Wine Down Wednesday: Chelsea Stephens

Wine Down Wednesday:  Chelsea Stephens 

Aired: May 5th, 2022

Audio and Photo Source:  Chelsea Stephens  and Instagram

Episode Summary

This Wine Down Wednesday was everything wine, travel and inclusivity aka our three favorite things.

Co-Founder of Vinstinc, Chelsea Stephens, taught us a few thing about wine that would wow our friends and impress wine snobs, breaking down the barriers of the wine scene and allowing for more accessibility for people that look like us.

Sometimes having a seat at the table means creating your own table and bringing your own chair. Chelsea showed us how anybody can get into wine with freedom in the wine experience, from creating your own wine brand without the vineyard to pairing wine with foods seemingly “unconventional”

This segment was as rich and complex as the wines discussed. So press play and dig in!

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BlackTravelBox ® Clean Beauty (@blacktravelbox)

Episode Transcript

Wine Down Wednesday: Chelsea Stephens 

Orion Borwn (00:06):

Hello? <laugh> Hey everyone. It is. It's gray outside. I'm over here in sweater weather. How sway? How am I in sweater, weather, but it's, it all is good because we're all here. And you know what we about to do? We about to wind all the way down. Grab your glass again. Don't matter what you drink could be grape juice, apple juice, Pepsi, diet Coke. I don't wanna get into a fight over it. Whichever one you like, but bring your beverage of choice. Come on and kick back. Cuz it is Wine down Wednesday. So good to see you guys. I am Orion Brown. I'm the founder and CEO of BlackTravelBox. We're a personal care products company specifically for you travelers of color. And uh, this is Wine down. This started at the beginning of COVID as a desperate cry for help. Please. Let me go on a trip please, sir.

Orion Borwn (01:11):

One more. And now it's become a tradition. We've been doing this now for almost two years. Oh my God. And it's been so much fun. I'm super, super excited. We've got a awesome guest Chelsea this week and I am super excited to get into it because y'all look at this outside. It's so gray. Like it's so gray <laugh> oh, but I do have some fun news. I'm gonna take my glasses off cuz you look y'all can see all my, my cheat code back here. Cause I got lights. You know, I'm trying to be a professional, be a professional. Uh, but you guys, I am so excited because at the end of this month, actually a few of you might already know where I am going. If you already know where I'm going, throw it in the chat. Uh, but I I'll give you a hint. It's a trip that I had to delay cuz they closed the border over the holidays.

Orion Borwn (02:18):

Morocco, I'm going to Morocco and I'm gonna take y'all with me now. I don't know if we're gonna do a real time, but uh, I'm definitely, definitely going to be, uh, capturing the experience and sharing stuff with you guys. Um, Morocco has been on my bucket list for a minute and a half. Um, while I have no intention of actually kicking the bucket anytime soon I wanna kick this list <laugh> oh, that's awesome. Thank you so much. Eloquently max. Hey look it's room for all of us, babe. I love it. I love to see it and we need it. Like did y'all know black travel is $109.6 billion dollars? Like billion with a B like put some respect on that B billion, 109.6 billion dollars. Uh, and it is me and you eloquently max. We are the only ones out here. <laugh> now people do have a few travel size here and there, but there is no brand really dedicated to us as Black travelers.

Orion Borwn (03:22):

So I'm really excited to be able to bring that in. I'm also excited that travel's coming back cuz y'all <laugh> travel is a new club. Yes. Um, this whole C people not traveling and I didn't want anybody to travel cuz we were the communities that were getting most hit, you know, in terms of all that politics and everything. But it was quiet. It was quiet for an entrepreneur out here. You know, it was real, real quiet. And so it is so good to be back. I have, I have, I just received new packaging for a new product. That's gonna launch and I got, I got the samples and I'm like, okay, y'all need to change a couple things, but then we there, baby, you don't know. You do not know I'm I have so much fun stuff in store for you guys. I'm really, really excited.

Orion Borwn (04:19):

Uh, and then for those of you who are joining us and been joining us every week, it's finally here, we're finally live on Macy's dot com, lower help us the technology. Um, but we, we finally got most of the hiccups, 90% of the hiccups out of the way the Macy's team has been diligently, uh, getting all the pieces together. So right now, like, right, right, right now, if you pop onto Macy's dot com search black travel box, all one word, you will find our travel sleep set, which is a beautiful baby O beautiful Mulberry silk sleep set. And it's your pillow, right? So you can, so when you get that second day curl pop, you don't have to lose it. Y'all know you go, you do the hair the first day and your ***** twists are, are like a little too tight and your curls are a little too defined that second day though.

Orion Borwn (05:18):

So we wanna keep that. So we sleep on a silk pillow case. Okay. And then we have, we have a silk scrunchy matching silk scrunchy and a weighted eye pillow cuz one of my biggest beliefs in life is travel is an amazing form of self care. And what do they do when they, when you go to get a massage or a facial, they put them little weighted, the little pee bags on you, not pee, but you know, uh, like full of beans and peas. And I don't know what sent M I dunno, I'm not a, I'm not an esthetician. Y'all I'm sorry. But they put that on. I swear. I fall asleep. The second they put that on. If I'm just laying there and I have to pretend like it's dark, that's not gonna happen. So <laugh> so I designed specifically this Mulberry sleep mask and instead of it being this little thing, baby, it's all the way up to here.

Orion Borwn (06:09):

You about to have black out good, happy dreams. Uh, and it's weighted and it's um, hypoallergenic and I'm just, I'm so glad to see it out in the world. So go tell somebody I'm gonna see, where is my, where is my guest? Where is my guest? I'm gonna see if I can try to bring her in. Uh, oh, cuz y'all you know me in this, if you're here every week, it's always a fight with Instagram cuz they just don't want us to be. They just don't want us to, to be great. But that's all right. We gonna be great. Anyway. Oh, you're here. You're here. Okay. Holler at me. Let me see if I can pull you in. Let's see. Uh, uh, uh, uh, um, don't want you RGI out as a moderator. Go live with you. Fingers cross. Come on. Y'all pray with me since I'm up. Dear Lord. Make me a bird so I can fly, fly, fly away. Ah, we got it. Awesome. Yes.

Chelsea Stephens (07:11):

Hi. Sorry. Hold on real quick. I am -

Orion Borwn (07:13):

You're all good. But technology doesn't wanna let us be great. It doesn't you had a whole set up. I was like telling folks I'm like, okay. So when you come on as a guest, we're gonna get on like five, 10 minutes early. We're gonna get into test mode. Test mode has crashed every single time. I've used it every single time and it <laugh> and some of the times they couldn't just, they just couldn't even get in. I had to be like, well let me text you. Cause Instagram, won't let us be great.

