Jay Hiltz: From Nor'easter Apparel to the Soberish Mocktail Shoppe

Join Christina Martin as she reconnects with her friend Jay Hiltz to explore his entrepreneurial journey, the evolution of Nor'easter Apparel, and the innovative concept of the Soberish Mocktail Shoppe. Discover insights on community building, creative design, and the rise of sober lifestyle spaces in Halifax.

Transcript

Christina (00:00.206)
Hi, welcome to a chat with heart podcast. I'm your host, Christina Martin. I'm a singer songwriter. I live on a dirt road in rural Nova Scotia with my best friend, Dale, and our Calico cat, Olivia. This podcast is totally just a chill chat with her. As soon as you tune in here, I consider you one of my little heartbeat listeners. I love sharing these personal stories and recording these episodes are great practice for me to try and calm the fuck down and just be myself.


Christina (00:55.534)
Hi everyone, welcome back to A Chat with Heart. I'm Cristina Martin coming to you from rural Nova Scotia. Mocktail in hand, laundry in the background, radon monitor in the basement. Real life, always here. Thank you for being here, however you found this podcast. Longtime listeners, first time. Maybe someone's forcing you to listen. I'm just really glad you're here. It's the week of March 6th and as this episode comes out, this is significant for me.

March 6th, I launched a new single on my bandcamp called The Breeze and it lives on a 20-song digital compilation called The Essentials. And this project is a love letter. We're celebrating almost two decades of recording and touring. That's me and my best friend, Dale Murray. Yeah, he's also my husband. So we pulled together the songs that quietly became the heart of our live shows. The ones that stuck, the ones people ask for.

the ones we really enjoy playing and the ones that have personally carried me through many highs and lows of life. And so The Breeze is a single that Dale and I started writing on a writing retreat that we did last summer in Austin, Texas. And every morning in Austin, when I go down there, I like to go down to Lake Austin before it gets hot and just jog or walk around at the lake.

And I just, as I was doing this every morning, I'd see some of the same people and sometimes friends get together for their morning walk. So everyone's there for some of the same reasons and different reasons. Like some people are there for connection. Some people are there because they just want to get a workout in early. But, you know, we all just, I think, want to feel good. We want to feel something positive in our lives. And that's why we,

chose to be at Lake Austin early in the morning in Austin. So yeah, have a listen to the song. I hope you enjoy it. We have a lot of new songs kind of we're working on, but we're just not ready to really push it with those at this time. But I think this compilation was just a great opportunity to add one new song and then celebrate two decades of making music. And I also just announced

Christina (03:18.186)
After we come back from a Germany tour we're doing this spring, I'll be playing with Dale May 29th at the Summerside Shipyard Songwriter Series on PEI. I love PEI so much. If you're listening from the island, get your tickets early, tell your friends, Nova Scotians, New Brunswickers, make a trip over, stay in Summerside with us. Let's make it a success for this new shipyard series.

In other very glamorous news, I've started selling stage wear and other goodies on my Poshmark, which has been surprisingly fun. I was kind of sad because I don't like getting rid of my stage wear, but it's time. The closet can only hold so much. And these little pieces of tour history and other trinkets and treasures, finding new homes actually makes me quite happy. So it's a sustainable, practical, slightly nostalgic experience, and I love it. So check out my Poshmark.

There's a fun initiative called Make Do Camp happening in September. I'm going to be a camper. I think it's about gathering people and asking like, what do we have? What can we make? How do we support each other? And so I asked Laura Simpson, the creator, to explain Make Do Camp in her own words to you. Hey, Christina, I just wanted to leave you a message. Thanks for...

registering for Make Do Camp. I am so stoked to have you there as a camper this year. Yeah, it's gonna be fantastic. I've just felt like a need for long time to do something back out in the woods, to make deeper connections with people, get off our phones. And it's a sober retreat, not because it's meant to be something that sober people do, but just have a break. And yeah, we're just gonna have lots of...

high level workshops, there's gonna be camp like recreation, including archery and boating. And yeah, I'm just really happy you're gonna be there and please help spread the word. Love you lots. Thanks, Laura. So visit make do camp.com. Get your spot. Join me at camp. Maybe we'll be, maybe we'll share a cabin. I don't know. I have no idea who I'll be sharing a cabin with, but it could be you.

Christina (05:38.06)
I'm celebrating a beautiful creative force in our community today with this podcast. And I'm going to keep on doing that with a Chat with Heart podcast. And I appreciate you listening. I appreciate all your support and I appreciate my patrons on my Patreon page. Thank you so much. Okay. Today's guest is someone who knows how to build something from the ground up and knows how to pivot when life calls for it. Jay Hiltz and I go way back. Like I want to say 2000.

six, seven, and we recently reconnected in Halifax through his soberish mocktail shoppe. Jay is a designer, a strategist, builder, an entrepreneur. He's creative. He's also practical. He's ambitious. I'm excited for this one because Jay's story isn't just about business. It's about community and the culture shifting around sobriety or sober-ish living and building something intentional.

As always, this is a chat with heart. So we wander, we leave room for tangents and we have fun. And Jay is a dear old friend of mine. So buckle up folks. I can't believe I said that. don't think I've ever said that. Buckle up and enjoy the chat. That was, I almost want to delete that, but I think I'm going to keep it. Enjoy the chat folks with my friend Jay Hiltz.

Jay (07:01.966)
That's one of our glasses.

Christina (07:05.014)
Yeah, like if you come visit, you will see I'm building up my bar. I've bought a number of items from the Soberish Mocktail Shoppe And do you see the little heart? What do you call it? I guess it's like a rim ornament.

Jay (07:23.654)
is it? Sure. mean, I've never used one personally, but yeah, so if it was edible, I'd call it a garnish, but yeah.

Christina (07:27.02)
You sell rim ornaments, don't you?

