​MONJU'S LARAHA, CURACAO de 1851. A FRENCH QUARTER ORIGINAL, REDISCOVERED by the family and now featured at Green Growler. Why are we featuring Monju’s Laraha? Because in my world that’s what Family (My oldest Brothers, Daughters, Husbands, Brother) does, we support each other. 

​So what is Curaco? Curaçao is a liqueur flavored with the dried peel of the bitter orange Laraha, a citrus fruit, grown on the Dutch island of Curaçao. Curaçao can be sold in numerous forms, though the most common is the orange-hued dry Curaçao. This recipe was originally distilled By his Great-Great-Great-Grandfather Antonio Monju during the 1850's in French Quarter of New Orleans. This very special recipe has its origins back to the vineyards of Isla De Menorca in the Spanish Mediterranean then to New Orleans in the 1850s. I am honored to support my extended family in bring this historic liquor back to life. 

​To celebrate the release of this new orange liquor Monju’s Laraha and Green Growler will be giving away free samples of the Manju Mia Tia during the Doc Holliday Saints and Sinners Festival in Denison, TX on April 30th from 10AM to 6PM. We also feature The Monju Morning Crush and Monju Tropical Crush for you fruity enjoyment.
So come and see us during the Doc Holliday Saints and Sinners Festival in Denison TX and get your Monju’s on.

​Everyone thinks of Pool parties, shows, and gambling when one mentions Las Vegas. But I did not go on vacation, I went to 2 expos. The Bar and Restaurant EXPO and the International Pizza EXPO. YES. I ate pizza every day for 3 days. Although they were both at the Las Vegas Convention Center, it was a 15-minute walk between them and a 20-minute walk from my hotel next to the convention center.

My first stop was the International Pizza EXPO. Classes started at 8:15 in the morning, I didn’t make any of those classes, but I did make the 9 am classes. I went to a class on Pizza boxes. Like a lot of things, a box can help ID your brand. It does not bring in new customers because to get the box they had to buy some pizza. The box re-enforces your brand with your current customer base. The classes that followed were on How to Standout, Social media, Brand identity, Restaurant systems, Management styles, and Pizza Dough. Brain Meltdown, I never knew that so much could go into the pizza dough. One hour of class on what style of pizza, how dark is your crust, how firm is your crust, what kind of oven, pan or no pan, thin or thick, and so on. Then it went into proteins, enzymes, moisture levels, and finally DO NOT MESURE your ingredients, Weigh then using the metric system for greater accuracy and consistency. After 2 days of classes, I headed to the Expo Floor with over 300 vendors. The expo floor is the size of the Dallas convention center and this is only ¼ of the convention center. Now I need a drink!

Off to the Bar and Restaurant EXPO at the other end of the convention center. They did have some food but a lot more liquor. I forced myself to try over 40 new and different liquors. Not only did I try them both days on the expo floor, but I partied late into the night trying the different liquors in various party situations just for you. Like Cîroc Summer Citrus, Beattie’s Potato Vodka, and Kurvball, a BBQ whiskey that I brought back for some of you to try. It was a hard job but I did it all for you, my patrons. Many of the liquors are not yet available in Texas and are not available in Grayson County unless I buy an entire case of the liquor. I did not go to their classes this year but to the expo floor where I met up with and asked questions about new vendors and ones that I bought from last year. They answered my questions about problems we were having with their product and told me what was coming down the pipeline and what was new this year for them.

Marqii is one vendor that we love. As you know Green Growlers’ beer menu changes constantly with new beers coming on and old ones dropping off. When we change our menu in one place, Marqii updates it within the hour on over 80 social media platforms. Because of Marqii, you can always trust our store hours no matter what site you see them on. So now they offer us one place to go and respond to reviews instantly from the Marqii dashboard. They are integrated with Facebook, Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and more to give me a one-stop-shop to stay in contact with customers who care enough to comment. This is going to be my next upgrade for Green Growler.
Those are my highlights from Vegas, Thank you for reading my blog.