I’m on the email list of Colorado Wine Company in Eagle Rock (NorthEast of downtown Los Angeles). John and Jennifer Nugent opened their shop a year or two before I opened mine and they’re still at it… actually working on a beer-centric location too. Their emails are always fun but the email exchange below was just perfect for this board. http://www.cowineco.com I have no idea where the cheesepuff thing came from but I do know that they serve things at their tastings from a food purveyor close to them.
“Many of you have read our Facebook posts about the odd spam mail we get at the store. Usually it’s a scam involving the need for 94 cases of Cristal within three hours to be picked up by bike messenger and paid by carrier pigeon. Well, the one we received last week really just wins. Winning. It was so good, we had to respond. See below…”
"Subject: Order to Go
I will like to order for Cheese puffs for 220 people and it will be picked up on 25th of this month by 4pm and I will prepay for it with my credit card now so what will the total cost be .Can I have your full address details so that I can forward it to my event planner who is also responsible for the pick up of the orderI have a little issue with the event planner as they told me that I need to pay them upfront and they do not accept credit and can you do me a favor . I would like you to add an extra $1,250 to the total cost of the order and you can have all that charged on my credit card now and you will have the $1,250 sent to the event planner in cash via western union Money Transfer for them to be able to come for the pick up with their truck so can you add it all and let me know the total cost of everything .
Regards,
Jim Watson."
Our response:
From: John Nugent [mailto:jnugent@cowineco.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2011 7:33 AM
To: ‘Jim Watson’
Subject: RE: Order To Go.
Hi Jim. Thanks for contacting us.
Obviously, wherever 220 people are gathered, you need plenty of cheesepuffs. But Jim, here’s the thing about cheesepuffs, contrary to popular belief, you can’t ‘mass produce’ them. Well, you ‘can’ but you ‘shouldn’t’. The process…
- Most companies puff their corn meal using nitrogen and a pre-formed die.
We grind our own corn meal and then use our employees hands (honed through three generations) to form the puff. Yes, it’s hot, but they’re used to it. - Most companies roll their puff in corn oil and a mixture of seasoning, cheese and more oil. We roll our hand formed puffs in a donkey milk cheese from Zazavika, then sprinkle it with truffle oil and a special seasoning blend that I cannot reveal.
- Finally, our distribution is second-to-none. I am the President of the company and I drive each order personally to your door. I bought a Hummer limo specifically for this purpose. It’s yellow. It drives fairly well though getting into third can prove a little ‘sticky’.
Jim, can we work together? I think so. Here’s my main problem…based on my calculations, we could only get cheese puffs for 180 people done by the 25th and that’s with my swing shift working double-time and on holidays. I am very sorry to say you may have to make up the snack difference by buying some Bugles. And it’s hard for me to say that because the Bugle boys are dicks.
As far as payment, we actually prefer some sort of mix of credit cards/debit cards/ Western Union for each transaction as it makes it much easier for us to break down the order.
I look forward to hearing from you and your event planner.
Kind Regards,
John Nugent
President, Chanko Snacciones (dba Colorado Wine Company)