Christina (07:38.766)
No, it's not. I mean, my cat might think it is, no, I, cause I, a lot of our, I guess, wine glasses or fancy glasses don't actually have stems. So I bought a bunch of these little rim ornaments so that, yeah, people can identify their glasses. I mean, I don't need to tell you that. And so I've made this quickly before.

Jay (08:00.526)
Yes.

Christina (08:08.265)
this drink I'm holding and this beautiful, what kind of glass would you call this? A coupe. Cute.

Jay (08:12.586)
A coop.

I think

The coupes were like, it was a champagne coupe. So if you see like old movies, they were in the wide like mouth glass like that. And then there was a change in theory that like the smaller skinny ones that we see now, like they preserve the bubbles longer. But now these wide mouth coupes are coming back and being trendy for both champagne. But often if you have like a whiskey sour drink or a drink that's served without ice, it's in a coupe glass.

Christina (08:49.016)
I love it, Widemouth Coop. That was my nickname in high school.

Jay (08:52.366)
I know, I'm sure it was.

Christina (08:55.662)
Jay, I made this drink, but it's not tasting as good as the drinks I've had at your shop. Okay, the ingredients are great, but like I, so just some soda water and the drone awake. And also I used, is it Miss Butter's, but bitters, butters bit?

Jay (09:04.588)
What's in it?

Jay (09:12.096)
yeah.

Jay (09:19.31)
Miss... Miss... Fetters Bitters.

Christina (09:22.446)
It's like a frother. But I didn't put anything sweet in it, and I do like a little sweet. it's, I guess if you don't like the sweet, it's amazing.

Jay (09:34.446)
I know it's healthy. It is healthy. You could add like a half ounce of orange juice. That would help a little bit.

Christina (09:40.706)
I was running out of time because I didn't want to be late for this. And that would have been my go-to, the orange juice for sure. Hey, listen, welcome to the podcast. Welcome to a chat with heart.

Jay (09:52.984)
Thanks for having me.

Christina (09:55.118)
It's long overdue, my friend. I've missed you and I'm really glad that we're doing this and that I feel like you were lost and I found you. Not that you were lost in your life, just I had lost you, I you in my life, not for any reason. Yeah, we were just busy.

Jay (10:07.554)
But

Jay (10:16.206)
Yeah, a little of both.

Jay (10:20.718)
wandering. I feel like a lot has happened since we were once connected more regularly.

Christina (10:28.974)
Yeah, jammed, jammed. well, let's go over that. mean, you're allowed to ask me questions, I have some questions for you. But first of all, we do go way back to, did we meet in 2006 or five or seven? Do we know the moment? It was...

Jay (10:53.262)
You first hired me to play tambourine in February of 2004.

Christina (11:01.387)
Okay, I actually paid you?

Jay (11:03.938)
Well, no, but I became your impromptu session player. And then we talked about like riding the train via rail to get free voyages to across Canada. And I was just, you were going to sing and play and I was just going to come and play tambourine. Therefore I was going to be a musician for this.

Christina (11:08.342)
Christina (11:23.338)
And we didn't, I don't remember that conversation. However, I guess I, don't, guess I do. Shit. This could be the reason why we, we wandered apart. This grudge you're holding against me. Cause I did go on the train with another man. Dale Murray.

Jay (11:40.59)
Christina (11:44.3)
I can tell you right now that it's probably, you probably got the better end of the stick not coming on that journey. Nothing against VIA Rail, but if you like sleepless nights and having to perform in a fast moving vehicle that's very loud with highly intoxicated people, then yeah, you would have loved it.

Jay (12:05.07)
Okay, I'm actually hoping to plan a VRL trip in 1st of April, just to Montreal. I'm not gonna play tambourine though.

Christina (12:13.74)
Okay, you'll love that, okay.

Are you going to have a it's just a seat not a cabin?

Jay (12:21.963)
I'm going to look, I'm going to try and get at least a bunk. When I lived in Montreal, I took the train all the time and the sleeper bunks are great.

Christina (12:25.006)
That's smart.

Christina (12:31.598)
I'm so glad VIA is still around. They disintegrated the stop in Amherst near me here. But I'm happy to hear it's still running. What? Okay, let's just go back to like 2007. no, no. Yeah, stay focused, will you? What are you drinking, Miss Better's Bitters froth? No, no, no, back then. Okay, so where were we at?

What were you doing around 2007?

Jay (13:06.296)
I think at that time point, I was still part of a media company. Yep. And that gets a little blurry. can't remember. I know it was around 2004, 2005, I think, when that was happening. And then I can't remember the exact year that we pushed pause on that. then I, because I was sort of like living in Halifax a bit, but then...

Christina (13:36.578)
You're back and forth between your home base and where your family is actually in. Is it Mahombay or Chester? Right in the middle.

Jay (13:46.742)
I'm right between the two. Because there's another music night that's coming to mind was quite moment momentous in my.

Christina (13:57.07)
Involved Roy Orbison? Yes. do. I have memories of that night. I don't know if you do, but...

Jay (14:06.062)
They're a little blurry. Towards the end, they're very bright.

Christina (14:11.378)
I understand. Yes, I remember the bright lights. I'm going to totally go with this ride right now because there's another epic night that you and I had where, so I, at this point I was like living in my friend's basement. Dale was living in Dartmouth and Dale was having a root canal this day and you and I had a plan to reconnect and catch up downtown.

early, we started drinking around, I'd say 530, and then called Dale, who had had a root canal that day, to come and, well, pick us up, but we were having so much fun, by 630, we had convinced him to stick around. And I won't lie, we were down, we were basically just on a

Jay (15:01.58)
Where were we?

Christina (15:05.27)
Ricola's or Argyle. Which is sorry. That's yeah, Argyle. Argyle. Argyle. I confused the two. And I won't say everything that happened mostly because of the embarrassment towards me, but you ended up coming back to Farquharson in Dartmouth with us to Dale's house. And I don't know if you have any memories of this, but I did throw my pizza at a city bus.

as it was turning the corner and I was like, look, I can throw this out the window. And Dale was like, no, you can't. And I'm like, yes, I can. And I did. there were other things happening.