Chelsea Stephens (07:38):

Yeah, sorry. I was, I was also here the entire time. I just wasn't sure when you wanted me to come up and you know, cuz sometimes I invite guests onto my channel and like they like hop on right away and I'm like, oh we needed like two minutes to set up.

Orion Borwn (07:50):

So. Well see, you can always say no, you can always be like, I saw that, but I keep going. You're right. No, it's it's all good. I don't. So here's the funny part. I feel like because I have a name and a face. It is hard for me to remember the screen name, vice versa. You gimme a screen name. I'm like, I know who that is. And they're like, so what's the government name? And I'm like, eh, do I look like the government? No, we dunno this <laugh> but thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming to Wine down. I'm gonna of, I'm gonna pump up my light a little bit. Oh's that's as bright as we get. Okay, well y'all cheers. We just gonna be sitting out here in the shade, but what you got there.

Chelsea Stephens (08:33):

So this is actually, okay, so this is a Picpoul Blanc, which is kind of like a Reisling a little bit. Ooh. Um, it is an orange style wine. So I, I didn't mean to like get it all into like wine talk

Orion Borwn (08:46):

<laugh> I loved it,

Chelsea Stephens (08:48):

But yeah. So, um, typically it's really cool. Well, there's a couple cool things about this wine one. It's a natural wine. Um, so with natural wines, that can mean a lot of different things, but usually it means the grapes are organic. The soil is really like, um, natural it's um, you know, there's not a lot of additives in the soil. There's not a lot of additives in the wine. So it's like usually when someone has a wine allergy, we point them to natural wine. So it's a natural wine first. Um, it's a interesting grape, like a French grape that most people haven't heard of. I definitely haven't heard of it until I tried it. And then also it's an orange wine. So, um, it gets its orange color. When you treat, uh, white wine, like the way you would treat a red wine. So with red wines you put, um, in order to, for a red wine to get that color, you have to soak the grape juice in the grape skins. And then the color from the grape skins will bleed into the, the wine, the wine juice or grape juice. And it will turn it red. But with white wine

Orion Borwn (09:45):

Technical turn being is marinating. It's marinating.

Chelsea Stephens (09:47):

Yes, exactly! It marinates it marinates in the skins and with white wine, you don't let it marinate in the skins because. Then it will, you know, develop a color, but they do that when they wanna create orange wine. So this is like a trifecta type of interesting wine. Um,

Orion Borwn (10:02):

Okay. So I, I so clearly for those, those of y'all who don't know, she know what she talking about on this wine situation. So we gonna talk about this, but I'm curious, and then we gonna get you properly introed. And I say, but I'm curious cause orange wine, pink wine, how do they control the color to get the yellowness in there? Is it timing? Are they like doing some magical voodoo stuff that we need to like pray for? Like what are they doing?

Chelsea Stephens (10:27):

Well, yeah. Hopefully it's not magical voodoo stuff, but yes, it's timing. It's really all about timing. So it's like, how long do you let your, uh, chicken marinate essentially? Um, so with wine, um, for, in order for it to be a rose wine, they, they use red grapes or black grapes, which you would use to make a red wine. So if you let it, if you let the grape juice marinate and the grape skins for, you know, about a couple of weeks, it will develop a red color, like a dark red purple color. If you only do it for a couple hours, it's it only goes to pink. It doesn't go past that. So then you do the same thing with white wine. So if you, if you don't let it marinate, it just stays white. If you let it Mar- if you let a white grape marinate in the grape juice, then it turns

Orion Borwn (11:10):

Forward. Oh, with the grape, with the white grape skins.

Chelsea Stephens (11:13):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>

Orion Borwn (11:13):

Mm-hmm <affirmative> see white. Ain't always right. No, I'm just kidding. <laugh> that is so cool though. And that totally makes sense. Cause it's like, and for those of you who ever been to like a vineyard or even just paying attention to the grapes in the grocery store, although those tend to be cultivated in a less, uh, natural to some extent way, depending on how you think about that. Uh, but if you've ever seen 'em they do look like yellowish green <affirmative> it's not like mm-hmm <affirmative> it's not like Kelly Green. Like if I saw a grape that was like the color of a Shamrock, I would run, cuz that's not right. <laugh>

Chelsea Stephens (11:48):

Yes, but you're you're right. It it's actually like a goldish golden color ish. Even some grapes like pink, uh, Pinot Grio, which we know a lot of people know makes a white wine. That grape is actually like pink pinkish reddish. So like there's grapes are really interesting. One of the things that I like to think of, I like think of grapes and wine as people, um, they come in all different shades and sizes. Um, whenever, you know, you know, you can plant a caps soft grape in America versus in France and you're gonna get two different styles of wine. Same thing. Like if you were to have a black person being born and raised in France versus a black person being born and raised in America, we, you know, genetically, we might be very similar, but culturally, um, how we like engage with our environment is all gonna be different based off of the environment that we're raised in. So it's the same thing

Orion Borwn (12:35):

With graces resilience.

Chelsea Stephens (12:37):

Yes.

Orion Borwn (12:37):

Resilience. My friend, these graces is resilient. We are resilience. I love it. I love it. And that was a whole word. Y'all gotta run that back. That was a whole word. You can put us anywhere. Mm-hmm <affirmative> it's still us. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but we're different. We're not a mono lift. Yeah. We're many different things and Ooh, it's so much fun to see it. I love it. Exactly. I love it. I love it. I love it. <laugh> oh my goodness. Okay. So let's get you properly introduced. So the way since this is your first time, the way we do introductions is tell us your name, where you live, where you're from, if that's a different place and then how many stamps you have on your passport.

Chelsea Stephens (13:16):

Oh, okay. Okay.

Orion Borwn (13:17):

Ballpark. So it doesn't have to be scientific grade

Chelsea Stephens (13:20):

<laugh> okay. Well, so my name is Chelsea Stevens. Hello everyone. Um, I'm currently in Ithaca right now. I Ithaca New York. So I go to school at Cornell. I'm in a graduate school program. I am originally from Los Angeles, California. Um, I've lived there for, I was born and raised there and I moved out over here in upstate New York when I was like 17 to go to college. And I just haven't been here ever since. Um, and then, um, how many stamps I have on my passport? So currently, okay. I got my passport updated in night of the 27. No, maybe

Orion Borwn (13:59):

21.

