The Latest News from Wheatsville

Local Vendor Focus: Pogue Mahone Pickles

Featured vendor for the month of June is local pickle producer Pogue Mahone. These delicious crisp local pickles have some pretty cool flavor profiles such as habanero ginger, serrano lime and Texas sweet heat along with traditional styles like bread and butter and garlic dill. All the available varieties of Pogue Mahone can be found at both Wheatsville locations in the refrigerated departments.I had a Q&A with owner Sam Addison and wanted to share it with you.

Chris: How long have you been selling pickles at the farmers market/ Wheatsville?

Sam: We began selling at farmers markets 3 years ago. Wheatsville on Guadalupe was one of our very first retail accounts. I can still remember our very first delivery and pickle sampling event. We were pretty nervous .

Chris: What are some of your favorite things at WV?

Sam: I love the produce and meat departments most of all. I can find the same produce and meats that we buy or trade pickles for at the farmers market which is really great. I do a lot of cooking and Wheatsville gives me a hard location where I can find these local goods any day of the week.

Chris: Which is your favorite flavor of pickle?

Sam: Thats tough, but if i could only have one for the rest of my life it would be our classic Fresh Dill & Garlic flavor. I am eating a lot of our Texas Sweet Heat pickles right now though, they are so perfect with BBQ and burgers.

Chris: Do you have anything new in the works for Pogue Mahone?

Sam: We do indeed. Up until now it has been pretty top secret but here we go... In the coming months we will be using our pickles and brine to make an awesome Dill Pickle Bloody Mary Mix as well as a “Pickled” Whole Grain Mustard.

Chris: What made you decide to do pickles?

Sam: My mom and both grandmothers made pickles while I was growing up and I just really enjoyed the whole process. When we didn’t have homemade pickles around we would buy the Claussen pickles from the cold section of the store. I just always felt that we could do cold pack pickles better than what was available so I dedicated over a decade to perfecting the recipe before offering them to the public. I am happy with where we are right now and look forward to the future of Pogue Mahone Pickles.

More notable info about Pogue Mahone Pickles:

• Our fresh cucumbers go from vine to pickle jar in under 48 hours. We only hold our pickles for 10 days before selling to give them maximum crunch and deliciousness.
• We were named winner in the 2013, 2014, and 2015 National Good Food Awards, becoming the only pickle company in America to win three times.
• You can find our pickles in the cold dairy section of the store.
• Wheatsville now offers our premium dill pickles by the pound on the Salad Bar for customers looking to buy a lot or just sample them.
• Pogue Mahone is gaelic for “kiss my arse”. We were given our name by my Irish brother-in-law who said that our pickles (un-named at the time) were the best damned pickles he had ever had and anyone who disagreed could pogue mahone. A name was born.

Cage Free Eggs

Almost all the eggs at the co-op come from both small and large local farms. Our selection includes some unique varieties such as soy free and certified organic, but one thing all our eggs have in common is that they are all cage free. This can mean different things depending on the farmer. Some chickens are out ranging in the fields all day or some run around within a fence around each coop. With many of the local farms, we’ve had the great opportunity to personally go see for ourselves how the farms are run and how happy the chickens are.

Jeremiah Cunninghams Worlds Best Eggs
As this farm first started out, they found that sourcing organic feed was not only expensive but hard to find in Texas. They decided to make their own organic feed right at the farm. Within just a few years they saw that the feed was in much higher demand then their eggs and the feed mill became the main source of income. The feed has done so well that the farm is looking to expand by building an additional organic feed mill in Georgia.

Fruitful Hill Farm
This farm goes beyond free range with the practice of actually moving the chicken coops on a regular basis to ensure a healthy diet of fresh grass and bugs. With wonderfully dark rich yolks, these eggs sell out fast. We get fresh deliveries every Tuesday, right from the farm.

H&J Ranch
This small farm run by Henry and Joan only sell their eggs at their farm and at Wheatsville. We have been selling their eggs since 2007 and we take back their styrofoam egg cartons so that the farmers can wash them and reuse them. Don’t forget to bring back your cartons.

Cage Free Bulk Eggs
Cage free bulk eggs are a relatively new addition to the egg selection at Wheatsville. These eggs are sourced from cage free farms all over Texas from a locally operated food service provider. We get a lot of question about how we can sell these eggs so cheap. Well first of all, a certain amount goes into packaging and labels so when you take that aspect away your are just paying for the egg itself and not the brand. One of the great things about bulk eggs is that sometimes you just need one or two eggs for a recipe and not a whole dozen. Now you can just get how many you need.

Our egg selection is sourced as locally as possible and sometimes, due to the weather conditions, we can’t get enough when the hens aren’t laying as much. Rest assured that we will continue to strive to have an ethical egg selection at all times and are always looking for a stronger connection with our local Texas farmers.