Jay (15:48.606)
I remember this night now, took me a minute to connect the dots, but I do remember that.

Christina (15:55.214)
yeah, that was fun. I had a good time.

Jay (15:58.888)
man, like how many memories have been born at that pizza corner and dispersed.

Christina (16:06.658)
Yeah, too many. yeah, this all bring it now we are going to talk about Sobers soon. But

Jay (16:13.334)
Hence why we needed this in our lives.

Christina (16:16.354)
Yeah, okay, so maybe I will jump to soberish because, I do, but back, like you've always been a creative force. You've always been, had jobs that either you're working with your hands or design, am I right?

Jay (16:31.726)
Mm-hmm. And it was always sort of what I realized like a little bit later in life, like reflecting back on the various things I've done. I've always really thrived on creating unique experiences for people, which was a big part of like with starting with the Airbnb rentals and creating these vacation escapes.

than moving further into my life and opening retail stores and really wanting them to be different than what people have experienced before, but also walk in and just be like, from the moment they touch the door until the time they leave, it's a true experience. It's not just a shop with shelves and funny things on them, but the visit is an experience.

Christina (17:17.602)
Okay, so was Nor'easter Apparel your first business that you opened? like tell me about that and the evolution of Nor'easter Nor'easter Apparel. And I want to, mean, it is an iconic shop and we'll talk about where the head location is and where people can buy stuff and whatnot. But like, how did you get to that?

Jay (17:40.75)
So it was, it's.

It starts early back when the media company that we had at the time in the early 2000s when we dissolved that, going back to freelancing. But then I started working closely with another girl who specializes in e-commerce. And then after a year so of working together with her, was like, Pam, why aren't we doing this for ourselves? I want to sit on the beach and let the orders roll in. And she just did I just did. A score.

Christina (18:08.238)
In Mexico,

Jay (18:12.342)
took eight years of working seven days a week to get there. But so that was sort of the initial catalyst for the idea. And then

where Nor'easter is now isn't where it started. I took like $5,000 of my personal money and made a bunch of t-shirts and hoodies and then started going to farmers markets and then sold them and then put the money back in, bought more t-shirts and then sold them. And then that was the story of the beginning of the journey. it was...

I hate talking about COVID, so I'm only going to touch on it, but COVID was also the really big catalyst for us. We were already positioned for online and then...

people couldn't get home to visit their loved ones. And we had started doing like, Freaksakes and Some Good were the first phrases. I put them on tea towels and then my, which is another product line. And then my brother's like, why aren't you putting these on t-shirts? And I like, do people want to wear these on t-shirts? And it turns out they do. So we started with that. And then when people couldn't get home, all of a sudden they could buy these t-shirts with phrases that reminded them of home and they could wear them.

where they could gift them. And so COVID was when we really started to soar and started to get recognition across the country.

Jay (19:35.916)
Then I always wanted a store. I just didn't think the stars would align. so we started, my partner and I were like, built to a point where we were living in a small condo in Halifax and we were looking for something midway between the South shore and here. And then I said, well, why not let's look at a space that has what allowed me to have a storefront in it and combine the two. We started building what I have now in the city, but that was so delayed Chester.

like the most beautiful retail space came available and the landlord was very generous and gave me a one-year lease to try it out and I thought okay well that's too good to be true. So Chester happened and also at that point we'd been building this big network of small businesses during COVID doing these outdoor markets and the Chester store became a place for me to support them in a year-round capacity because it was way bigger than what I needed. And so it just became for me like this modern general store that had a really

strong thrust on local but being able to highlight and support like really great makers coming out of our area. Yeah and then this concept of a store within a store really seemed to be working and then we pulled that into the Halifax location when it was time to open that up so that's kind of the short version.

Christina (20:57.166)
I love this short version, but now you have 40 extra minutes here to fill. you need, no, I'm kidding. If you could stretch that out a bit. No. Okay. When people were like, I love talking about COVID. When people were buying things, was there a part, I'm imagining like Albertans, like people that live here, but have to work out West. Like, was there like a surge in shopping orders out West for people who missed being home?

Jay (21:06.318)
You

Christina (21:27.106)
Did you see like a particular area or were most of the sales from here?

Jay (21:32.038)
It was all over. was like every province, even like Whitehorse and Yukon and Northwest Territory is like we started shipping orders out there. There was also

Do remember that mass shooting that happened in Nova Scotia during the same time? Yeah. I know. So we did a fundraiser initiative for that too. That also spread really rapidly and people found us and found out about us because of that. So, tragedy. But we were able to support families that were hurting. And then we got a little bit of exposure out of it too. So that was a big part of sort of like that whole

live experience, was wild. And, yeah, so because of that, yes, that was also like prompting orders from across the country too. So it went everywhere.

Christina (22:30.88)
And now, what does Nor'easter mean to you today versus when you were just getting started and maybe during COVID as well? You said you'd worked, it took years and years to get to a point where you could go to Mexico. And I'm sure that there's still lots of work to do that you probably had to just cut off. I'm leaving. I'm leaving.

Jay (22:49.782)
you

Jay (22:59.266)
But yeah.

Christina (23:00.6)
What's it like then versus now? What does it mean to you now? How does it feel versus in the beginning?

Jay (23:05.942)
I mean, so it's done way more than I ever imagined it would. And I'm so grateful. And a lot of times I feel like I set this thing in motion and now I'm just trying to keep up with it. And so I'm going to roll with it as long as it keeps rolling. But I mean, so many differences back then it was me and a little six foot utility trailer and my farmer's market booths. said I did the Nova Scotia 500 circuit. I got a cargo trailer. upgraded.

then I went everywhere from Digby to Truro and I built a weekly cycle and I was on the road.

