In The Biz: Who’s Making Your Booze?

College Drinker Featured Article

Ever wonder about how that drink got in your hands? Who was the hero that first created that delicious brew or spirit? And who are the guys who work hard to produce, package, and distribute that sweet alcohol - all so that you can guzzle it down to forget about your personal problems, or try to get laid?

We got to talk with Chris Hunter from Phusion Projects, the makers of FOUR caffeinated malt beverage. He told us lots of stories: from getting an idea, to trying to make sure it’s different, to sponsoring beer pong tournaments, and even getting mobbed by Indiana University students.

And if we ever have to get real jobs, please God: let it be selling alcohol. Just read the interview below and you’ll see why.

College Drinker: So how did FOUR come to be?
Chris Hunter: I was going to a stand-up comedy show in Chicago and it was a BYOB place. My wife - girlfriend at the time - ran into the store to buy some alcohol and she came out and said, “Man, I wish they had RedBull and vodka pre-mixed.” I used to sell vodka, and so I was in the alcohol industry already. When I was working out in California there was another product that was only out in that area and it wasn’t being marketed very well. When I asked about it in a store they said “well, mostly bums drink it.” That was their take on it. And I guess regardless, whoever buys it… as long as people buy it… But I thought, you know, people like me - 21 to 27 year old people, college students or recent college grads - people who go out a lot, they would love this stuff. So I thought they were missing part of their target if they were just selling it to bums.

The name FOUR is interesting. Where’d that come from?
We went through a lot of different names. The government’s really strict about what you can say, or what you can call these types of drinks. Technically, we have to call it a caffeinated malt beverage. The government doesn’t allow us to call them alcoholic energy drinks. You can’t have health claims. They don’t want to say that it’s like an energy drink because it has alcohol in it, you know what I mean? It’s like that… But FOUR was on our list the whole time. The main reason behind it was that there were four main ingredients: taurine, guarana, caffeine - which are all just normal energy drink ingredients - and then there’s wormwood oil.

Wormwood? Like in absinthe?
That’s the key part, the thing that really sets us apart with our drink. We really thought about how to have something that separates us from any other caffeinated malt beverages or even other non-alcoholic energy drinks out there. Something that people could talk about. So what we did, we included the wormwood ingredient. Wormwood is the active ingredient in absinthe. So that added a whole new twist on our drink. Really it’s a caffeinated malt beverage with a twist is how we describe it. It has an ingredient that’s known as an aphrodisiac.

There are other caffeinated malt beverages out there like Sparks and Tilt. Is it the wormwood that definitely sets FOUR apart from the rest?
Yeah, it’s the ingredients, and secondly it’s the flavor profile. We have like a berry, cherry flavor. The reason we did that was because looking at vodka, when I was selling that, raspberry was the # 1 selling flavor, and cherry was the fastest growing. So we wanted to mix those two and make that the flavor profile of FOUR.

You and your partners all know each other from going to school together at Ohio State. Is it as great as it sounds, running an alcohol company with your friends?
There’s been times where it’s gotten difficult for us to remain on a friendly level, but we were all pretty straight up at the beginning. Business is business and personal is personal and don’t mix the two. Even with the guys that we’ve hired, we’ve made it clear that one minute we could chew each other out and yell at each other about something, and the next minute we could go out and have a beer. It just has to be that way.

And you guys are having a lot of fun doing it?
Yeah, I mean, there’s not too much to complain about when you’re selling alcohol.

FOUR is sponsoring a lot of World Series of Beer Pong satellite tournaments this year. How did you guys get into that?
We wanted to partner up with events that fit our target market, which is 21 to 27 year olds. We have campus brand managers and when we first started, these guys would tell us about how big beer pong is on campuses these days. So we looked into it, came across the guys from the WSOBP and we did a little bit of a trial with them last year. We set up events because we have distributors in 18 states that can easily go out and do that, and we can tie in FOUR to it. It works out pretty well because now we have an event so the bar wins, we have the WSOBP guys happy because we’re setting up their event for them, and we’re happy cause our product’s getting recognition. So we just went full go with that this year. And it’s really great.

Where are the tournaments you are sponsoring?
We still have 8 or 9 satellite events set up all the way from Arizona and California, to Illinois - we’re doing one in Chicago at Mickey’s on Decmber 1st - and then some out even further east. There’s even one down in Florida I think.

Do you play with beer or with FOUR? Is it FOUR pong?
Yeah for a while we were playing exclusively with FOUR. But actually what we do now at our tournaments is fill the front six cups with beer, and the back four cups with FOUR. Just to kinda mix it up.

Being in this business for a while and going around the country to promote FOUR you must have some crazy stories. What the craziest thing that ever happened to you while you were out on the road?
We were at Indiana University for the Little 500 Week, and we were doing an event at a Big Red, which is a chain of liquor stores down there. We had a FOUR Scion which was wrapped in graphics and it had a big can on the top. We were at one Big Red doing some tastings and we sold out at that store. So we had to go to another one to pick some up and bring it back. On the way back we see a little sidestreet with a bunch of parties on it and we think, we’ll just drive down there for a second. We pulled down in the FOUR Scion and literally we got mobbed. People were standing in front of the car so we couldn’t move, they were trying to get in the car to take the FOUR out, they opened the hatchback of the car, I mean, they were on top of the car, on the big can… So basically we were getting mobbed by IU students at Little 5.

Crazy. But good for FOUR I guess… But if people want FOUR they don’t have to mob you in a Scion right? Where can you get it?
Right now we’re in 18 states. It’s from coast to coast and we have distribution out in California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and then all the way over to North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and also a lot in the Midwest. And if people go to any other place and want to find it, they should just ask for it by name. Because if a bar or liquor store doesn’t have it, they can get it.

 

One last question… Shotgunning or beer bong?
Shotgunning. Definitely.

Check out more: FOUR caffeinated malt beverage.

---

Related stuff:

1. Caffeine + Booze: Getting the Extra Buzz
It's getting dark and you're getting tired. Unfortunately for you, the party's only getting started. When it comes to those late nights, you turn to your favorite liquid...
2. Alcoholic Energy Drink Marketing Under Investigation
A group of several state attorneys general has subpoenaed internal documents from Anheuser-Busch and Miller related to their marketing of alcoholic energy drinks. The...
3. Know What You Drink: Beginner’s Guide to the Different Types of Beer
Beer. Ale, Lager, Porter, Stout, Malt, Pilsner. Those are words which I think describe types of beer, but who actually knows what they mean? The Internet knows, that’s...