Meet Cole Sisson and his Orcas Project

Are you ready to take a deep dive into the charm, challenges, and incredible creativity bubbling away on Orcas Island? This episode of the Exploring Washington State podcast with special guest Cole Sisson is a true treat. Whether you dream of Pacific Northwest adventures or are passionate about local flavors and culture, you’re in for a compelling ride.

Cole Sisson is what you’d call a renaissance man of the islands—owner of the Doe Bay Wine Company, creator of The Orcas Project, What makes his journey unique is a deep-rooted connection to Orcas Island, which shaped his worldview and his passion for community and craft food and drink.

As Cole explains to Scott, he grew up running wild through the woods of Orcas, homeschooled alongside his siblings and immersed in a creative, close-knit community. The sense of place and the encouragement to “follow your dreams” left a lifelong impact on how Cole lives and works—bringing together his loves of wine, food, people, and the breathtaking landscapes he calls home.

Cole Sisson Orcas Project Episode Transcript

It’s not gonna take a lot of zombies to overrun that shop. Welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. Here’s your host, Scott Cowan. Hey. This is Scott. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Exploring Washington State podcast. Today’s episode is a really fun one for me. I got to have a great conversation with a guy by the name of Cole Sisson.

Scott Cowan [00:00:26]:

Cole is the owner of the Doe Bay Wine Company. He also has a project called the Orcas Project, and he has something coming out this summer called Roots Orcas Island. Can you guess what we’re talking about? Orcas Island, San Juan Islands. Yes. Here we go. Cole grew up on the islands, Has a great story. He he shares a lot of his past and has a lot of fun to listen to. He’s he’s he’s lived a very full life.

Scott Cowan [00:00:53]:

You guys are gonna enjoy this one. I know you will, and I also know that you’ll follow us if you’re not. You’ll subscribe if you’re not. You’re gonna send reviews, and you’re gonna share this with your friends. We appreciate every time that you guys do that for us, and we thank you so much. And without any more of me, let’s listen to Cole. Alright, Cole. Well, welcome to this episode.

Scott Cowan [00:01:16]:

Thanks for being on, and go. Just go. Tell me.

Cole Sisson [00:01:21]:

Let’s let’s do it, Scott, let’s do it. What where should we start?

Scott Cowan [00:01:27]:

Well, let’s talk about where you are today, Right now, and then we’ll navigate meander around. We’re not gonna go in a straight line. That’d be boring. So buckle up. Let’s just go. So what’s happening

Cole Sisson [00:01:40]:

Today. Well, today is a is an exceptionally busy day in the world of young Cole and Marcus. I’m currently on the couch of, My best friend, Shay, at his place, and, earlier today, I was moving in the shop. We were helping some friends find some property. Later today, we’ll meet with our web designer who’s coming up from Seattle with her boyfriend and, have a little fun tonight. In between, I’ll be back and forth at the shop. It’s It’s constantly moving here. There’s a lot of moving pieces.

Cole Sisson [00:02:09]:

And as we mentioned prior, this is a busy time of year. I mean, if we don’t have everything in place on Orcas For the summer season, you know, we can’t get caught with our pants down. I mean, it’s one of those things where I mean, the the gates will open here in a couple of months, and, You know, the the people everywhere say, hey. The zombie apocalypse.

Scott Cowan [00:02:28]:

Right. So you you mentioned Before we hit the button that your shop is currently 440 square feet. Yeah. Yeah. It’s not gonna take a lot of zombies to overrun that shop. I mean, it’s got a square footage

Cole Sisson [00:02:42]:

wise. Man.

Scott Cowan [00:02:43]:

But during the season, what’s it like? I mean, what what’s it like as a retailer during that season?

Cole Sisson [00:02:50]:

Well, it’s exciting. It’s intimidating. It’s challenging. You know? I mean, with a space that size, even with those companies in on the island have larger spaces. Right? I mean, it’s easier to get overflow, but the amount of of tourism here is is is unbelievable, you know, compared to when I was a a kid growing up. I mean, it’s just there’s people everywhere. So for us, have to be really careful. We’re tucked away.

Cole Sisson [00:03:09]:

You have to work a little harder to find us, and that works to our advantage having those spatial constraints. So you kinda have to, like, meander down the alley and and be, like, oh, hey, it’s still wow. It’s tiny. There’s some fattles outside to taste and, you know, I mean, maximum occupancy inside is, like, Twelve people. So, like

Scott Cowan [00:03:27]:

Wow. Alright. So

Cole Sisson [00:03:28]:

But it’s a it’s a special experience. So, like, for me, when setting up the business, when I’m thinking of The labor pool here on the island, I mean, it’s that’s one of the our biggest challenges is there’s just not a lot of people to work. And so one of the reasons this space was so attractive And all spaces I look at, is because it’s small. And from an overhead perspective, but even more importantly, Based on the fact that 1 individual can work it. It’s a little too busy for 1 person and and usually not quite busy enough for 2, But I don’t have to search for a whole team to be in that building. So with our new space that we’re opening later on this summer, that’s a big concern is is How do we fill, the positions?

Scott Cowan [00:04:09]:

Right. And we’ll come back. We’re gonna we’re gonna

Cole Sisson [00:04:10]:

Oh, sure. Sure.

Scott Cowan [00:04:11]:

We’re gonna we’ll teaser. You have to wait, folks. All right. So you grew up on the island. Tell us about what was it like growing up. I mean, come on now. From a touristy standpoint, the San Juans is like one of the preeminent destinations in Washington state to go and hang out. And yet, You and a guest we had on a while ago who runs the, the salt company, you know, you guys grew up there.

Scott Cowan [00:04:38]:

You grew up on this What was it like?

Cole Sisson [00:04:42]:

Well, it it becomes more more more fascinating and surreal and kind of interesting the older I get. Right? Like, growing up on the island, we don’t we don’t know the difference. You know? When I was a when I was young, you know, I there’s, what, 3,000 people on the island and It was very kind of more of that kind of the hippie culture and alternative lifestyle, and orchids demographics have changed a lot over the years. But growing up was super idyllic. I mean, specifically for myself, I grew up in Dobei on the east side of the islands. My parents had moved there in the early seventies at early in the early twenties. And Wow. We had a little piece of acreage.