Christina (23:41.536)
Traveling, you love driving.

Jay (23:43.98)
Gigging, was like gigging, peddling my wares. And back then, think it was a way for me to continue designing and being creative and cramming up with things that I thought were fun and interesting. So that's still very much a part of it. But then when the slang phrases started really catching on, for me, it became...

It became really a celebration of culture and this place that I call home. so it's, philosophically, it's a little bit more about that. And it represents this place and this space that I've come to love. And I thought I wanted to go and live other places and it's fun and I did, but like, there's nothing like coming back to the Maritimes. It's pretty special for me.

I'm remembering as I'm talking, there was another initiative when I was starting.

Zeta Cobb from Fogo Island, I won't go into her story, but she was hugely like inspirational to me of what she did. She went to Toronto, part of the tech boom, made it big and then went back and her whole initiative was to revitalize the economy in her small fishing village where she grew up. And I just thought that was so great. And so I kind of wanted Nor'easter to be an example of that too, that you can really build the life you want without having to move to Calgary or Fort Mac.

have to compromise where you live to do it. so Norisa really did grow out of nothing, right? It was a pocket of money that I put into it. And now we're a team of eight, which is also insane. it's great. Yeah, it's so wild. I've got a really strong team right now who are amazing and they've bought into the vision and I find ways. I like to think I'm a good boss. I find ways to allow them to stretch

Jay (25:41.272)
their wings and stay creative and feel like they're contributing to the whole. They're not just a peg or a cog in the wheel. So our staff turnover rate is pretty low, which is I think maybe a reflection of that too. But they're so awesome that they allow me to now like I can check out for a couple weeks and go to Mexico and not be stressed out that things are burning to the ground back here.

Christina (26:07.084)
You know, when I was in there and they didn't know that I knew you, they may have said, the boss is awesome. A couple of times. Yes. Yes. And I was like, tell me more. Is there anything you don't like about the boss? Is there anything you would like to change? And then they made me leave. As soon as I started talking to you, they were like, please leave now. Please leave now. Pay your bill first.

Jay (26:13.886)
Oopsie!

Jay (26:34.296)
They realized.

Christina (26:36.654)
what about some, mean, there's a, there's always challenges when you're an entrepreneur, especially when, you know, you are at the head of it all. What are a few behind the scenes challenges that people wouldn't expect that, and they could be completely ridiculous. They could be like, I don't know. I don't know. you know, that from challenging,

customers who you want to love all your customers to, you know, the business. I mean, I don't know if it's obvious that the business side of things can be just kind of tedious and gross and annoying and sucks up so much of your life, but yeah.

Jay (27:26.52)
The, yeah, mean, so customers obviously working in, it's still hospitality in front of face. You get all kinds of walks of life that come in and some clearly don't support what you're doing. And I'm like, why are you even in here? Because all you want to do is just combat me with why I chose the wrong name and why you and your friends would never come in here. And I'm like, but you're in here. Interesting.

Christina (27:52.727)
Yeah.

Jay (27:53.71)
I could share a specific story. guess that probably could. That customer likely will not find.

Christina (28:02.542)
Yeah, no pressure, let's... I doubt it, and if they did, they probably would just write to me and complain. But not about you, but just... Yeah, do you wanna... You don't have to, but I also secretly love hilarious... I mean, I've had people at my shows tell me they hate my posters, I'm wearing too much makeup, why isn't Dale on the poster?

They are telling me, know, I have to start playing more bluesy songs and they even have ideas for those songs. Like I'm at the merch table and I'm like, uh-huh, okay, cool. Thanks. Like, I'm so glad you're here. But, and sometimes I even like, I know this is illegal, but you're not supposed to record people with it. But when they start to go off, I record it so Dale and I can listen to it later and laugh. Anyway, sorry. So.

Jay (28:56.718)
I'm gonna do that next time.

Christina (28:59.189)
Yeah.

Jay (29:01.69)
this, there's two experiences that come to mind. I did kind of incorporate them into a reel, that I posted to social media and it's like, why? but this one customer came in and she was clearly like out of her comfort zone. cause one of my employees was there and we were casually chatting, but still very like present in the shop. And she comes over and she's like, I need help. I'm like, okay.

You could tell she was visibly like anxious and she's like, I want to make mocktails for my friends. And I was like, okay, as a page would love to help you. so Paige was guiding her through the store and everything that Paige was suggesting. She was like, no, no. And page is like, I want to make mocktails. the page is like, okay, then you need some of these alcohol free spirits. And she's like.

Why would I pay for alcohol-free spirits when I can go buy real stuff at the liquor store? And then Paige is like, okay, well, let's go over here. She's like, we've got bitters. You can use bitters with club soda. And she was like, okay. And then she's like, no, I don't want that. No, I don't want that. And then Paige looked at me she's like, Jay, do you have any suggestions? And then, so I was like, okay, let's reset. Let's try and get to the root of what you're doing. And she's, cause she didn't want wine. She didn't want beer.

And then so I found this cocktail mixed juice and she's like, okay, what would I put with that? And I was like, well, you could put club soda with it. And she's like, okay, but what else could I put with it? And I was like, well, what do you want to make? And she's like, I don't know, like a margarita. And I said, okay, well then we would usually recommend this alcohol-free tequila. And she's like, yeah, but why would I pay for alcohol-free tequila when I can go buy real tequila? I said, because you just said you wanted to make a mocktail. And she's like, right, but she's like, I don't even like tequila.

And then eventually I was just like, think take this and try the club soda and see what you think about that. And then when you come back, if you want to add more than we can go from there. And she's like, well, when you say it like that, it just makes me feel really bad. And then she started crying, which is unfortunate. I never want a customer to cry.

Christina (30:49.55)
Okay

Christina (31:14.51)
Yeah, I'm sure that's not common. I hate it when we're not laughing. She just sounded like a very kerfuffled and highly anxious person, you know.

