's normally a five dollar beverage, but now it has CBD in it, so now it's 11 dollars.
Dave: Yeah.
Nate: (laughs)
That kind of stuff was, I'll admit was annoying to me, despite my interest, curiosity, and enjoyment uh, in this area. But I also understand-
Dave: And I totally understand that too as a, coffee connoisseur. Of course you know, it's something that I can be see as being sacred and you just (laughs) wanna leave it alone.
Jimmie: Yeah, yeah. (laughs)
Dave: As the coffee, you know.
Jimmie: At the end of the day I'm a fucking snob. (laughs)
Nate: (laughs)
When it comes to coffee. So, so yeah. But, at the same time I understand we're fighting a war for people's attention, you if you have to put it out there and it has to be... so familiar to people before they'll embrace that, I have all the respect and understanding in the world, for that and I am... (laughs) I am for it.
Q: (laughs)
Well yeah like with anything you know, like we were saying before, you can go buy a cup of coffee over at the gas station, but it's not going to be the same thing as going over to 8th and Roast and being able to you know, being around people who are knowledgeable about you know, what it is they're- they're selling. I mean, these are at the end of the day, consumable things you know? So, anytime I'm putting something into my body I wanna try to be a little selective about what it is. You guys are obviously are carrying you know... super high quality you know, coffee beans, creating great roasts over there.
Dave: Um you know, and CBD is similar in the same way that yeah you can go buy your CBD at a gas station, but it's not gonna be the same experience as coming into a place that's you know, specializes in hemp CBD products where you know, you can... talk to somebody and really learn about where it's coming from, what it's all about, what it does, how it works. And I'm sure you know, when you have people coming in to 8th and Roast who were curious. Wow you know, is this... coffee from Kenya or Guatemala or wherever it is. You know, there's always a story behind it and-
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: You know, it enhances you know, for me at least, anything I'm ingesting... I like to know where it comes from, what it's about. You know, obviously you guys are super knowledgeable on you know, the coffee-side of things. So you know, there's definitely some parallels there.
Q: What you think of the business is gonna be in Nashville for you personally? If you had... I mean obviously I know what you would like to happen but-
Dave: Yeah uh, I mean it's hard to say right now, the industry is so saturated, where they're just selling CBD, literally everywhere. I mean you guys I'm sure, can drive down Charlotte Pike we're not far from each other on the same road and-
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: It seems like every fifth or sixth stores got a sign outside that says "CBD sold here" and you know-
Q: Yeah.
Dave: Places that really have nothing to do with the CBD industry so it's hard to say where it's all gonna go right now. I mean I like to see you know, the fact that the exposure has kind of... normalized it so people don't get so up in arms about it. Like when we were first opening up Nashville Hemp and we put the sign up before the store was even open, somebody came by and said they were gonna throw a brick through the window 'cause they didn't wanna see any weed stores opening up in Nashville.
Nate: You keep that devil's lettuce off of here.
Jimmie: (laughs)
Yeah. But you know, it's like imagine if the same thing you know, had happened with coffee, if some kind of crazy prohibition movement came in where people were up in arms about caffeine use, you know what I mean?
Nate: Hmm.
Dave: You can't think about it right now because it's just so normalized in everyday society that people don't think twice about coffee.
Q: Bootlegging coffee.
Dave: Yeah, exactly.
Q: The coffee gangsters. (laughs)
Dave: But, you know, and that's ultimately where the future of hemp product needs to be. Is people don't think about it any differently than the way they would think about caffeine.
Q: Awesome man. And where can we find your store? What's the address again?
Dave: We're over at 5916 Charlotte Pike uh, pretty close to White Bridge Road and uh, yeah. We're open all the time, 10 to 7 everyday. Friday's and Saturday's we’re open til eight and-
Q: Mm-hmm.
Dave: Sunday's where they are from 12 to 4 but-
Q: And do you have an Instagram account?
Dave: Yeah, we got Instagram and Facebook pages and all that stuff. You can just you know, search Nashville Hemp and you'll find us. We're there.
Q: Awesome man.
Dave: Yeah, well thank you so much for having me. It's been great talking to you guys.
Q: Super dope. Dave Pellaconne from Nashville Hemp. This has been awesome so we might have to do a partnership man and figure out a nice little blend if you wanna talk about that at some point.
Dave: I'll for sure, bring you guys some stuff by. I know that there's some opposition coming (laughs) but-
Nate: (laughs)
And I get that, but if you know, at the very least let me drop something off for you guys, check it out and you know, see what you think.
Q: Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Coffee& podcast. My name is Q. Jimmie, Nate. Powered by Acme Radio Live. Have a good one.
Nate: To us coffee isn't just a beverage, it's a community. It's accumulation of the global network of fair trade farmers to the independently owned coffee shops, working together to bring the freshest coffee to their local neighborhoods. I'm Nate.
Jimmie: And I'm Jimmie. And we're roasters and baristas of one of Nashville's finest coffee shops, 8th and Roast. Our coffee and the podcast will dive deep into coffee trends, the craft culture of brewing and answer all your questions about how these coffee communities impact your daily lives.
Nate: So tune in to listen live every Wednesday morning at 10 AM via Acme Radio Live dot com. Show is also available on all podcast platforms.