Cole Sisson [00:05:14]:

We had pygmy goats and chickens and rabbits. And my father built cabinets and, you know, we were homeschooled, My 4 siblings and I so we grew up in the woods. I mean, we were out there and on Orcas. Like, Orcas is a little. Right? And then we get to east side, Dopey, it’s tiny. Then in Mount Pickett, it’s you know, there were it was, it was beautiful for a child to be raised in such a place. I mean, I don’t have children on my own, but I I look at this kind of, Spot as just one of the more magical, so full of creativity and beauty and ideas and kind of a blank slate. A lot of older The older generation always told us to follow our dreams.

Cole Sisson [00:05:53]:

We’re always trying to prompt us to like, you don’t move to orchids to to make money necessarily. You move here for a And I I think that that was something that was kind of, communicated to us from our parents and and the older generation. And, I it created a a a fascinating collection of people, I think, that all started exploring kind of alternative ways to live life.

Scott Cowan [00:06:17]:

So put you on the spot with a question, a very pointed question that you weren’t prepared for. So give us an example of something from your childhood that Now when you look back on it, you’re like, Wow, I can’t imagine that that really did happen. How’s that? What what happened when you were a kid? Was there anything that happened when you were a kid that when you look back on it, you’re like, wow, I wouldn’t have had that if I grew up in

Cole Sisson [00:06:39]:

Seattle. Well, so many come to mind, but I’m gonna be careful here because I don’t know our our audience. Okay. Who’s who’s gonna listen, but there’s a couple, And both take place in Doe Bay, so let’s point 2 out. 1 was the fact that my friends and I, when we were homeschooled, we used to have a little dinghy, just a little skiff, little rowboat On the beach down from our house, and I remember several times going out. But one time we went out when I was very young and we were caught between 2 pods of whales. And so we were out there with no motor, just out there paddling along, and all of a sudden, there were enormous orca whales jumping around us, all over us, coming, breaching the water. And the 3 of us just sat there, like, in the in between, like, they could talk about a dreamlike setting, you know? So, I mean, I don’t think that happens to every small and I think our parents were pretty upset when we got back, and we were like, guess what happened? We were out there, and they were orchestra undressed and jumping over us and you know? And then there was also, like, back in the day, on the other side, Doe Bay Resort was it wasn’t quite the place it is now.

Cole Sisson [00:07:39]:

I mean, the the brother tints have done an incredible job kind of Creating its current iteration, but back in the day, it was more ramshackle. I remember they had, like, a, you know, like, a nudist retreat, and it was like it was like free your willy. Some kind of group of people in our young ages. The parents are like, don’t go down to Doe Bay. Don’t walk down there this week. So, like, Maybe you don’t live 5 minutes away from such a convention. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:08:08]:

That was not part of my childhood. Let’s just put it that way. Okay. Awesome. So I love that. That’s great. See, I love it when we just, like, don’t have a script and we just go. So You well alright.

Cole Sisson [00:08:25]:

I mean, I just That’s awesome. People in the city hear these stories, and it’s like, what? Yeah. Good. Bunch of hippies in the woods, and boy was what was it peaceful? So you

Scott Cowan [00:08:36]:

were homeschooled till to 8th grade, And then you went to local high school there on Orcas Island. Right?

Cole Sisson [00:08:43]:

Yeah. Went to a middle second half of middle school, so 8th grade. And then, high high school at the time had I think it was about 200 students in terms of the total enrollment. So I spent all 4 I was all 4 years here in high school. And that was another, interesting affair. You know? I mean, small community, small town living.

Scott Cowan [00:09:02]:

Right. But then you went to a small college. I mean, the University of Washington is not exactly a big school. So was that was that not just complete, like, Culture shock to you to go from a school of, say, 200 people to probably having a class with that many people in it is a freshman.

Cole Sisson [00:09:21]:

Yeah. I think psych one zero one, my freshman year was, like, 650 students. And it was just like well, this is like a like a 6th of my island, You know?

Scott Cowan [00:09:30]:

Right. Yeah.

Cole Sisson [00:09:32]:

Oh, man. I I don’t know how everyone else does it. I’d love to sit down and compare stories sometimes and kind of narratives of what what happens as a Small community, when you go to a large city. I mean, I was living in the u district. I was 18, and we didn’t we don’t have stoplights on the island. You know? I mean, we run around our you know? I mean, we we come from a world where everything is kinda talk just tolerated and just don’t hurt others and it’s a a world of, you know, there are a lot of fights. There’s not a lot of crime. It’s this It’s this setting.

Cole Sisson [00:09:57]:

It’s like, you get down there and all of a sudden it’s gritty, you know, and all of a sudden you go down in the city. And I’d spent time there my Junior and senior years, we had older friends who moved down there, but, like, it’s huge. I mean, just realizing, I think just how to behave in a real world setting. And I always talk about Orcas and I talk about the real world because I don’t think a lot of us are ready and, understand. And there’s so many the the rules and how the game is played. And I think that that was fascinating to me to be thrown into the dorms with people from all walks of life, other small towns on the peninsula, Eastern Washington, but A lot of kids from Seattle and Tacoma and LA. Mhmm. And, yeah, it was a huge culture shock.

Cole Sisson [00:10:36]:

I hate stoplights and And to this day, I mean, it’s like I come from a world of, like you know? And we just went where we wanted to. We knew exactly how long it would take. And then, you know, as long as you behaved, you didn’t have to deal with any Anyone. So we could get into all the trials and tribulations that my friends and I, overcame, but, it was it was intense.

Scott Cowan [00:10:57]:

Yeah. See, I just I remember a story. I mean, I was 12 And a 12 or 13 and a family friend of ours was just a freshman at U Dub and he said, hey, come on up for a weekend. Oh, okay. My mom and dad are like, Yeah, you go up there for the weekend. And the one major takeaway is You know where Haggett Hall is, Haggett and McMahon? Are they still there? Okay. That was a long time ago. And I don’t know what time.