Jay (31:17.546)
You

Jay (31:26.592)
And kept, I just said, was like, everything we're suggesting, you're just flat out saying no to. And she was like, I would call that a miscommunication. I was like, well you said no. So I'm like, heard no.

Christina (31:38.474)
Maybe we need to design something like actually a bottle of water, that it's, it's the front signage is like, this is the mocktail for the person who doesn't want the mocktail or something. I don't know. Or just a.

Jay (31:53.966)
Mystery Liqueur. It's whatever you want it to be.

Christina (31:57.464)
Well, okay, let's get into Sobers because this is what we're okay. So now right now we're talking about this woman who came into the Sobers mocktail shop. That's what it's called in downtown Halifax on I always mix these streets up, but it's on Agricola Street, right? Yes. Yeah. I got it right. I got it right. And it's my new favorite place in the whole wide world. Like this is a dream come true for me, Jay.

Jay (32:23.086)
I'm so glad I could give you that.

Christina (32:25.088)
Where did the... Okay, so Nor'easter's up and running, doing great, you're having fun, you find a location to have a storefront in Halifax, you're building your home upstairs, and where did the idea for Sober-ish Mocktail Shop come from?

Jay (32:46.158)
I tell people it was an evolution of an idea. in hindsight, we grumbled because the project was five years delayed in the construction. Like, it just took forever. And I already mentioned...

I'd become a fan of a shop within a shop model. originally I was at the time, I was off dairy for two years because I thought it was the root of some of my skin issues. Turns out it wasn't. Turns out I was allergic to fragrance and polyester. But really.

Christina (33:17.314)
That's so me. yeah, I changed everything and washed my clothes with like the safest stuff and I can't wear fragrance. I miss perfume. Yeah, and I'm with you. Keep going. This is fascinating.

Jay (33:33.086)
So at that time I was going to be like, okay, well, let's open a dairy free espresso bar. Cause I'm like, I know there are other people out there who are off dairy. So like, let's put sort of like an Italian style, grab and go dairy free espresso bar inside of our t-shirt shop. And my brother, he's like, sure. Why don't you cut out 90 % of your, your audience right away by going dairy free.

And in the time that we were building the space, I really started to watch.

or see this rise of non-alk happening on my social media. So in Chester, we brought in some canned options to test the waters. I like, that's pretty easy. And they did really well out there. And then I was like, okay, I think the time is now. said, we own the space, so let's just go big. Let's blow the roof off non-alk. And if it doesn't work, we just pivot and do something else. And so it was that moment that Soberish was born. And we opened the bottle shop in November.

2024. And so we're a little over a year, almost a year and a half. the...

It's as if people were waiting for us to open the doors. They had no idea what we were doing, but the alcohol-free community in Halifax was way bigger than I ever imagined. And they were poised for something like this to come to the city. So which was also very validating, obviously, because it is a risk opening something like this in a city that is known for its pub per capita. And alcohol is such a key ingredient to every social engagement that seems here. So it felt risky. And of course, there's everyone

Jay (35:13.23)
with lots of opinions about how it's not gonna fail and how it was silly and people who don't drink should just go to the waterfront and get a hot dog and I was like okay well that's not quite the same.

Christina (35:25.422)
Do you wish I could have a drink but I'm sober? Why don't I just go down and get a hot dog? That's right, all the vegans said.

Jay (35:35.31)
Yeah, so yeah, that's sort of the nutshell. And then once we opened, I had planned to make it look like a bar. I hadn't actually planned to put the bar in it. But then after enough people asked if we were going to start doing bar service, I said, OK, well, let's try and then see what happens. What's the worst that could happen? It won't work in the mill. Stop doing bar service.

Christina (35:56.95)
I know it's stunning. It's stunning. Like I go, I want to be there every, I want it to be my, my cheers. It it honestly makes me want to move back to the city. Of course I cannot afford to do that, but can we describe, no, can you describe because you designed it and built it so you could do this better than me. Because walking in and like all the little details and whatnot, like it really is an experience and

Jay (36:05.358)
Your watering hole.

Christina (36:26.77)
I'm also so excited about this, as someone who's quit drinking, misses the romantic side of cocktails and not getting drunk, but having a social experience where I'm holding a fancy glass and sipping something that tastes delicious. And I'll be honest, I don't think alcohol ever tasted delicious to me. I think it was just more the experience of having something fancy made and...

and paying that money and then just the social aspect of it, right? In a cool, vibing place. so anyway, I'm getting all that and more when I come in. And also as someone who likes to take care of themselves, I've always dreamed of being able to, honestly, I will pay good money for something that tastes great, looks fancy, and is good for me.

And so, okay, so I'm getting all that, but can you describe what it's like walking in to the Soberish Mocktail Shoppe in Halifax and what we could do there? And we'll talk about the events and some of the things you're proud of. Yeah, yeah. Okay, let's go.

Jay (37:37.806)
We I wanted the okay, I wanted it to feel I wanted it to feel comfortable and welcoming and homey with a little bit of bougie and a little bit of bling and so my My personal design style is is meshing old world with some modern nuances. That's where I feel comfortable I can appreciate cold hard minimalist aesthetics, but I don't like sitting on those those coaches and

furniture. And so the original concept for the building was to look like it was a warehouse that was a couple hundred years old that we repurposed into a home. so but then when I was building out the bar specifically, I really wanted that side of the shop to feel like.

a gentleman's club, like an old British pub. And so we've got dark, dark green walls with like lots of wood paneling details and then the brass library style, like wall sconce lighting. So there's brass hits everywhere. And then I found this most beautiful tile pattern for the backsplash in our shelves, which is kind of this hexagon shape with little brass insets. And soon as I saw that, Sarah, who is a good friend of mine now, she was the designer on the project. And I was like, Sarah, this is it.

that we're not looking any further. The whole store is built around this tile.