Chelsea Stephens (14:02):

So like 20 it's actually really bad, but I'll explain why. So 20 16, 20 17, I got my passport update renewed. Um, when I turned 25 and um, uh, I only have three, I only have three stamps on my passport and

Orion Borwn (14:18):

That's not only that's that's you? I got three standing your truth.

Chelsea Stephens (14:24):

Yes. So the reason I've only started cause I'm 29 now. So I've only really started like taking, traveling seriously one cuz I've been in school. So, so much like just nonstop that it's really hard to take so much time off of school. I recently just came from, came back from

Orion Borwn (14:43):

Club chase, joy repping

Chelsea Stephens (14:47):

<laugh>. Yeah. So I recently just came back from Dominican Republic. So that was the third passport or staff that I got on my passport. Um, that was really fun, but it was like the first girls trip I really had, um, for several different reasons. But like I finally found time in my schedule to just like, you know, you know, travel. And also I think traveling with the right people is really important and I just felt like I never had the right people to travel with. And like, it was just like a gut feeling where I was just like, you know, if I go with you, I feel like we won't be friends if we come back and then I realized start

Orion Borwn (15:17):

That won't be

Chelsea Stephens (15:19):

<laugh>. Exactly. And then I learned that was like an actual like problem that a lot of friends, group friends, friends group had. So then I was just like, oh, well then maybe it's good that I don't travel. But then I recently just like met a group of people here at Cornell who love to travel. Like, you know, they're going actually I'm, I'm planning a trip to go to Spain later this year because one of my good friends is gonna study there. And like now I'm all about traveling. So I'm

Orion Borwn (15:42):

Oh, I love it. Yeah. Madrid Barcelona, like where's

Chelsea Stephens (15:46):

So I'm not exactly sure where she's gonna be, cuz she's studying abroad. So I'm not sure, but we talked, we said that we're gonna talk about it. The goal is I do wanna go to, um, Rioja the, that wine region and then also go to the D valley and Portugal. So I'm making it like, you know, educational for me, but I, um, yeah, that's, that's the goal it's probably in October. Um,

Orion Borwn (16:08):

I love that. I love that. And the beautiful thing is is if like you can do it like a road trip or whatever, mm-hmm <affirmative> a lot of people don't know. Well, I, I won't, I won't proclaim a lot of people don't know. I've run into many people who haven't didn't know that you can apply for a European driver's license. Like before you even go it's it's, it's like a paper document. It's not like, you know, there's no mugshot or anything like, well I think they might take like a, a, a little Walgreens picture, but like it's, it's not like an official, you can use this everywhere, but you basically say like I have a valid driver's license in the states. I understand driving here is different mm-hmm <affirmative> and you pay like $40 and you get one, so, oh yeah. That's not bad road trip.

Chelsea Stephens (16:51):

Yes <laugh> yeah. So she's gonna be there the entire semester. So, you know, um, I'm just visiting her for probably like 10 days. Um, so hopefully she'll have that figured out

Orion Borwn (17:01):

<laugh> oh, that sounds amazing. And so tell me a little bit about this like wine passion and, and I love that it's kind of, kind of mashing up with this, this new love of travel, like

Chelsea Stephens (17:18):

Yeah. Yeah. Like

Orion Borwn (17:19):

What are you gonna do with this? Like, like some of us just show up and drink. I'm not even gonna lie show up and, and drink. I take my little sips. I listen, they tell me things, I drink some more. Um, but what, what are you, what are you doing in the wine world and how is that gonna show up in your travel?

Chelsea Stephens (17:36):

Yeah. Okay. So that's great. And I think that's also another reason why I've been more curious about traveling because, um, with studying wine naturally you have to study wines from around the world. So, um, like just understanding what it means to have, you know, a reasoning from Germany versus the finger lakes region. Like all that's really cool. And then you kind of get like really very different. Yeah. It's very different. You get interested in. So I think that, I think that's why, um, that's one of the reasons why I've become being more like interested in traveling. But so actually my background is in like engineering mm-hmm, <affirmative>, I'm actually getting my PhD in engineering and um, with, up with upstate New York, it's in the finger lakes, it's in the finger lakes region of New York. Um, or the finger lakes is in upstate New York and that's one of the premier wine regions in America.

Chelsea Stephens (18:26):

Um, it's still growing. It's still like sort of building traction. Yeah. But you know, there's a ton of wineries here and you know, a lot of people who are really in the wine industry really respect, uh, the finger lakes region. So, okay. You know, one of the things that me and my friends used to do often when we were here, I'm still here, but they've graduated already, but we would get together and we would just drink wines at local bars and restaurants in the evenings, like on a Wednesday, like, like right now I would be at the bar doing work, um, drinking wine and stuff like that with my friends or by myself. But it came a thing that we did consistently and we just really enjoyed, you know, just the, the, the luxury of it, like being single and you know, it almost felt like girlfriends, like we would just get together and just do things together. And you

Orion Borwn (19:12):

A theme song, your head, wait, every time they pour you a glass, right. Oh, I love it.

Chelsea Stephens (19:19):

And then when, but the problem was when we tried to share these same experiences with like friends and family back at home, cuz we're all from different parts of the country. Um, it just really wasn't the same. Like people were, you know, often it felt intimidated by wine culture. They didn't really care about it. They felt like it wasn't for them or they felt othered in the space. And like, for us, that was a problem cuz it's like, you know, we are black women who enjoy this. Like it's really fun to just talk about it. And it's like, we have this whole industry that doesn't cater to the black wine consumer and not even just like, you know, people like me who are really enthusiastic about wine, but just like, like people who will grab a bottle of wine just because, you know, they wanna feel classy that night, but they don't really know what they're doing necessarily, but they just like, you know, I like this bottle or you know, this is black girl magic.

Chelsea Stephens (20:06):

I'm black girl magic. I'm a grab it. Um, but like actually yeah, like we've all done it and it's totally fine. Like we've all been there before, but I, so the wine industry does a really poor job of catering to that demographic of people. And for us, we were like, okay, well that's who we wanna target. Like that's who we want to cater to because we used to be those people, like we used to like, you know, when I just turned 21, I was drinking like the sweetest Moscatos and stuff like that. And there's nothing wrong with that. Um, the refreshing they're refreshing. Yeah. They're refreshing, but there's, there's so many different wines out there that, you know, you never know what you might like. So the goal is for us to get people to kind of care about wine and to like, you know, open up this industry, this really cool industry to an underserved population. So a lot of the content that we create is really catered toward integrating black culture into wine education. So whether it's food pairings or whether it's celebrities or, you know, just like, you know, cultural references, like using anything that can, that will resonate with people like us using that to connect with the audience and like just pull them into, into, into teaching them about wine. So, so yeah, that's sort of the platform it's called instinct. I haven't even said the name yet <laugh> but um, but that's my that's

Orion Borwn (21:21):

Because you were so passionate about it and you're so excited and I'm like, you had me at wine and food pairings. Yes. Because as you were talking and you had just mentioned the really sweet Ling, I was like, Hmm, I do enjoy a sweet Ling with like either a dry sort of shortbread cookie or a, a denser, less sweet cake. Yeah. Like, you know, like the kind of bunt cake type situations. Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, I'm not talking about the auntie's bunt cake that got the icing and everything on Uhhuh. I'm talking about actually more of like a European or a German style where it's a little bit more, I won't even say savory, it's just not very sweet. So mm-hmm <affirmative> um, but it has just like that great, you know, crack of cinnamon or whatever it might be. And then that muscato hits it and you're like, Hmm.