Scott Cowan [00:11:32]:

We were out doing stuff and it was night. And all of a sudden, you may not know this, well, you probably have heard of the you might not listen to, but like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon was blaring from some window in Haggett Hall. And the the the time where all the clocks are going off and it was like reverberating around, and I’m just like, College is cool. Oh. And I was just like I was like 13. And then I went to Central. I didn’t go to I went to UDub. But, anyway

Cole Sisson [00:12:06]:

That’s funny you should mention that, though. Because first off, when I got to UW, I’m not sure I realized that, you know, that marijuana was illegal coming from Orcas. I think I got down there, and, I actually lived in Haggett Hall my freshman year, but at that time at the University of Washington, they had a 2 smoking floors On campus, 1 in the southern and 1 in the northern half. So I lived on the floor at the University of Washington that was completely legal to smoke on. You were just, mean, the whole floor is filled with cigarette, tobacco, cigar, other smoke of other kinds. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:12:38]:

There’s smoke.

Cole Sisson [00:12:38]:

Back on it now, 18 years old, and I’m like, How did that fly?

Scott Cowan [00:12:43]:

Yeah. It was just, like, college was a very interesting time of my life as well. Yeah. Alright. So but you still didn’t go back to Orcas after after you got out of the u. It looks like you went to

Cole Sisson [00:12:53]:

Europe. Yeah. You know, I I actually took a year off in between my junior and senior years. I was Studying political science, I was studying art history. I was really into, yeah, art history and poli sci. And then I actually studied Arabic for I was Thinking about going into Middle Eastern politics, like, into a world of it was 2002. You know? It seemed like there was a lot of trouble and a lot of there’s just there were just a lot of, didn’t know what I wanted to do. And so Sure.

Cole Sisson [00:13:16]:

I’m studying, you know, Leonardo on one end and, you know, Thomas Paine on the other. And I’m trying to figure out, like, where I wanna be. But there’s you know, I ended up taking a year off. I had some I had some things going on, and I took off and went to Europe for 6 months. So, basically, what happened is I I didn’t I’ve been working in restaurants since I was 14. Mhmm. And I was paying for school that way. And I moved back to work.

Cole Sisson [00:13:44]:

I worked construction. I worked with my dad, made some money, and I just wanted to travel. All I really wanted to do was travel. And so I ended up backpacking around, bought a one way ticket to Europe and spent 6 months over there just backpacking, working in hostels, riding the trains. I was up in Poland, I was down in Czech. I was in Spain. I was I mean, 6 months is a is a grip. So I was there and Bless you.

Cole Sisson [00:14:07]:

I was there and it was, one of those, you know, really really, formative times because I I came back with this appreciation for Not only, kind of cultural interaction and the ability, but how we live and how we share the world. But just Also, that my industry of food and beverage that was just kind of means to an end. I mean, I had done a PR internship. I was working on other like, I wasn’t gonna work at restaurants my whole life. Come on. So I I ended up coming back and being, like, holy crap. You know? We’ve got cheese and charcuterie and beer and cider and all of these opportunities. It changed my life.

Cole Sisson [00:14:42]:

It changed my perspective, and it it gave me a ton of confidence, and it just showed me how rich and deep the world Really is. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. And after that, it was the rabbit hole was I mean, it hadn’t stopped.

Scott Cowan [00:14:57]:

Right. So when you came back, did you did you go back to the U? Did you

Cole Sisson [00:15:02]:

finish up? Yeah. Yeah. I went back to school. I finished up my degree. So Okay. And then, jumped right into I actually, my senior year at UW, I started taking sommelier classes At the same time, congruently with, at South Seattle Community College, there was a a professor there, a teacher named Shane Bjornholm, who at the time was, in charge of the wine program at Candlest Restaurant in Seattle, and he was teaching these, these classes. And so here I was during the day Taking poli sci classes and trying to figure out, you know, what what on earth is going on in Beirut, which I don’t know. I just couldn’t figure it out.

Cole Sisson [00:15:37]:

I don’t you know? And then I had at night, learning about wines of the world and tasting and talking my way with all of these excited students. And it was so much more fascinating to me Then the line of study that I was currently involved in that, once I finished at u dub and then I received my first kind of a level, if you will, of sommelier certification, And that was it for me. It was, you know, full full speed ahead. I was 22 years old. I mean, back in the day, like, at 22, when When you were, like, alright, on the song, well, yeah. People were, like, Because it wasn’t that cool then. It was still, like, what, 2002, 2003. It was, like, way Way before, I’m not sure it’s cool now either.

Cole Sisson [00:16:17]:

But back then, it was I mean, it went through it to wave. It had a it had a wave, but now it’s kinda like, alright. Just don’t be pretentious, and we’ll be cool.

Scott Cowan [00:16:26]:

Right. And that’s and that’s kind of so, you know, you you you ended up at one of the John Howie restaurant. You know?

Cole Sisson [00:16:33]:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I actually moved to Vail first. I moved to Colorado and practiced and kind of I I started with back to high end restaurants there and just, I mean, Vail was a trip coming from Doe Bay. You know? I’m walking people walking through the door and piling like chinchilla coats on me, I couldn’t even see the sommelier anymore because there were so many fur coats on his on his lap, you know. But, like, that was a world of, Really intense privilege and just kind of really fascinating, consumption habits. So I’m sitting there.

Cole Sisson [00:17:01]:

I mean, before, you know, glass of champagne at Thirty, $40 back then, it’s a lot of money. Now it’s a lot of money. But when you’re starting to get into a world of, you know, champagne flights plus Caviar tasting. And before you sit down, you spent $300 and, like, okay. Yeah. So I learned a lot about Kind of the I like fine dining. You know, I’d learned it on orchids in high school with Bruce and Christina Orchid, but it was fascinating to me. I loved Colorado.

Cole Sisson [00:17:28]:

I thought it was an incredible state, but I missed the water. I missed the salt water. I missed Washington so much. Always thought if I lived anywhere else, it would be Colorado, so I wanted to try it. And people were cool. Everything was cool. But at the end of the day, like, The sense of place in the Puget Sound and especially orcas in my family brought me back here, and that’s when I started working for the John Howie Restaurant Group. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:17:53]:

But you didn’t stay there forever.

Cole Sisson [00:17:56]:

I jumped around a lot. I mean

Scott Cowan [00:17:58]:

Yeah. You’ve got you’ve got this this this is a pretty, We’re giving kind of the condensed version here. But you you you ended up in this this not many people have ever heard of, you know, this little place called the Bellagio. How did you how’d you end up how’d you end up at the Bellagio?

Cole Sisson [00:18:17]:

Few wrong turns. No. I’m just kidding. So okay. So John Howie restaurant group. I was working in Bellevue. I was working in Seattle. I was the assistant wine director.