Christina (38:59.528)
Is that like a, and I could be wrong, but here, is that like a splash of like art deco in there?

Jay (39:04.558)
It does hail a little bit to that error for sure. And then...

In Chester, I really wanted like a stone countertop. So I love general store counters, those old ones that have been worn and natural patinas from just the wear and tear that you can't replicate. It's not always easy to find those when you want them in the size and the shape that you want them. But so we built the one and actually we built them in both stores. In Chester, I really wanted a stone countertop. By the time I couldn't justify splurging. And then when Halifax came, I was like, it's going to be stone. And so we got this beautiful stone countertop.

that has these veins of sort of like rusty brown oranges through it. So we pulled the color of the actual bar out of the stone for that. And so these deep rusty oranges with the dark green walls, it's kind of a fun, a fun aesthetic. then, but like the stools are like these brass stools with plush velvet woven fabric through them. And again, just like little hits of bling to make it feel special because you're not, you're not alone. So many times we hear from people, they're like, yeah, I

I've done all the canned mocktails, blah, but I miss going out for that craft cocktail experience. I miss the social connection that I used to have with my friends, like when we're sharing a drink, sharing a meal. And so it's that whole, again, experience. And so being able to create the space that creates these experiences for people is just so satisfying and rewarding as a business owner.

Christina (40:32.692)
I love it. might I add to like for anyone, unless me and my friends are there, for anyone who's like sensory sensitive, it's a calm, quiet place. Again, if me and my friends are there, it's going to be a little loud, but you can go early. Like you're open. Is it 11 a.m. some days? I know your hours are different on different days, but like.

Jay (40:55.904)
Yeah, shops open seven days a week. open at 11. Bar, were starting at three in the afternoon. Saturdays, we now open at noon because we just had people coming in earlier wanting it. so, yeah, mean, max we can seat 14 or 16 people. So it's never going to be too crazy. Our crib nights are probably the fullest and craziest that gets in there, but it's a really fun energy to watch people socializing and meeting new people and just see

the space full of life and laughter. That's also really rewarding as a business owner, which sort of loops back to what part of the conversation we just having.

We were getting a lot of people asking for more sober events, opportunities for them to meet other sober people. And so we birthed this thing called the East Coast Soberous Social Club. It's a bit of a tongue twister, but so dry January this year, we just chalked our calendar full of sober events, everything from crib nights, workshops, guest speakers, sharing stories of sobriety. This month we had

hunters in who are paranormal investigators which was so crazy.

Christina (42:11.726)
wanted to go to that. I wanted to go so bad.

Jay (42:14.456)
They're coming back for round two because it was so well attended and received. was a ton of fun. So, and we started doing yoga, like mocktails on the mat with a local instructor. So she would do this guided yoga session. And then in the background we were preparing cocktails. So when they came out of yoga, then they just hung out on the mats. We delivered like drone, the adaptogen cocktails to them designed to fit the energy of the yoga session. And she just guided these wonderful social chats.

afterwards for about 30 minutes. so being intentional about creating community, and Terry's enjoy groove dance sessions. So yeah, like just giving people reasons to come out where alcohol is in the center.

Christina (42:54.606)
That's fun, yeah.

Jay (43:02.742)
One of the phrases I coined was, we're defining a new era in cocktail culture, because cocktail culture is a thing that isn't defined by alcohol. So how do we create these beautiful experiences, beautiful drinks, beautiful moments of connection, and then just invite people into that? So as we move into 2026, that's really a focus for us downstairs. So each month you're going to see some repeating events, but new events. did a perfume making night on Saturday, which was super fun as well.

Christina (43:33.902)
Can we go to that, and I? I mean, in terms of like, are we gonna break out in a...

Jay (43:40.334)
So we can smell.

Christina (43:45.696)
Okay, okay. I can smell. I can smell. just can't wear it all the time.

Jay (43:49.198)
you

I don't know what your sensitivities are and I'm testing it a little bit because so also in the height of me discovering I had this fragrance sensitivity, I was creating our own fragrance line for our shop in Chester so I wasn't wearing gloves. My hands were like covered in essential oil and fragrance oil and then I'm rubbing my face and scratching my chest and just not clue it to like connecting the two together until eventually I was like, hang on a minute. My mom like became like really, really allergic to fragrances.

after menopause. So that was like started triggering and I was like, okay, my mom and I have a lot of like similarities in our body makeup. So I was like, maybe there's something there. Anywho, I'm learning that I sort of went through a strong detox, but like I can put a perfume roller here. And as long as I don't get it on my fingers and then start touching the areas of my body that are really sensitive, I can get by with it here. The scent itself doesn't make me have a reaction unless it's super strong, like men's cologne.

that one can be like head headache triggering but if it's sort of like softer and a bit more floral like I can get away with it on my wrists. Depending on your sensitivity level maybe there is hope.

Christina (45:01.934)
I think my sensitivities are more like harmful chemicals.

which are in a lot of products, but I do have some fragrances here that are clean and safe. And I do actually like essential oils, and those are fine. So we do have some massage oils and things that have scents like lavender, and that doesn't bother me. I love it. But it's the heavy perfumes or like... Sometimes it's the chemicals or the products used to design certain fragrances or cleaning products.

That hurt my skin. Yeah

Jay (45:39.358)
Yeah, my mom breaks out in hives. I just get these really red irritated rashes that look like eczema Yes, but it's not and especially like under here like my skin will peel like I do have eczema but when when a Fragrance like shampoo like my scalp for years I just thought I had like dry scalp and dander and then it turns out it was all the perfumed scented shampoos I was using right

Christina (46:05.592)
Yeah. There's something to it. Hey, going back to Sobrish, although we can talk about eczema all day. I did have parathyriasis in high school. Yeah, of course. When I thought it was like a deadly disease and you're the only one in a small town in New Brunswick who has psoriasis, you're like, well, great. There goes my life. Anyway, but let's go back to Sobrish.