Chelsea Stephens (22:05):

Uhhuh,

Orion Borwn (22:07):

Megan, Tony Gordon. Your mouth

Chelsea Stephens (22:09):

<laugh> yes. <laugh> yeah, no, uh, sweet wines are really great to pair with sweet foods. Um, I would also like if you can, I would encourage you to try it with something spicy too. So like, um, yeah. I just did a food and wine pairing on TikTok with pairing wines with, uh, jerk chicken. So, um, Ooh,

Orion Borwn (22:29):

Okay. Top wine to pair with jerk chicken. Cause cause some of us, we gonna try to be fancy when we go to the Caribbean this summer, right? Yes, exactly. When we go to Caribbean. So instead of us drinking darkened, stormy and ending up going home with somebody, we don't have no business with, we need to sit in our, in our power mm-hmm <affirmative> and drink a really lovely wine. So what should we be pairing with her chicken?

Chelsea Stephens (22:53):

So the three recommendations that I came up with were averse, demeanor, which I'll explain a little bit why that's the best option, in my opinion, a semi sweet reasoning or even a, Mascato not a dessert Mascato cause that might be a little too sweet, but like, you know, a regular yeah. A regular Mascato or a red Moscato would be nice. And the reason why I Sayers demeanor, because there's a couple of things that when we eat spicy foods or whenever you think about like food and wine pairings, you always wanna think about how the, the flavor of the food impacts the taste of the wine. So it's not like, oh, does this wine change the taste of my food? It will never do that. Or you know, it will hardly ever do that, but it's really the food that changes the taste of the wine. And the thing that, uh, spice does to wine is it makes it taste more bitter. It makes it taste more acidic and it makes it taste, um, more bitter acidity. Oh. And then alcohol content, it makes it taste, um, hotter, you know? Yeah, yeah. Get like, you know yeah. Spice and alcohol, like really don't go well together. So unless you like it like that, then that's fine. Um, I'm go back to,

Orion Borwn (24:01):

I love well and this, but this is what exactly what you're saying. Like on the cocktail side, I love mango, um, like spicy chili mango margaritas mm-hmm <affirmative> and like mescal based street. Cause you've got that sweet mm-hmm <affirmative> and then you got the spicy and then you got a little bit of seasoning in the middle that just balance the whole thing out, but yes.

Chelsea Stephens (24:20):

Yeah. And there's a fruitiness too. So like spiciness will also sort of like decrease the sweetness and the fruitiness of your wine. So you wanna pair it with a wine that has a high fruitiness and a high sweetness with a low alcohol and low acid and conversion meter has all of that. It's super fruit, fruity. It smells like perfume, like a fruity floral perfume. Its very sweet. It's not too sweet, but it's it has a nice medium sweetness to it. Yeah. Um, usually has like tropical notes of like mango and um, pineapple, some honeysuckle like it's, it's really like rich, it's a rich wine, but it also has a low acidity. So you're not gonna, the spice is not gonna like, you know, elevate the, that acidity of the, of the wine and you know, make it taste really bad in your mouth. So that's, that's why it's like the optimal, in my opinion, it's the optimal, um, wine to have with jerk chicken or anything spicy really

Orion Borwn (25:13):

Sounds amazing. I, and I wanna, I wanna come back to some of your recommendations, particularly one of the things I'm doing is moving my luxury purchases to black owned businesses where I can, whether it's a retailer or whether it's Avin or that kind of thing. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so I wanna, I wanna put a pin in where do we get a converts from a black owned business. Okay. But I wanted to scroll back up real quick because body can't buy joy. She was like, I have a random question. Okay. Why does wine taste different when it's consumed indoors versus outside?

Chelsea Stephens (25:44):

So I think that might be a couple of things. It could be the weather for one. Um, so also too, maybe the, just the experience. So I, I don't wanna say like it's a psychological thing, but like, you know, whether you like being indoors or outdoors that could be contributing to how you're experiencing the wine. Also there might be other factors that you may not be considering. So like are you, if you're outside, are you with friends? Um, if you're inside, are you alone in your bed or is it vice versa? Like, yeah. <laugh>

Orion Borwn (26:22):

I, I, I love that question because there's so many to your point psychosomatic things that happen, I'm gonna totally take y'all on a tangent real quick, but I was watching this video cuz you know, TikTok and it was about the phenomenon of having to go to the restroom when you get into a bookstore. So like you get as soon as oh, 20 seconds in bars and noble everybody's like, Ooh, bubble guts. And it's like an actual global phenomenon. It was actually something first that was identified in Asia. And then like people were like, this is a whole thing and we still don't know why mm-hmm <affirmative> so there's just stuff that our bodies do. Like you said, that's just like triggers and having those implicit associations with like, I feel good. So the wine face better mm-hmm <affirmative> or my, my memory or perception of it mm-hmm <affirmative> that said, I will say having been in places like, um, Napa or not even in wine country, but like Mid-Atlantic during cherry blossom season that hay fever will hit and I can't, the nose is not on point anymore. So I, you, for outside you're stuffy, it might taste, it might taste better to you that way or not like it depends like cuz you might like the acidity, you might not, you might like the sweet, you might not. But I find that um, my nose loves to get into stuff mm-hmm <affirmative>

Chelsea Stephens (27:34):

And

Orion Borwn (27:36):

So it really depends on what's going on. I also love or actually I find it, I, I love to have wine with meals and parenting and we talked a little bit about that, but there's nothing like being in a really fragrant restaurant, which it's great when you're sitting down and you're hungry. But then when you're trying to like get the center of the food and the drink mm-hmm and all that together mm-hmm <affirmative>, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, it's, it's a whole struggle bus. So exactly. I don't know which is better, but there's a lot of factors.

Chelsea Stephens (28:06):

<laugh> a lot. Yeah. It's very true.