Cole Sisson [00:18:27]:

I worked for Accolade Home. That It’s really great. I went back. I wanted to learn the industry. I really wanted to be a well rounded professional, and I looked at people and I thought to myself, okay. So I have the restaurant background, but I need to learn the rest of the business in order to really understand. So I went and I worked distribution for a period of time or importing a distribution, and then I went to work, with the harvest internship for a winemaker named Bob Betts over in Woodinville. Really accomplished master of wine.

Cole Sisson [00:18:52]:

Like, one of the coolest guys in the industry. So I spent A couple years, one full harvest and another one helping out with him. So I learned how to, like, how to make wine. I learned how to import, how to sell, how to educate. I was back in restaurants working for, RN 74, which is a restaurant in downtown near Pike Place. Michael Mina, chef out of San Francisco. That’s his in one of his flagship restaurants, and, the the group as a whole asked if I would like to well, kind of out of the blue. I love working r n seventy four.

Cole Sisson [00:19:21]:

I was selling high end burgundy and champagne, wearing sports coat and jeans, tennis shoes. I mean, that was the life. Right? Like, I’m a casual guy. Like, To me, I’m still an ex beautiful some of the most incredible wines in the world on my own terms. I’ve you know, I mean, I have to work, have a have a little sip of mezcal. I’ve got friends are out and then the, the VP asked if I wanted to move down to Las Vegas. They needed somebody to run, the wine program with the Bellagio. And it was, like, I’m 32, and it’s, like, the Bellagio.

Cole Sisson [00:19:52]:

Wow. Like, it’s the Bellagio. And, like, I had to, like talk about, like, a stunning like, My GM pulls me into the wine cellar and says, so here’s what these guys are thinking. And it’s like, oh, wow. I mean, Vegas is a tough place for me. I like to have fun. So Vegas is one of those places where for me, I’m very careful about how like, my frequency of of going to Las Vegas, who I’m with, what I mean, that’s it.

Scott Cowan [00:20:14]:

Mhmm.

Cole Sisson [00:20:14]:

It’s Las Vegas. And all of a sudden, it’s like, who is the Bellagio? So I thought about it, and I was like, I went down there. I went to San Francisco. I talked to the group down there just to ask them more. I went to the Bellagio, and I a couple nights down there, like, in the restaurant. Like, I don’t know. I mean, this is pretty intense. Lots of suits.

Cole Sisson [00:20:30]:

I gotta cut my hair. Like, I don’t know. This I don’t know if it’s me, but look, from a professional perspective, I mean, what are you gonna do? I mean, that punches my ticket. Right? I can do whatever after that. So I said, okay, let’s go. I jumped in my Volkswagen GTI with my little brother who’s like, I don’t know, young at the time. Maybe he was the age of the Hope. Okay.

Cole Sisson [00:20:50]:

I met a buddy of mine. We went down there. I ended up, kind of living at the Monte Carlo for a period of time because I didn’t know where to go. I was just kind of so out of the water. And I eventually lived on the Strip between the ARIA and the Cosmopolitan Hotels for ease of access. I thought to myself, I don’t live in Las Vegas. I don’t wanna live in the suburbs. Might as well live on the Strip.

Cole Sisson [00:21:09]:

It was classic classic foolhardy behavior. I mean so I basically put my little suit on, my tie, you know, shaved, and then Shied my shoes, went went to the Bellagio on there. I mean, on the restaurant wine list, we had bottles of wine at $67,000, $47,000 a bottle. I mean, we had a list of pages of wine that was I mean, it was it was it was boggling. I mean, Carlos Santana would be in. We would deal with I mean, it was just like the though. Tonight, we have the Golden State Warriors, and they’ve rented out the So oh, hey. It’s Steph Curry.

Cole Sisson [00:21:43]:

Hey. It’s so hey, Steve Curry. I remember you back in the day with Scottie and Michael. It was so intense. That environment was so intense living on the Strip and working there. Mhmm. But, you know, I made it 2 years. I made it 2 years in Las Vegas, which might be of all my accomplishments.

Cole Sisson [00:22:01]:

I nearly went I nearly lost my mind a couple times, but, it was it was a fascinating study in both professional and personal, growth. Mhmm. And the psychology of that city and those resorts is so fascinating. And to this day, going back and understanding Kind of how things work a little better. Not sure anyone can understand quite how things work there, but, it’s so interesting to be, like, There’s a blip on my journey.

Scott Cowan [00:22:31]:

So gotta ask, did you ever sell one of those $67,000 bottles of

Cole Sisson [00:22:38]:

wine. No. Those are those are pretty inflated pricing even for, like, 1928 Latasha and, like, Old old ERC, that’s still pretty pretty aggressive pricing. I’m not gonna lie. But Okay. A lot of those bottles go to people that, you know, guess we call them the high rollers. I mean, if you lose $1,000,000 on the floor, couple $1,000,000, then, you know, you might want a nice bottle of wine in your plane or, You know, later that evening, and you might accept that. It’s it’s a bizarre world when it when it comes to, what we see there.

Cole Sisson [00:23:09]:

So those most of those bottles, the really expensive ones are comped. I think the only the highest price bottle I sold, like, sold, like, the individual is paying was, like, $18,000, which I mean, that’s

Scott Cowan [00:23:21]:

still a lot of cash, man.

Cole Sisson [00:23:23]:

That’s a lot of cash. Are you kidding? $18,000 for a chunk of, Like, I don’t know. Yeah. That was a world that I still laugh at because I’m not I mean, you see me on the screen. I’m not sure everybody else will, but, like,

Scott Cowan [00:23:35]:

No. No one else is gonna describe he’s he’s wearing a Seattle Mariners baseball cap, old school Mariners cap with a hoodie on. You know, so that’s that’s the guy I’m talking to right now. Okay? He’s not in a suit. I’m wearing a sarcastic T shirt, so I mean, this is we’re we’re pretentious today. I don’t know. I couldn’t I don’t think at any point in my life would I have survived down there, Less less for 2

Cole Sisson [00:24:02]:

years. If I didn’t have my family and also, like, I I met some really incredible people down there. I think that externally, there were some there’s some great people. I have Good. Like, awesome friends on there to this day. They’re really fun professional community. I think internally and I used to go to, like, San Diego drive all night or fly to Mexico City just to relax because it was so intense in Las Vegas that my My, like, my time to just kinda decompress was in some place in Mexico City. Like, that’s how intense it was.