Do you have, okay, so I'm holding here the Soberish Dry Book, which you can buy at the shop. Alcohol-Free Cocktails for a Mindful Era by Jay Hiltz and Brent, is it Radol? Radol, hey buddies, thanks for making this, cause it's awesome and I have it at my house. But do you have a favorite? Like what's your go-to soberish cocktail, mocktail right now?

Jay (46:42.349)
at all.

Jay (46:56.438)
Wha- ugh, so it- There's a lot-

Christina (46:58.306)
There's a lot in the shop, like I left with a box the other day.

Jay (47:02.638)
We have, yeah, do have a, our space is small, but we have a lot of stuff jammed in there. And part of what makes me excited is continually doing something new every day and so many product lines. But also like gifting that experience to my bartenders, I'm like, make, whenever it's slow, just like come up with something new. So we're constantly putting out new cocktails and we probably have about 18 or more like on our set menu right now, which is 18's a lot.

favorite kind of changes however favorite product is the drone calm which is what you are drinking right now it's so

Christina (47:42.67)
I'm drinking Awake, but I have com. I've already got through one bottle of the com and then I just purchased more from my friends who are now asking for me to get their bottles when I go to town. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's picked up, buddy. It's a over here in Cumberland County. We should do an event in Cumberland County. We totally could. Not Mexico, but you know, I mean, it's a hit place.

Jay (48:08.212)
No, but we could we could do a mocktail course that you're like workshop at your house and I like we talked about coming to visit so just have some friends come over and we'll just like make some drinks

Christina (48:17.678)
Well, we could combine it with one of our denim sessions, which you're coming to this Friday. So when you're there, when you're at the show this week, put your thinking cap on and think about how we can make that work here or even in Halifax or whatever. Cause I want it to be a win-win mostly for you.

Jay (48:39.054)
Okay, thank you for that. I appreciate the support. I'm coming back to my favorite drink, but when you're in the shop next, since you're drinking the Awake, try the High Voltage Sour. It uses, so it's our take on a whiskey sour, but it uses the Calm Awake and it is so good. It's like, it's the best cocktail creation I've found yet with the Calm, the Yadrome Awake. So try that one.

Christina (49:07.22)
may have tried it. The problem with me is I've already had like six of your cocktails and I don't the lavender one. I remember I had the bartender make me, and even though it wasn't on the menu, this is the great thing. Like you said, encourage your staff to make, just come up with stuff. Well, they may be an excellent espresso kind of martini kind of cocktail. So I bought a bunch of stuff too for home here.

And then there was a zinger, like it was a sour, I think I did try it it was amazing.

Jay (49:45.006)
Could be that, Because it mixes one of our whiskies with that and the lemon, so it's sour, but it's got all those spicy flavors from the wake. yeah, it's a really fun product line. So with that in mind, I really, one of my favorite drinks of all time, I love the classic, so Old Fashioned or Negroni, those are my two go-tos. And I think we've done a really good job at creating alcohol-free versions of those.

Finding a good whiskey was the dragon we were chasing for a long time. How do you make a whiskey based drink without whiskey? Like there's no replacing that that kick. So our old fashioned recipe that's in that book is the best non-alcoholic old fashioned that

I've tried so far. I'm not saying that because we made it. So we blend two of our whiskies. And then the fun one that was a game changer and opened a whole new world for us was when we started working with Liquid Gold. Have you heard of Liquid Gold?

Christina (50:46.862)
Hickory smoked Valsamic vinegar?

Jay (50:50.018)
Yes, so Liquid Gold is a shop here in Halifax. They've got a location in PEI too. They bring in flavor infused balsamics and olive oils. So they're balsamic vinegars. The vinegar adds this really fun acidity and zing to a drink and that's what was missing with our whiskies in the old fashion. So our old fashion...

I think is pretty awesome. And then you can make a Drome Old Fashioned using the Drome Calm and then one of our other whiskies and it's so killer too. Does it taste like a classic old fashion? No. Is it friggin' delicious? Yes.

Christina (51:24.834)
Like, yeah, just be open to something a little different.

Jay (51:29.034)
It's never going to be exactly the same. so some people like set out on that journey to try and find the exact thing. But I think if you open yourself up to just discovering and and trying something new, think I think Maanel can really deliver.

Christina (51:44.75)
And so, sort of like, I when we were vegan for like five years, and we were completely satisfied with things that we ate, and there were a lot of substitutes that never really were, you know, like I love, I mean, I'm now a meat eater again, but, you know, I love chicken. But, you know, you can, if you've chosen to cut back or not to eat as much meat and you look for other substitutes that...

Am I making a disgusting comparison here? You know what? Never mind. So what I'm saying is the fat ratio, you're really going to get your protein in these cocktails. No, don't listen to me. I'm not a specialist in this area, but I will say I brought my mom and she loves, she doesn't drink a lot, like she does like have a stocked alcohol cabinet.

Jay (52:17.454)
Bye.

tastes like meat is that what you're saying?

Christina (52:43.042)
And she loves going, and we love going together and we played crazy eights and like there are games there. Like you said, there's a crib night, there's games, there are games there if you just want to go and hang out with a friend and just chill.

Jay (52:54.382)
Absolutely. We've got games available, different, like um, crib.

Uno, corkle, which is one of my skippo. Yeah. you can bring games. You can even bring your own food. We've got snacks, but, people can order takeout and their favorite takeout and bring it to you. That's totally fine with us. the, has made me a little bit of a, I was going to say a mocktail snob though. the not snob, but, that's good.