Orion Borwn (28:08):

I love that. I love that. So, so let's come back to the first demeanor and, and pairings and how do we, cuz you talked about the industry, not catering to us when we know we've seen it through COVID and beyond like when we don't get a seat at the table, we make a table mm-hmm <affirmative> so what are some of the tables that you see being made and what are some of the great wines that we should try to go after and, and check out, especially with that jerk chicken I'm <laugh> I'm still on the jerk chicken. I kinda wanna, yeah. Yeah.

Chelsea Stephens (28:40):

So I think one of the things that's really interesting, um, the tables that are being made is, um, there's a lot of like black, not only like black wine influencers, but also, um, black wine entrepreneurs who are creating communities where they are, uh, redefining what wine culture is. Maybe not necessarily for the industry, but for black people. So whether I think there's the hu society does something, um, it's like past the ox or something like that. And essentially it's like pairing wine with music. Um, there's another, there's another, um, uh, startup. Well, they're not really a startup anymore. They're like fully functioning, uh, like restaurant bar wine bar lounge, um, in Inglewood, which is where I'm from, they're called 10, 10, um, 10, 10 events or something like that. I can't remember the actual name, but

Orion Borwn (29:38):

We got Google. Why we got Google. It's all good.

Chelsea Stephens (29:40):

Yeah. But like they, they, um, you know, they like, they're, they're really, they create an environment that's really catered towards just like, you know, the black experience and just being black and drinking wine. So like for the most part, that's what I see. Like those are the tables that are being made is creating experience. That is very organic to us. But featuring wine as a part of it, what we, where we differ a little bit is the educational aspect. So a lot of people provide the experience, but we provide the education. So like, um, I think when you have those two together, then it's like really like a force to be reckoned with because you know, it's not for like our goal isn't to try to like integrate you into white, um, wine culture, but it's to give you the tool so that if that's where you wanna go, like you can show up and show out and like, you know, be at the front or like be at the stage or in everybody's face. Like, you know, I know my ****. Yeah. Sorry. I know my stuff,

Orion Borwn (30:38):

You totally know your ****,

Chelsea Stephens (30:39):

Girls. Like you could say, you know your stuff or just like, even when you're engaging in professional settings and stuff like that, sometimes people, they, they assume that you don't know what you're talking about. So that's where the education really comes in. But the experiential side is like, you know, no, I don't really necessarily want to enjoy my wine with, you know, these cheese and crackers. Like I wanna enjoy it with, I mean, if that's what you wanna do, that's fine. But like, you know,

Orion Borwn (31:06):

I'm gonna tell y'all that government cheese is good with wine. I ain't gonna laugh. <laugh> that's such a stereotype. Y'all don't don't write me no letters. Don't send me no DMS. I'm just kidding. But yeah, you're totally right. Like even just, I have never had a conversa I'm just still thrown. I'm shook by this conversation around German wine and jerk chicken, Caribbean food. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, it's we need more of these conversations. I'm like, okay, so what wine do I want with the plantain then? And then if I decide to dip in somebody else's oxtail, like, do I need to switch my wine choice out?

Chelsea Stephens (31:39):

<laugh> <laugh> no, these are all great questions. And that's sort of like, what we try to do is like, you know, figure like use cultural cuisines as opposed to like saying like, you know, oh, here's a steak and potatoes and asparagus, and this is what you wanna pair with it. Like, you know, we like that that's good and cute or whatever, but then there's also foods that, you know, don't get considered, like, you know, it's food, you can pair wine with it. So, um, that's what we do. But I wanna go to the diverse demeanor that, um, it's a black oners demeanor it's um, called, well, it's called Yvonne. The conversion's called Yvonne, but the brand is Mont floor VIN. And um, they have the, um, I don't think he's the winemaker, but he owns the wine brand. He's really young. He's probably like maybe 27 now. I don't know he was 20.

Orion Borwn (32:27):

He kids these days. Y'all y'all be out here.

Chelsea Stephens (32:29):

<laugh> yes, but he has, he has a, a sweet, adverse demeanor that I think pairs well with jerk chicken. Um, he also has another wine that I haven't tried yet. Um, so I don't know how sweet it is, but it's a red wine, so it's probably not, but yeah. So like that's one, um, I don't know any other black, I'm pretty sure they're out there and I can do my research and, and, and give you that information on the side.

Orion Borwn (32:51):

Look, the fact that you had one off top is, as, as Julia said, shook just shook it

Chelsea Stephens (32:59):

<laugh>

Orion Borwn (32:59):

Seriously. I'm like, okay, cool. So that's what I need to stock up. My little wine fridge with mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative> and you know, cuz we all, we, we we've become familiar with the few of us who have made it in like a mainstream way, the McBride sisters, things like that. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but which still, by the way, like, there is nothing like bringing like that gold laced bottle in and being like somebody getting celebrated, like that's just that's the best. And then they got black girl magic pastored all in the front of it and you just mm-hmm <affirmative> you just feel like they created a whole moment for us and I love it. Yeah. Um, but I also wanna see us, like out here dipping our toes in these German wines and these mm-hmm <affirmative> um, you know, I need somebody to come with a little good, you know, mile back that I can just get behind, you know, mm-hmm <affirmative> mm-hmm <affirmative> I'm like I love a good mile back. Like give me some big reds. Give me get out here. Mm-hmm

Chelsea Stephens (33:50):

<affirmative> also the, um, uh, the black girl magic Reisling it's a lot sweeter than I expected it to be, but it's I think it also pairs well with jerk chicken. So that was another I had in, I didn't include that, but that's another good recommendation. The black girl magic Reisling with jerk chicken. That's

Orion Borwn (34:10):

Take that.

Chelsea Stephens (34:11):

Yes.

Orion Borwn (34:11):

I'm not mad at that. I'm not mad at that at all. <laugh> oh, so that Ms. Hunt had a question around spicing seasoning and how does that affect the wine tasting?