Scott Cowan [00:24:33]:

Okay.

Cole Sisson [00:24:34]:

And it was really yeah. It was a it was a fascinating place, but I also came to appreciate the desert, which we don’t have as much of here in Western Washington. And I I learned a ton about myself. So I think at any point in time in life when you can put yourself in a situation that challenging and that foreign, It forces you to really kind of, to to

Scott Cowan [00:24:59]:

learn. So I’m gonna skip ahead a little bit because there’s still a lot more of your journey, but let’s get you back on the island because that’s what we really wanna talk what you’re doing on the island. So in a very quick recap, how’d you get from Vegas to the island? Don’t say

Cole Sisson [00:25:17]:

it 1. Okay. So quick recap is Vegas. I I I I turned against that world of kind of fine dining and and celebrity chef. I went to work for a family in Spain. Okay? So I took a job as national sales director, working with my friend, Lane Boswell, for a old farming family, dirt on their hands, growing grapes, the real part of winemaking in the wine industry that was attractive to me in Northern Spain. So I traveled all over the country. Okay? So I was back and forth.

Cole Sisson [00:25:43]:

And then I met my ex wife in Philadelphia. We moved back out to Seattle. And at that point in time, I was back home. So I’ve been in Vegas, and now I’m, like, okay. I’m back in Seattle. And so at that, we decided we would basically, move up to the island to go spend the summer on the island. We ended up staying up here. So we basically came back to Orchis just to spend a summer working.

Cole Sisson [00:26:02]:

We kept our place in Ballard. We’re just gonna head up there for a couple months, you know, everything is cool. Great to ground ourselves. And so that’s originally how I got back on the island. We ended up going through a divorce and she moved back to the East Coast, but I stayed. I I looked at the options and thought to myself, okay, do I Do I sell my property and the business? Do I move back to Seattle? Or do I stay up here on Marcus? And at the end of the day, you know, I told somebody this yesterday. At the end of the day, if I move back to Seattle and just start it over, the only thing I would wanna be doing is is making money so that I could buy a piece of land on Marcus so that I could start my own business again. So I ended up kind of buying everything back and I’ve been back on Workish for three and a half years.

Cole Sisson [00:26:48]:

Okay. That’s the abridged version.

Scott Cowan [00:26:50]:

That’s the abridged version, folks. Well, you you came so My social media person, MacKenzie, found I think she found you because of the Orcas project. Yeah. Okay. And she said so she’s Kenzie, who’s my daughter. Just, you know, most people that listen to this will probably know. But so she sends me, hey, this is cool. Check this out.

Scott Cowan [00:27:18]:

And so I’m always, oh, this is cool. Or and so I’m But when she sent me the link she sent me was to a blog post, and I and it and it confused me. So then I reached out to you, and I see the domain, and I’m like so I I got confused. So I did a little bit of research. So I’d like to talk about let’s talk about the Orcas.

Cole Sisson [00:27:41]:

project.

Scott Cowan [00:27:42]:

Okay. What was the What was the inspiration, and what do you hope this turns into?

Cole Sisson [00:27:50]:

Okay. So inspiration. Let’s see. Rewinding back to when I was in Seattle before back to Orcas. I had just finished working for the Spanish winery. Right? Bodegas Oltanion. Okay. And I thought to myself, I wanna have a little project, a little wine project of my own.

Cole Sisson [00:28:05]:

And I thought it would be really fun to work with Spanish Grapes in Washington state. Combining this kind of newfound passion and love of Spain and bring it back here. And and I wanna I don’t wanna I don’t wanna live anywhere else. Like, for me, after Las Vegas and traveling so much. I’m I’m comfortable. This is my home. Here’s my Seattle Mariners hat. Like, my family’s here, my sisters, my brother, my parents.

Cole Sisson [00:28:26]:

Like, this is this is home. It was always home, but Now I’m I’m at a point in my life where I don’t need to continue to explore living in other places. So I ended up contacting a friend of mine whose name is Javier Alfonso, and he’s Actually, a engineer aerospace engineer who’s originally from Spain and makes wine in Woodinville. And I asked if he would do a small project with me where we would work on some Spanish grapes. And, basically, we would put together kind of a local artist. So a woman named Carlin Hayworth, and she would illustrate a label. I liked, You know, this idea of the fantastic mister Fox, the Wes Anderson film, so we created this raccoon that would represent Javier, and then we basically put together a Tempranillo, Graciano and Alberino, a little a little collection of wines. So it was intended to be just kind of a small, like, concept.

Cole Sisson [00:29:12]:

It was really It blossomed after that, after moving back to orcas and realizing that I really wanted to keep my relationships intact With a number of, winemakers in in Washington state, I really wanted to continue to be able to see people in Yakima on the gorge in Walla Walla. And so basically went through and put together, a collection of wine makers and asked friends of mine who made wine if they would also be willing to kinda do these custom projects for us. So the Orcas Project kind of started. There’s a winery called Long Shadows Winery here in Washington state, and they’ve done this It’s very similar concept very well with winemakers from around the world. So I looked at that and thought to myself, that’s a really cool kind of a way to have a diversified portfolio of folio of winemakers who are making different styles of wine. So I looked at that. I looked at the negociant model, which is a model in Europe, All over, I guess, but it it’s utilized in France and Italy quite a bit where winemakers or or individuals who would like to be part of the process can hire winemakers, why not have their own vineyards? They could they could they can blend barrels together. They can contract grapes.

Cole Sisson [00:30:23]:

They can buy finished wine and blend it. It’s a very creative form that allows people that don’t have these estate large palatial tracts of land to still be part of the process. So I looked at that, And then also, I have a love of of Mexico and and Oaxaca, specifically in Mezcal, which we can discuss for hours later. But I I Pull that into where in in in Oaxaca in the area, like, a lot of the, what they call, like, mescaleras, like these these basically, these places you’ll go and and and the Producers in the in the hills and villages will bottle for them and and with their name on the back and they credit. So I combine these different influences. And, Basically, I I I we’ve gone up to 10 different winemakers. And so, basically, each winemaker has a specific kind of, Bottling or or style, and they all are represented by a different animal. And what what I do is is I go around to visit each Each winery and each winemaker, and each year, we put together kind of an idea of what we’d like to do for the project.