Christina (53:24.266)
You

Jay (53:24.67)
Aficionado. sure. And I've actually stopped calling them mocktails because I think I call them alcohol-free cocktails because I think mocktails have these connotations that they're all going to be juicy syrups and overly sweet. But the reality is like ours are built as complex as any cocktail from the top bars in in Halifax or around the world. And so when I go to different restaurants and I see a mocktail on their menu, always like to try one just for comparison sake. And because we

We really are pioneers here. Finding a bartender with an on-out background just doesn't exist. So we've been on this brink of discovery and trying new things and we go to EJoy, which is an Asian grocery store in Halifax, and they've got so many cool ingredients to try blending. So we're always thinking outside the box. we do cocktails really well.

Christina (54:19.682)
You do. You can tell the attention to detail when you're in there and when you're waiting for your drink. It's not a quick... They're not pouring something from a can and going, here you go. mean, sometimes they might. There are canned products there. If you want that, that's fine. But yeah, no, it's high-end. It's really cool experience. I highly recommend it. And honestly, that's where I'll be most of the time when I'm in Alifax.

So not, that, I sell it to anybody listening?

Jay (54:54.462)
hope so. One of our bartenders just started picking up a couple shifts at another place in town and he was like, their mocktails are like blueberry syrup and club soda. He's like, even their drink drinks, it's two ounces of this and then you top the glass up with this.

Christina (55:14.446)
7-Up, know, or like, and I don't like pop. I just don't, it's exactly right. He's right. And so, this Enzono? Enzono looks amazing.

Jay (55:25.838)
Enzono?

Yeah, that was a fun one too. That was Brent's creation for a private party we hosted last summer. And yes, all those drinks have been made and sold here at the bar and tested and perfected.

Christina (55:45.122)
Tropical, like it's hot. That's one, that's another one.

Jay (55:49.452)
That one.

Probably one of our top sellers, it's off the menu now, but people still come in and ask for it. And most people can't believe that there's no alcohol in it because we blend a few different rum types in there. So it's like our version of a tiki drink. It is really fun and it's really delicious. But I think what makes us, our drinks successful too, is like most places will have like one or two, like a gin and a rum option to play with, but we've got 80 plus spirits behind the bar to play with so we can really get precise and like bring in a quarter.

ounce of this and that and um scotches and whiskies and um bourbons and yeah so it's it makes a difference.

Christina (56:28.47)
It's incredible. I'm going to try the little frigor next time I go in if they'll make it for me. I just bought the gin and a vodka. can't remember the names, but the bottles are also stunning. I'm keeping all the bottles to put flowers in as gifts or just around the house. The products are just really beautiful.

Jay (56:53.55)
Those, the Vodka bottles are really stunning. But I think, I think Non-Alk has like a rep of being slightly boring. And so I feel like producers in this world really go above and beyond making their packaging look, look interesting. So that has some shelf pop, but the, what was I going to say? I think you bought the zero zero gin when you were in last.

Christina (57:17.42)
I think that's the one.

Jay (57:18.902)
Yeah, Jauna was telling- Jauna said, your friend was here, the really pretty one who comes in with her mom.

Christina (57:24.302)
I love Janna. She's so great. Yeah.

Jay (57:27.596)
Yeah. my gosh. She's from Ukraine and she's been such a wonderful addition to the store. But yeah, that gin was like a new discovery and it like customers love it. I wasn't sure at first what I thought, but when we lined them up, she said customers leave at that one all the time. So it was a good choice.

Christina (57:46.26)
They're yummy. Jay, before I let you go, it's always hard for me to let my guests go because they're typically really good friends and I just want to chat with them all morning. But I respect your time and you. It's not over. Wait, wait. One more question. mean, I a million more, but we didn't have time. So we'll just have to have you back another time. Where? Tell people where...

Jay (58:01.408)
I'm sad it's over already.

Christina (58:15.458)
to find you online, on location, what do you want to tell them? Websites, socials?

Jay (58:23.63)
You can find us on social, Soberish Mocktail Shoppe 2443, Agricola Street, across the street from Studio East Restaurant. We're on Google Maps, you can search us there. We're on Apple Maps, you can look us up there. And we're open seven days a week. Website, head to noreasterapparel.com. Nor-easter spelled like the storm, noreasterapparel.com. And we've got a Soberish page on there. can find our contacts.

sign up for our soberish newsletter.

Christina (58:56.014)
Love it. Okay, so we'll see you, my little heartbeat listeners, some of you, if you're not overseas or outside of Nova Scotia, we'll see you at a Sobersh event soon, or at Sobersh. Now are you going to change the title to Cocktail Shop or Mocktail?

Jay (59:12.046)
I know. I was like, oh, we might need a name change here. It's still going to say Soberish Mocktail Shoppe for now, but it may change. We've been coining like Soberish Dry Bar for the bar inside. So we'll see. There might be a mashup of the two.

Christina (59:30.252)
I love it. And I'm so... I know I had nothing to do with it, but I'm so proud of you.

Jay (59:36.358)
thank you. Yes. That means a lot. I'm so happy for you. It's a really fun space to be playing in. it is work, but it doesn't feel like work most of the time. So it's a, yeah, it's neat adventure and it's cool because you never know where life's going to take you. I wouldn't have known like even five years ago that I'd be doing this.

Christina (59:56.398)
You know, I'm glad it's taken you here. I love the space. I love your home, your homes, and you have a beautiful family. It's no wonder you're a beautiful person doing beautiful things. Thank you for being on a chat with Heart Podcast and I can't wait to see you very soon. Yeah. Friday. Yeah.

Jay (01:00:14.594)
Okay, thank you for having me. Love you too!

Christina (01:00:16.578)
Bye, love you.

Christina (01:00:27.305)
Say goodbye

Christina (01:00:36.51)
Say goodbye

Christina (01:00:43.054)
Welcome to the Heartbeat Hotline, 1902-669-4769. I'm the host of a Chat with Heart podcast, Christina Martin, and I'm so excited you called. Leave me your question, a suggestion for the podcast, or a comment about this episode. Please be aware your message may be used on the podcast and social media. Tell me your name, where you're calling from, and it's also fine if you want to remain anonymous. Thanks for listening.

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