Local Vendor Spotlight: Buddha’s Brew Kombucha

Wheatsville has been carrying Buddha’s Brew locally made organic kombucha since August of 2009. In the beginning, Buddha’s Brew made a few traditional flavors— original, grape and blueberry. Over the years they have developed many new combinations and seasonal offerings such as Peach-Mint, Tangerine Sea Salt and Hop’D.

I had a short Q&A with Kimberley and John-Paxton, the owners of Buddha’s Brew.

How long have you guys been in business? We started at the Farmers Market in 2006 and then we moved to our current commercial kitchen in 2007.

Which is your favorite flavor of kombucha?
My current favorite is Basil Honey Ginger, right now it’s a seasonal but soon it’ll be a regular flavor in our regular jars! My other favorite is Peach-Mint, it’s delicious, the fresh mint and peach pop so well with our kombucha tea. 

What is your favorite thing to purchase at Wheatsville? South Austin People (SoAP), Skull & Cakebones, Happy Hemp, Love Bean and Good Seed are a few examples of our favorite things to get at Wheatsville. Also enjoy just browsing the aisles seeing what’s new, enjoying a sandwich for lunch and checking out other alive foods! 

Why did you start making kombucha? I was introduced to kombucha through a close friend. I began drinking it daily and loved how it made my body feel. Then all of a sudden the national brand changed their recipe as they expanded and I didn’t feel the same after drinking a bottle. It was then I decided to brew my own traditional kombucha. Once my friends had a taste, they kept asking for more and a business was born.
Additional info: Buddha’s Brew Kombucha’s mission is to brew the most probiotically powerful kombucha on Planet Earth and have a blast doing it. With our process each batch is carefully fermented to have an exceptionally high count of traditional kombucha probiotics. Offering kombucha that is both alive and delicious is very important to our entire Buddha’s Brew team! 

Wheatsville is proud to have Buddha’s Brew Kombucha on our shelves and we’re very happy to have a successful relationship with such nice people!

Local Vendor Profile: Mediterranean Chef (Grandma’s Humus)

Nikki Kaya, the chef owner of The Mediterranean LLC, emigrated from Istanbul in 1995 after studying Chemical Engineering and working in both Swiss and American nutritional analysis laboratories. Then she began her career in the food industry, working up to Food Service Director for corporate accounts, while simultaneously enrolled in French culinary education. She now brings authentic Old World Mediterranean cuisine to your table.
Grandma’s Humus has been around Austin about nine years, and for the first three years it was Nikki herself delivering to all the locations around town. As demand grew, she was able to open a restaurant in North Central Austin and expand on her ability to provide excellent Mediterranean cuisine all over town. She doesn’t deliver in person anymore, but she is still one of our favorite people!

When I asked Nikki if she intends to develop more varieties of hummus, she said she does not deviate from Grandma’s original recipe and has no plans to, either. The taste and texture is on point and it pairs perfectly with so many things. One of our favorites is to dip baby carrots in their hummus. The sweet crunch of the carrots is wonderfully enhanced by the smooth, garlicky hummus yum. People who normally won’t eat raw veggies will enjoy eating them with this hummus!

At the restaurant their kitchen is open, so while you eat you can watch them make many gallons of hummus. As well as making delicious food, Mediterranean Chef is also concerned with the environment. They guarantee that everything in the kitchen is recycled, reused, or composted and they make a monthly donation to Ecology Action.

At Wheatsville, we love Mediterranean Chef because they are always willing to participate in promotions and Grandma’s Humus is always one of our top sellers. We are more than happy to feature Grandma’s Humus as one of our Super Awesome One Day Deals during Owner Appreciation Days on Sunday, October 19, when it will be on sale for $3, a $1.99 savings!

Local Vendor Focus: Lick Honest Ice Cream

In celebration of National Ice Cream Month in July, we are proud to focus on local and delicious Lick Honest Ice Cream.

Wheatsville’s South Lamar location is just down the street from Lick’s storefront so Packaged Manager, Niki Nash, and I travelled by scooter to drop by and say hello to Lick co-founder Anthony Sobotik.

After providing us with perfectly creamy ice cream samples, Anthony answered some of our questions, the first being: Why is Lick ice cream so dang good?

Anthony says it starts with the fresh milk and cream from Mill King Creamery in McGregor, Texas. Never homogenized and pasteurized at lower than usual temperatures, Mill King products have been highly prized at Wheatsville for several years. Anthony and his partner Chad Palmatier have an excellent relationship with the Mill King farmers—they process the milk that will become Lick Ice Cream directly on the farm and they have an exclusive agreement that ensures only Lick Ice Cream enjoys that benefit.

The other reason Lick Ice Cream has had much critical acclaim, including a recent nod in The Thrillist’s 21 Best Ice Cream Shops in America, is flavor. Anthony’s culinary background and South Texas upbringing inspire him to seek out true, fresh flavors regardless of whether or not they are traditionally found in ice cream such as the extremely popular Roasted Beets & Fresh Mint. Some of the flavors that have been a slam dunk from day one are the Dark Chocolate with Olive Oil & Sea Salt, made with Texas Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Hill Country Honey and Vanilla featuring Austin Honey Company Honey.