Cole Sisson [00:31:25]:

And, they’re very very tiny production and micro production. Lots of them are only 50 cases, 60 case wines and, so it’s it’s a really, really interesting way to kind of, Just present, like, still have my hands in the process, but also still work with friends and Have my own label, if you will. So it become it’s become kind of like this fun way to create orcas artists, Washington state. We work with some Oregon winemakers too, but the bulk of our winemakers in Washington state. And, it’s a really, really cool, really fun. Also a creative outlet. Like, I didn’t intend to be by myself on Orcas Island. You know, for me, it’s like I miss Some to my community outside of the island, and so this gets me off the island and my team as well on a regular basis to go visit The barrel rooms and the tasting rooms, and it’s really dynamic, and it’s it’s it’s really fun.

Scott Cowan [00:32:25]:

So in some cases, you’re only making 50 or 60 cases of wine. That is that is very small. I don’t and I’m I’m on so I I wanna ask this question. So I’m I’m reading this review kind of while we talk and, you know, I’m looking at everything. What’s the what is the pricing range of these of these

Cole Sisson [00:32:45]:

wines? Well, the pricing range, they start in the, make them The low twenties. You know? I mean, we have some some wines that we make a little bit more of, a Chardonnay and a red blend, and I think 23, 25, 21.

Scott Cowan [00:32:59]:

Very approachable price.

Cole Sisson [00:33:01]:

Approachable on that end. They go all the way up to the mid forties. For example, Doug Tannell at Brick House Vineyards in Newburgh, you know, or like a Chris Peterson out of Venia, you know, down in Woodinville. These these guys make some incredible wines for us. So But we try to keep things approachable. You know? We try to create a world we we want everyone to be able to enjoy. There are a lot of wines that are priced high by accomplished winemakers from vineyards that are were recognized internationally. But at the end of the day, part of this project is, You know, I mean, it’s it’s very much work is centered.

Cole Sisson [00:33:35]:

And, it’s, definitely one of those that we try to ensure that It’s not over the top. You know?

Scott Cowan [00:33:43]:

No. It’s those are very, very affordable.

Cole Sisson [00:33:45]:

I’m gonna drop

Scott Cowan [00:33:46]:

them off for

Cole Sisson [00:33:46]:

you soon.

Scott Cowan [00:33:47]:

Okay. I’m gonna put you on the spot. Here’s this I’m gonna I’m gonna ask you to pick your favorite of what you’re doing there. Oh, that’s cool.

Cole Sisson [00:33:54]:

I know.

Scott Cowan [00:33:55]:

I know it is. I know. But I’m not gonna back down on this one. I’m gonna I’m gonna say You gotta as of today, as of this recording, and the the mood that you’re in right now, what would you say?

Cole Sisson [00:34:08]:

The mood that I’m in right now, I would say was spring in the air and I would say a white wine. I see the sun today and I’m debating I’m debating a meal of Buck Bay clams. I think the Grenache Blanc and Roussan blend that we make with a winemaker named Morgan Lee Down in Woodinville, and I think that it’s really pure and fresh, get kind of this white peach on the nose. It has great texture. It’s a beautiful seafood wine. It has a illustration of a crab on the front. Okay. It’s a famous crab.

Cole Sisson [00:34:46]:

And I think as we I drink wine by season. So, I mean, I’m just getting out of the world of, like, darker heavier Syrah, Tabernio, and I’m starting to enter my spring drinking, and then I’ll move to summer. I’ll move to my Summer rhythm soon, but for now, I’m on, like, kind of, like, lighter white. So Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’m gonna go with that final

Scott Cowan [00:35:08]:

answer, Scott. Final answer, but, see, that’s a great answer. That’s because it’s I’m not. I have a non existent palate for wine. Let’s just just call it that. I you know, you could you could set up some tastings for me and go, well, which one do you think is the best wine? And I might pick the, you know, the Franzia that you Slipped in there as a joke. You know, I

Cole Sisson [00:35:31]:

might do the best

Scott Cowan [00:35:32]:

wise. I might do that, you know. But one of the things that I do appreciate about wine is So the people I talked to about wine, which not not that I have an extensive conversation with about wine, but you’re also passionate about it. You’re all great storytellers. You said this is why I’m having this because I’m thinking about having clams for lunch, spring, Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. It’s not just like, yeah, I’m gonna have that. It’s you’re able to articulate that, which I think is which is fabulous.

Cole Sisson [00:36:05]:

I spend the waking hours thinking about what I’m going to eat and what I’m going to drink next

Scott Cowan [00:36:11]:

week. That does not sound like a bad life. That does not sound like a bad life at all. So what’s next for the for the project then? I mean, what what how do you think it’ll look Is what’s is what’s the evolution gonna look like for it?

Cole Sisson [00:36:24]:

That’s a great question. And I think that right now, where I’m going with it is, You know, I mean, I have a a bottle shop on the island too. Right? It’s called Doe Bay Wine Company. It’s in the middle of town. And so Orcas the Orcas Project kinda is It takes the place of our house wine, if you will. We do tasting flights of it. We we sell quite a bit of it through the little taster, which is part of the wine of the of the bottle shop. But I think what I’d like to do in the future is is actually branch out a little further.

Cole Sisson [00:36:50]:

We’ve started shipping quite a few bottles and cases out, just because people will come here in the summer and enjoy a bottle and because the production is so low, it’s not available in any retail shops outside of forklift. And so it becomes one of those things where it’s definitely one of the, something that it’s it’s a treat, I think, and and kind of rite of passage, but it becomes one of those stops, one of those experiences that you enjoy on the island and and I think you, Maybe a lot of people are nostalgic once they return to their homes or their other locations, for that sense of, wow, I remember on the island when we drank Grenache Blanc with Buck Bay Clams. Like, it’s kind of I think we’re gonna split it off though a little bit, and and I’m I’d like to increase production. I would like to Okay. Get to a place where in some of the small Seattle bottle shops or or other bottle shops around the state, you might be able to find, 1 or 2 bottles of from one of these winemakers. And, we’ve looked at planting grapes. You know, we’ve definitely looked, with winemakers at planting grapes on the island and just haven’t haven’t done that yet for a number of reasons, but that could happen in the future. We’re still Land prices are really high here now, so it’s definitely much more challenging than it could have been.