Chelsea Stephens (34:22):

So it depends. So, you know, if the more seasoned your food is, you want to pair it with a, a wine that has a little bit more texture and complexity. So usually when we say texture and complexity, we think about tannins or, um, really just tannins, which, um, are in red wine. Usually you don't typically find them in white wine. So this is why they say like, oh, pair like a steak with yeah. Like with a red wine, but that's because you wanna com you want to match the complexity of the wine, the wine with the food. Um, because if you don't do that, it's gonna really like overpower the wine and it's gonna make it taste flat. And it's like, you might as well not be drinking wine cuz you're not really tasting anything probably. But again, um, the, the most important thing about food and wine pairings is to pair wine, eat your food with whatever wine you wanna drink. Like that's like the, the number one golden

Orion Borwn (35:16):

Rule, know that self and go with it. I

Chelsea Stephens (35:18):

Love exactly, exactly. But there is some, um, I guess, I don't know, I guess it's, it's a bit of a science and an art too. Um, when it comes to like what feels the best on like the, the palette of most people mm-hmm <affirmative> um, these are, these are where the rules are kind of like constructed with and, um, I'm pretty sure there's some science behind it too, but, um, but yeah, so if you're having like a flavorful just dish and it isn't necessarily spicy, then you wanna make sure you pair it with something that it has like equally as much like complexity to it. But if you have a spicy dish, um, you wanna pair it with you really wanna pair it with something sweet. Um, part of the sweetness will help cult your tongue. Um, and it will alleviate some of the sensation of spice that you feel when you're eating something spicy. But also too, for the other reasons that I mention like naturally spicy food, um, makes a wine taste more bitter and acidic. So you wanna pair it with a wine that is less acidic and less bitter.

Orion Borwn (36:22):

Mm.

Chelsea Stephens (36:22):

So, yeah. Yeah.

Orion Borwn (36:24):

So don't go with like a really acidic, dry white, and then hot wings you just in for a world of her. Okay. Exactly,

Chelsea Stephens (36:32):

Exactly. <laugh>

Orion Borwn (36:35):

I love that. I love that. Cuz now I'm like thinking, I love that you kind of this and I, I know it's not rocket science, but it really kind of is in a, in an industry that we're not reflected. And we don't see ourselves often this concept of just being like pair it with other things. It doesn't have to be fruit, fruit, food mm-hmm <affirmative> or it could be what your, what you consider fruit fruit,

Chelsea Stephens (36:57):

Exactly.

Orion Borwn (36:57):

Fruit, fruit being the technical term <laugh> but like, there's just so many things that you can do that with. And now I'm like, Hmm, all the pairings, all the wines. So I wanna switch gears a little bit because I know you have this Spain trip, Spain and Portugal, um, and you mentioned wanting to go out and do wine tastings and things like that. Tell me a little bit about what you think about and look for when you're, whether you're traveling domestically or international, you know, when you're going to a vineyard mm-hmm <affirmative> like, or going to a new space in wine country, like what are the things that you look for to decide where to go and like what to taste and how to get home in one piece? Cause y'all

Chelsea Stephens (37:42):

Yeah, that's a good point.

Orion Borwn (37:45):

Especially if you're in another country, you gotta know how to get home.

Chelsea Stephens (37:48):

Yeah. So I think for like how to determine where to go, it's really about the, the experience that you want. Um, so if you're, they're like, I'll just speak for the finger lakes region, because that's where I do a lot of my winery visits. Yeah. They have a very diverse set of wineries. There are some wineries that are very quaint and very like family oriented and cute and small there's other ones that are more commercial. There are some that feel like you're going to your grandparents' house in the woods. There are other wineries that are like very elegant and it makes you feel like you're on a date or something like that. Wait,

Orion Borwn (38:27):

You, your grandmama's house is in the woods. Now what <laugh> I know we, we already established at the beginning that we can do it anywhere and we are, we're not a monolith. No, but help me under help me translate when you mm-hmm like, what is that visual like? Or what is the feeling? Is it a comfort feeling? Is it a being cared for or catered to like what what's kind of,

Chelsea Stephens (38:50):

Yeah, so my, my, my I'm sorry, my grandma, my grandma lived well, she, before she passed, she lived on chaw. So she wasn't in the woods and the other one was like, she's Caribbean. So she lived St. Lucia. Um, yeah,

Orion Borwn (39:06):

But their woods are pretty, their woods are pretty there. Yeah. They, they just Palm trees.

Chelsea Stephens (39:10):

Yeah. She, she lived in the town area of okay. Yeah. But so I, the reason why I said at woods, because it really, there was this one winery that we went to. It was very, it was like, there was like a lot of, like, it almost felt like I was walking into a log cabin and it was really dusty. Like I just, you know, you could, my allergies were acting up a little bit in the middle of

Orion Borwn (39:32):

You could smell the age of it. <laugh>

Chelsea Stephens (39:34):

Exactly. You could, it just smelled old. Um, and they had this, this old dog that was going around just farting <laugh> everywhere. Like as soon as the dog came, you would just get like a whiff of something. And I'm just like, was that you and this, the dog just looking at you, wait, waiting for you, waiting for you to give it some food

Orion Borwn (39:53):

That dog, like, if you don't gimme attention, I'm gonna crop dust you to death. Exactly. Oh Lord.

Chelsea Stephens (39:59):

Yeah. So like, you know, there's like, that's what I mean by like those types of wineries, I guess. Um, yeah. They might cater to you a little bit more. There might be, uh, smaller groups that go there. But, um, so yeah, it really depends on the, the ambiance that you're trying to have. And also too, um, something that's really hard is to gauge whether you're going into an environment that is very like open and welcoming to all types of people who, you know, drink wine or like whether they're experts or they're just drinking wine for the first time you have those types of environments and then you have other environments that are like, what do you mean? You don't know what this, you know, Sion Blanc from this region at this vintage? Like, what do you mean? You don't know this? And like, so there's, there's that type of energy.

Orion Borwn (40:44):

Oh, nobody like those people, those people don't like those people, they tell each other.

Chelsea Stephens (40:48):

Yes. Yeah. So, so like, you know, that's sometimes it's harder to gauge unless you've actually gone to the place. So that's something I look for is like, you know, am I looking to like, like turn up with my girlfriends or like go, go on a date with like a significant other, you know, what is, what is the vibes that I'm trying to curate? That's the first thing. Um, and then when I'm actually at the winery, I like to, one thing I like to do is always, I always like to taste what is like very unique to that specific winery. So sometimes it could be a port wine that they make that's very unique. Um, it could be a type of orange wine, or it could be just like a, a style of wine. Like there was this one winery in the finger lakes region, whenever like whenever wineries make a champagne or like a sparkling wine, rather there's three grapes that typically go in a champagne and that's, it's three grapes.

Chelsea Stephens (41:44):

And most wineries only have two. They only keep two. And there was one, there was one winery that incorporated all three here. And I was like, oh, this is the closest thing that I can get to a champagne. That's not from champagne. So it's like, I will, I'm gonna buy that because it's different. It's special. So, you know, like I try to, I try to get things that are very unique to the, the specific winery. And then also things that like, you know, it just depends on what I'm feeling like. Maybe I'm feeling like I wanna drink all reds. Maybe I wanna drink all dry white wines. I don't know. Um, so it's, it's really like circumstantial too.