There’s a fine seasonal selection rotating in and out every three months or so depending on what is fresh and in season. When we visited, the highlighted flavor was Dewberry Corn Cobbler, pairing fresh, juicy dewberries and sweet Texas corn. Anthony admitted that some flavors take time to develop and can’t be rushed, such as his dream of a fresh cantaloupe ice cream— when the time is right it will happen.
There’s a fair amount of collaboration with local businesses to develop the flavors such as Great Bean Chocolate, Johnson’s Backyard Garden Produce, Pure Luck Goat Cheese and Texas Coffee Traders. These are all beloved Wheatsville vendors as well, making Lick Ice Cream pints a natural fit in the frozen aisle. For the non-dairy ice cream lovers out there, vegan options are available at the Lick shop but they are unable to provide pints of it at this time.

Since he’s an ice cream expert, we asked Anthony for some summertime dessert ideas:
• Lick Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Ice Cream scoops on warm Bourbon Pecan pie from Tiny Pies.
• Lick Pecans & Cream Ice Cream with hot peach cobbler made with Texas Peaches.
• Lick Cilantro Lime Ice Cream is light and refreshing on its own!

Slicing and Dicing

You may have noticed that the Meat Department is now slicing your deli style meats. Along with some familiar names we are bringing in some new players and some more options from your favorites.

More uncured and cured options—what does that mean?

It means that the USDA requires processors who do not add salt cure or sodium nitrate /nitrite to their products to label it as uncured. Nitrate/nitrite occurs naturally in some vegetables and leafy greens. Some producers use these nitrates instead of ones that are combined with sodium to cure their meats. All of these products use some form of curing to help preserve them.

We offer cured turkey and ham as well as uncured turkey and ham from Boar’s Head. These are great selections from a very recognizable national brand.

Cured choices:

• Roasted Smoked Turkey,
• Mesquite Smoked Turkey,
• Sweet Sliced Smoked Ham
• Peppered Ham
• Black Forest Ham

Boar's Head All Natural

• Smoked Turkey
• Roasted Turkey
• Tuscan Turkey
• Applewood Smoked Ham
• All Natural Roast Beef.

We also offer some uncured Niman Ranch meats:

• The Uncured Corned Beef is brined and roasted—a traditional corned beef that will make any sandwich fantastic.
• Niman Ranch Beef Pastrami. Get ready to make your own Rueben with Niman Ranch Pastrami and any one of the delicious sauerkrauts that Wheatsville offers.
• Jambon Royal Ham. Fantastic! Made in a more European Style, this equates to a stronger smoke and salt flavor that comes out with the applewood smoking. One of the best Hams I’ve eaten and now you can get it sliced for a sandwich or cut into as small a piece as you would like!

Local Vendor Spotlight: Daily Greens

Daily Greens is a locally made and sourced vegetable and fruit juice. Shauna Martin, the owner and founder of Drink Daily Greens, is a firm believer in the cleansing and healing properties of a juice cleanse.

From drinkdailygreens.com:

At the age of 33, their founder, Shauna Martin, was diagnosed with breast cancer. With a young family to care for, Shauna struggled to recover from the trauma of multiple surgeries and the toxic effects of chemotherapy.

Eight years clear, Shauna attributes her complete recovery from breast cancer and current healthy lifestyle, in part, to her regimen of drinking a green juice every day. Shauna decided that she wanted to share this life-enriching habit and spread the good word about drinking your vegetables.

Consisting of a perfect blend of nutrient-rich dark leafy greens and lighter, juicer greens, each new drink is as delicious as it is nutritious. Quality-tested with their chefs and their legion of fans, they ensure that you are drinking something that will change your life for the better, for good. They source their vegetables and fruits locally to the greatest extent possible from farmers they know. Most of their greens are seasonally sourced from local organic farms that utilize sustainable farming practices to grow wonderfully nutritious vegetables and fruits without harming the environment.

A portion of Daily Greens' sales are donated to organizations that assist young women battling breast cancer. So every bottle you drink makes you and many others that much healthier.

Local Vendor Focus: Buddha’s Brew Kombucha

Buddha's Brew Kombucha produce handcrafted, fresh kombucha beverages that have been delighting Wheatsville shoppers since 2008.

Of the many tasty flavors of their kombucha, Wheatsville shoppers are the most enthused about the Pineapple Super Greens: pineapple, apple and peach juice with spirulina, chorella barley grass and broccoli powder! Their newest style was a seasonal flavor that has become a permanent offering: Tart Cherry Melon; featuring the heart healthy benefits of tart cherry juice with the fresh flavor of honeydew melon juice. It's a perfect healthy refreshment for Austin summer days.

Run by the power team of Kimberly Lanski and John-Paxton Gremillion, Buddha's Brew is now available in over 200 locations across Texas, Lousiana and Oklahoma.

New to kombucha? Check out Buddha's Brew's Frequently Asked Questions

The Buddha's Brew Crew