Cole Sisson [00:38:03]:

And we’ve looked at, like, sharecropping. We’ve looked at, like, leasing out someone’s But I don’t know that I wanna farm necessarily. I I think I really like the ease at which going to someone else and, In my older age, I’ve really decided that, letting people specialize in what they’re good at, what they’re passionate about, So letting the grape grower spend all of his time farming these beautiful grapes in the vineyard, letting the winemaker spend all of their time in the cellar tasting and Going through the barrels and the lending and letting myself come in and recognize those people for what they do. And then also having the time and ability on my end to do other things that I’m more passionate about. So I love wine, but I love having a team of collaborators who all specialize in different elements. So stay tuned. I think I think we’re at the capacity for winemakers right now. I I get carried away sometimes and Some of these projects take 2 years from, you know, inception all the way to finished product.

Cole Sisson [00:39:05]:

I’m looking at projects now that are 2 years down the line. And so I’ll get excited, you know, 1 month, you know. Yeah. A little squirrely. Have a little bit too much mezcal in my tiny house and be like, you know what? We should do we should do this. And, so I have to rein myself back in.

Scott Cowan [00:39:24]:

Awesome. I love it. Well, we’re going to pull you in a different direction. Let’s talk about this other project that you’ve got coming up here on the island. How’s that since, you know, you just talked about Moscow in your tiny house? But no. No. That’s that’s not enough. What else you got going on?

Cole Sisson [00:39:42]:

Well, this is, I mean, this is kind of a sneak peek. I don’t know when this will broadcast, but, we’re just when will this? When when will

Scott Cowan [00:39:51]:

Actually, this will go live very certainly, in about 4 days.

Cole Sisson [00:39:55]:

Oh, okay. Okay. Alright. Well, then here we go. Alright. Ready? Welcome, man. So we’re gonna open some my best friend from childhood, I mentioned earlier. That’s where I’m sitting on this couch at the moment.

Cole Sisson [00:40:06]:

But, sheis sassan we grew up together here on the island and You know, he has a similar path to my own. We played baseball. We were homeschooled together, You know, thick as thieves. We graduated high school in the same year. I went to Seattle for school. He went to Southern California for school. And he lived down there for Almost 18 years. So I spent 18 years off the island as as did he.

Cole Sisson [00:40:30]:

And, he married a beautiful wife. He has three 3 girls and he moved back to the island 2, 3 years ago, 2 years ago. And Mhmm. We’ve long during Playing golf and hiking and and discussed possible, like, what what could we do in the future that would be fun? What on orcas can we put together? And so we decided recently, space became available here in New South right in the middle. And, we’re gonna open a wine bar and cafe, and we’re gonna call it Roots Orcas island and, roots to symbolize kind of our deep roots and deep connection to this island and the community and the culture. And, we’re gonna create kind of a cultural hub. We’re gonna do coffee and, toasts and and bowls and and lunch during the day, and then we’re gonna Transition to a wine bar with a kind of a comprehensive cheese and charcuterie program at night. We’re going to have a full commercial kitchen for Guest chefs and winemaker dinners and cooking classes and really just create a a a space where, Our family, our friends, visitors to the island can go.

Cole Sisson [00:41:37]:

It’s it’s a massive undertaking. It’s definitely one of those spaces that that’s really It’s you know what it is? It’s the old grocery store on the island. So where we shop when we were kids, which it was Templin’s, And now our friend, Jacob Linus, and his brother Jason own and run Island Market, which is a is a is a is a large market, but when we were kids, It was in this which is now Ray’s Pharmacy. And so as we’re going through, like, the floor and the ceiling, Shay and I are talking about, like, when we were 6, 7 years old Shopping in this place with our parents. And it’s so rich in history and it’s just one of those places that for us You know, it’s it’s gonna be a really interesting we’re hoping to open in the summer. Our goal is is July 1st right now, but, We’ll see what happens with, you know, the county and the code and contracting and everything,

Scott Cowan [00:42:26]:

but What can go wrong? What can go

Cole Sisson [00:42:28]:

wrong, man? Nothing could go wrong. I thought I was busy, and then we decided couple months ago, like, let’s do this. You know, I was in I was in Mexico, and I agreed to the lease down there. And I was, like, oh, okay. Let’s make it happen. So, it’s going to be awesome. We are we are so excited.

Scott Cowan [00:42:48]:

One thing we we talked about before this episode was your your your current bottle shop is A whopping about 440 square feet. How big is this space this new space gonna be?

Cole Sisson [00:43:03]:

Oh, it’s around 1600, 1700 square feet. It’s, it’s just

Scott Cowan [00:43:07]:

Four four times the size?

Cole Sisson [00:43:08]:

Yeah. Yeah. It’s good size.

Scott Cowan [00:43:09]:

I mean,

Cole Sisson [00:43:09]:

it has it has a patio outside, you know, and it’s going to have it’s I I wish I was I wish I had a video or something, but it’s it’s it’s beautiful. So we’re working with our friend, Christina McFadden Chumas, and she’s helping out with, All the design, and she just, recently was looking for Gensler in Seattle, and then Darlin Gray is helping out with, like, logo, and Matt and Sirbot. Again, the island is actually doing a lot of work with us on He’s opened several restaurants. And so we have, like, assembled this team of of people that whoo. We’re gonna have a, We’re we’re working on, like, window kick Kickstarter campaign. So one of the goals for us is we’ve seen these and we’ve raised, quite a bit of funding already, but, We’re gonna do kind of this cool little Kickstarter for experiences, like, you know, working with Girl Meets Turt, working with some other companies and, like, We’re hoping to get everybody involved. We really want it to be a place where everybody feels comfortable. To a spot where our friends can come back.

Cole Sisson [00:44:07]:

You know, the island is so small and families move away, people get older, but really wanna have a place where anybody who has a connection to the island or or a new or old can can come back and feel comfortable and and also just, you know, it’s it’s important to us. There aren’t enough spaces like that on the island right now, especially not ones that have been Started by, you know, I say natives and, like, people that have been here and understand there are a lot of new businesses and really cool businesses on the island. Like, don’t get me wrong, But there really aren’t a lot that are are being run and started by people that are are from the island, so we’re excited.

Scott Cowan [00:44:42]:

Very cool. So I have to ask because, you know, you you said the magic word for me, which is coffee. Have you guys picked what type of coffee you’re gonna have?