Orion Borwn (42:20):

Mm mm. I, I love that. There's, there's so much choice. I think what I take away is there's freedom in the wine experience and you just, you just gotta jump in and embrace it. Yeah. Um, and as we all know, go where you're celebrated, not where you're tolerated. So if you mm-hmm <affirmative> whether it is a shoe store or a winery, if you're not feeling the vibe, go ahead and take your money and you're good wine taste and go to the next spot. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Um, but I love, I love this, like really thinking about all the different dimensions of the experience that you wanna have. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and then just being like, now, once I'm here, how can I make this a really unique experience?

Chelsea Stephens (42:57):

Mm-hmm <affirmative> exactly. I

Orion Borwn (42:59):

Love it. Do you normally call ahead or, and like ask them, like, what's your, you know, most unique wine or you just like on their website doing research or do you wait until you get there and let them take you through and ask questions?

Chelsea Stephens (43:12):

Yeah. I usually let, I usually wait to, well, there's a couple of things like, um, again, there's a, there's a winery out here that, um, the finger lakes region is very like known for making reasoning, wines, um, Cabernet, Franc and PIR. Like, those are the three grapes that they do well, but then there was this one winery that had like, as Sangiovese, it had a bar, like all these different wines that are like notable in Italy. And I'm like, how the hell? Like, how'd you guys get, like, I know

Orion Borwn (43:42):

Which one of y'all stole the grapes.

Chelsea Stephens (43:43):

Exactly. Exactly. No, seriously. I was like, I know y'all, didn't grow these grapes where y'all get these grapes from. So, um, exactly. So I, uh, I didn't call them, but I was like, we need to go here because they have all these different lines that you can't find anywhere else in the finger lakes region. So we need to go here and we went there and sure enough, I asked them, I was like, okay, so where'd you get these grapes? Cause I know you're not growing them in your vineyards. It's too cold out here. They're not gonna grow. They was like, oh, that's a really good question. Like, you know, we actually get them from California and stuff like that. And I was like, okay. Yes, because you can't grow that out here. I already know. So, so they,

Orion Borwn (44:16):

So they get the grapes, they have the grapes grown in California and then they bring the grapes locally so that they can process it in their own special way to get the, the wine they want.

Chelsea Stephens (44:27):

Exactly.

Orion Borwn (44:28):

Woo look. Some of y'all, some of y'all like, Ooh, what should my next career be? <laugh> winemaker. Get somebody else to grow them. Grapes. <laugh> go ahead. Do your, do your magic later.

Chelsea Stephens (44:40):

Honestly. Yeah. I mean like some people just have wine brands, so like, you know, they don't have to worry about like owning their own vineyard. They just, you know, partner with a couple of vineyards and you know, they produce the grapes and, or the, the wine growers or the winemakers will produce the grapes and make the wine and they bottle it. So, you know, yeah. Anybody can get into wine really. <laugh>

Orion Borwn (45:01):

Right. And you can be, and you can be as pernickety about it as you want to. So mm-hmm <affirmative> I have a beauty brand I'm like, okay, so this needs to, this packaging needs to be just so I was telling y'all earlier, we got some new product packaging coming out and I'm like, mm-hmm, <affirmative>, y'all just need to fix a couple things, cuz it's not, it's not black travel box until it's black travel box mm-hmm <affirmative> but you could do that with wine and get into all of this. Like, do I want it more acidic? Do I want it more sweet? What do I want people to pair with that? What do I want them to associate with the scent? Mm-hmm <affirmative> all of that stuff. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and just make your own little happiness in a bottle. I love it. Exactly. Uh, I love it. I love it. I love it. So what is one thing that you have already maybe researched or thought about that you're looking forward to in this like European trip around wine? Like ha have you already scoped a place that you're like, I need to try this grape or this ner or

Chelsea Stephens (45:58):

I think I wanna try a, okay, so it's not necessarily a wine, but like a wine concoction mm-hmm <affirmative> so I want to try like a, an authentic sangria mm-hmm

Orion Borwn (46:08):

<affirmative> like,

Chelsea Stephens (46:09):

Yes. Yeah. They're Spanish. So I want to try, like what, what, how does Spain make their sangria? And then I would also like, if we do get a chance to go to port, I would like to try, oh, like a true port wine, not no offense to Taylor port, but like, you know, not, not like the commercial ports that we get, like on the shelf or just even like, not even just Taylor port, it's a lot of like ports that whatever port you get from, like the liquor store or wine store, they just, it's just something about them is just not, it's not giving. Um, and there's some fingerless it's

Orion Borwn (46:43):

Giving me prunes. It's giving me dusty. Yes.

Chelsea Stephens (46:47):

And I just like really want to like, you know, be in the DRO valley. I don't know at what vineyard yet, but like, or winery, but just trying different ports because you know, I love that. Yeah. That's, that's just something that I wanna do. <laugh> if I'm lucky for well,

Orion Borwn (47:03):

And you can't know what's good until, you know, what's good. Like until you have that universal comparison. So it's like, I, I had this experience. It clearly was a traumatic experience cuz I told this story so many times, but like I had this experience with bill. I didn't grow up eating VE it's not that exotic mm-hmm <affirmative> but I just didn't grow up eating it. And so the first time I tried it, I was very ill after eating at the restaurant. And I was like, I don't like veal mm-hmm <affirmative> no baby, they couldn't cook <laugh> because you know, years later somebody was like, no, no, no, no, this is so good. You have to try it. You have to try it. And then I went and I'm oh, is it okay? Tender little baby bear. Yes. Uh, but it's one of those things that like, you almost have to know before you try something on the shelf domestically.

Orion Borwn (47:51):

And this even reminds me of tequila, cuz I had experience of going down to Mexico and going to the makers and like the distilleries and drinking tequila all day, which makes me sound like a lush, but it's not nearly as harsh as the people that are here. It has ethanol levels are lower. Like it's just, it's a different situation. And so when you mention that about the port, I'm like you're right. I I've had a couple age ports that I did. Like mm-hmm <affirmative> but it is like sort of acquired taste dish mm-hmm <affirmative> I would love to say who like people who drink this, who made this, who created it? What should, what did they intended to taste like?

Chelsea Stephens (48:29):

Exactly. Yeah. So I, I definitely want to experience like a true, authentic port and I'm, I won't say that I haven't had one, but it's always been like, you know, it's always been shipped here and I've gotten it off the shelf and I would like to just like go some, somewhere in the drill valley and, and just try the different ports that they have.

Orion Borwn (48:53):

Girl, I know you're gonna be coming back with bottles, everywhere, bottles shipped, but I love it. I love it. That sounds so amazing. And you've given us some really great tips. Um, even in, you know, some of my travels, like I went to Croatia and I was like, okay, so you guys make wine here. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be looking for. And I kind of approached it like, well, I'm just gonna enjoy the ambiance, which you can do. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but now I, I have some, some little checklists in my head that I can try to make that experience feel a little bit more curated. So I'm like, yeah, I came, I saw, I tasted, yeah. I maybe brought a few bottles home <laugh> so thank you for educating us. Tell us, tell everybody where we can find you on the Innerwebs.

Chelsea Stephens (49:35):

Yes. Okay. So I do have AAC, I'll be in the TikTok streets. Um, so, um,

Chelsea Stephens (49:42):

My, my handle is at instinct. So that's instinct with a V and just to briefly explain, explain the name if in case, in case it's not clear, instinct just means wine instinct because we all have like an instinct in life that just guides us and the goal is to apply that to wine. So even if you can't like necessarily like pick up on notes and sense and stuff like that, um, typically like if you go to a wine tasting, they're like, this has notes of pair or whatever. Um, like if it, if, if that, if you can't do that, that's fine. It's all about like how to, how do you engage with the wine and what does it remind you of? How does it make you feel, you know, does it take you back to a time when you were a kid? Um, I was just recently drinking a Savon Blanc that smelled like tangerines and it remind me of my school lunch when I was, you know, in the fourth or fifth grade eating the cuties. Like, so like if that's what the wine does for you, let it do that for you. So that's where instinct wine instinct comes from. Um, so yeah, so you, you can find me on TikTok at instinct, instagram@instinct.co. Um, and that's really the main two places. We,

Orion Borwn (50:48):

I love that. I love that. And, and Julia said, do you have an e-course though?

Chelsea Stephens (50:52):

So, okay, so

Orion Borwn (50:53):

I am education.

Chelsea Stephens (50:54):

Yes, I am. I'm working on that right now as I speak, like it's, it's really, yeah, it's really challenging because you know, I I'm the face of the TikTok group, like, you know, our page. So I have to curate content for that constantly. Um, so I'm like, and I'm a PhD student, so I'm like really,

Orion Borwn (51:12):

You just got some stuff going on. Y'all should just doing a light work. It's all like work.

Chelsea Stephens (51:16):

I'm doing a lot. So, but I am working on, uh, creating a, uh, ebook for my, to supplement my wine education stuff. So,

Orion Borwn (51:25):

Ooh, that is awesome. That is awesome. We'll definitely make sure you Chronicle your journeys through Europe. I'll be on the lookout. Mm-hmm <affirmative> seeing that come through y'all's reels and stories and all of that. And heck I would I get some content for you for your course song while you're out there? Um, this was so much fun and I I'm gonna come back to never, ever, ever say, I just have this many staffs. I didn't get a passport until I was 25. Okay. Did not get one. Did I have one was like passport wear and then <laugh>. And now I'm on, I think I'm on country nine 20. I think I'm on country 20. Okay. I mean, I am 40, but like that

Chelsea Stephens (52:05):

Means,

Orion Borwn (52:05):

But a lot of those happen, like in a compressed time. So mm-hmm, <affirmative>, you know, we start somewhere and the other thing is don't knock domestic travel. I always ask about passports, but y'all in the comments. I, all of it. Like, there are some amazing places in the states, especially the finger lakes and upstate New York mm-hmm <affirmative> while I wouldn't recommend the winter time. Uh, it's a little, it's a little bit much.

Chelsea Stephens (52:27):

Exactly. It's one of the

Orion Borwn (52:28):

Most beautiful places in the country I've ever been. Mm-hmm

Chelsea Stephens (52:30):

<affirmative>

Orion Borwn (52:31):

I think I've driven through there and you there's a house. I could, I was shamelessly taking pictures at a person's house cause they had a waterfall in their backyard. <laugh> so for those of y'all don't know, it's like mostly Glen area. It's very Rocky there's cave and things like that. Mm-hmm <affirmative> uh, and it's absolutely gorgeous. And you could pick your own grapes up there cuz they're not Bobby like Napa

Chelsea Stephens (52:51):

<laugh>. Yeah. Yeah. They're they're very like very chill in the finger lakes region. Very.

Orion Borwn (52:57):

I love it. So we gonna have to visit you. We're gonna have to hit you up. We're gonna follow you on the interwebs.

Chelsea Stephens (53:02):

Yes.

Orion Borwn (53:02):

And this has been so good. Thank you so much. You made on Wednesday.

Chelsea Stephens (53:07):

Okay. I'm so glad. I hope. I hope I hope you're mean that. Cause I had a fun time.

Orion Borwn (53:11):

This was so much fun. This was so much fun. And I fully intend to be a, uh, wino on my upcoming journeys. I don't know if they have wine like that, Morocco.

Chelsea Stephens (53:23):

Oh,

Orion Borwn (53:23):

Well I'll be a wino on the flight then <laugh>

Chelsea Stephens (53:27):

We call them? We call them wine warriors, wine warriors. That's what we are. We are wine warriors. Exactly.

Orion Borwn (53:33):

Yes. With the wonder woman outfit on, but we dunno wine. I'm here for it. Oh. With

Chelsea Stephens (53:38):

The glasses, with the glasses and each hand that's

Orion Borwn (53:41):

Girl. Oh that's the logo right there. That's the whole logo. I'll take my 10% off the top and you can have that first. One's free first. One's free. Yeah. Oh my God. You have to come back. This was so much fun. Come back and tell us about all your travels and all your cool stuff. And I wanna hear about what you end up drinking. Okay. And for all of y'all who have been kicking it in the comments I've been reading all of it and y'all have me busting up. I am uh, just so grateful that we get to do this every Wednesday. If you don't know us already follow us black travel box, I was gonna say your thing wrong. <laugh> instinct. Yes. Dot co. Yes. Um, and, and keep up with what we're doing because we're doing it for the culture. We're doing it for our own edification. Mm-hmm <affirmative> right. We can do, we can do a lot of stuff for the culture, but sometimes we just wanna share our passions mm-hmm <affirmative> and find other people that love them too. Mm-hmm <affirmative> so it has been so much fun and I appreciate y'all it's that time. Yes. We're gonna cut out, but thank you so much. Thank everybody.

Chelsea Stephens (54:44):

Goodnight everyone.

Orion Borwn (54:46):

Bye y'all. <laugh>.

Also in Travel & Slay | The BlackTravelBox® Blog