Cole Sisson [00:44:51]:

Please, we open we put a crowdsourcing on Facebook and had, like, a 112 responses. Like, we were curious. We’re gonna we’re gonna inter I know. We’re gonna interview roasters. Gonna go around and, you know, we talked a little bit here, but, like, we’re looking at Northwest kind of roasting companies and trying to figure out But we’re gonna go sit down and taste and talk. But, I mean, please, Scott, what, any any thoughts? I’ll put you on the spot.

Scott Cowan [00:45:14]:

Oh, man. There are so yeah. I mean, I guess I deserve that, don’t I? There are so many good coffee coffee Roasters in Washington state. Not to put it back on you, it depends on kind of what you like. My personal taste is I really kind of like, A darker roast, I’m not a fan. Once again, it’s the lack of palate for that 3rd wave of coffee that people The lighter stuff, there’s some delicious stuff, but my go to is a real cup of mud, if you will. And I drink black coffee.

Cole Sisson [00:45:49]:

It’ll be interesting. There’s

Scott Cowan [00:45:52]:

there, Roast House in Spokane. Okay. They’ve they’ve great Corporate culture. The owner is she’s fabulous. Their signature coffee is called the f bomb. That’s awesome. And it’s Yeah. In fact, our Explore Washington State Coffee, we partnered with them to do our coffee with them.

Scott Cowan [00:46:16]:

They do great stuff. There’s a roaster out of Twisp called Blue Star.

Cole Sisson [00:46:20]:

Oh, somebody else mentioned that.

Scott Cowan [00:46:21]:

Yeah. I like Blue Star’s coffee a lot. And there’s this guy out of Seattle, and I’m feeling bad because I’m drawing a blank who it is, And I can’t think of his name, and I’m I’ll I’ll put it in the show notes below, and I’ll send it to you. Yeah. Yeah. He’s, Yeah. He does great stuff. I mean, now I’ve just totally discounted like 900 other good coffee companies.

Scott Cowan [00:46:49]:

It’s But my earlier in when I’m drinking today is Roast House. So there you go. That’s what that’s what’s in my cupcake.

Cole Sisson [00:46:54]:

It’ll be interesting to see because Shay is back. Like, Shay has a lot of back. He worked for, like, opened Starbucks locations down in California. And also Okay. His family, owned a Very renowned kind of coffee and cookie shop here on the Upwork is called Teasers, and he comes from this family that’s really you know, they were kind of, icons of the island for many, many years. And so for me, I’m Cons of the island for many, many years. And so for me, I’m excited because I’m my my background is more in alcoholic beverages. And so, like, I look at the similarities between tasting coffee and tasting wine and just be a place origin and those style and the cupping experience.

Cole Sisson [00:47:27]:

So for me, like, I’m super super amped To get into a world where I’m really learning more about coffee.

Scott Cowan [00:47:34]:

I don’t know if you need more caffeine, though.

Cole Sisson [00:47:36]:

You you

Scott Cowan [00:47:37]:

you got enough energy. You know, I don’t know about I don’t know, man.

Cole Sisson [00:47:40]:

That’s a good that’s a good

Scott Cowan [00:47:42]:

point. Thanks, Scott. So that’s exciting that you guys are gonna be doing that. And hopefully with the summer launch, that’s that’s Awesome. So, in your copious free time, when you’re not running a bottle shop or the Orcas Project or this roots, the Orcas Island thing, What do you like to do for fun? Tell us something about the island that I’m not going to find. Well, Donk, I’m not asking you to give up any island secrets.

Cole Sisson [00:48:09]:

Get it, Nanny.

Scott Cowan [00:48:11]:

Yeah. Okay. Cool. Like but what is, Like, what’s something that people should go experience that they might not hear about if they just did a quick search for things to do in the San Juans?

Cole Sisson [00:48:22]:

Well, those are island secrets, Scott. I mean, come along now.

Scott Cowan [00:48:25]:

Well, that’s happened something that’s kind of, like, off

Cole Sisson [00:48:27]:

the Let me let me give a softball to you and your Your audience, our audience.

Scott Cowan [00:48:33]:

Yes.

Cole Sisson [00:48:34]:

I think one thing that I’ve really gone into that anybody can do if they know the right Places is, forging for things. Foraging for things. Doesn’t that sound interesting? Kind of ambiguous, like, what are you foraging for? In this instance, mushrooms, I love hunting for, like, oysters and chanterelles and and things like that. There are a lot of really cool, And those who know or learn, Atlanta is a beautiful place. Same as a peninsula, Eastern Washington. They really kind of forage for things. So I’ve had a lot of fun Listening to dark side of the moon while I stumble my way through. I like animals, though.

Cole Sisson [00:49:09]:

Just a little bit darker, like, really, like, Dial, man. Like, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Scott Cowan [00:49:13]:

Like I kinda like Wish You Were Here. But, anyway

Cole Sisson [00:49:15]:

Wish You Were Here is phenomenal too. It’s a little more uplifting and happier, Except for Welcome to the Machine. If we cut that one out and just went with, like, you know I love Pink Floyd. So yeah. So that’s Yeah. That’s one thing. That’s kinda cool. And then I think just the hiking and just the kind of the The ability to kinda soak it in.

Cole Sisson [00:49:35]:

I mean, Turtleback has beautiful vistas, and my mom was right on the southeastern boundary side of Marin State Park. I think that those are those are fascinating places to just kind of to go, and there’s a lot of excitement. I think there’s a lot of things that I don’t know about. I have my ear to the ground here, but I hear about new things every day and new people doing cool things, and there’s just so much excitement up here right now that I mean, I I can’t even the pulse Pulse. It’s it’s all over the place. Right? It’s, kayaking. I think kayaking is really Cool. I think people who could it’s very easy even for the inexperienced individual.

Cole Sisson [00:50:11]:

They can go out and just stay very close to shore with a life jacket. Or if you

Scott Cowan [00:50:15]:

don’t get caught by an an orca pod bouncing around and

Cole Sisson [00:50:19]:

You might they might not be ready for that. But, that’s another activity that you can grab a bottle of wine and some plastic cups. You know, you can get some, you know, fresh Dungeness crab from one of the locations here from the Shellfish Farm. And you can just sit out there. And I love on a summer day, Even at Crescent Beach, you know, for $10, $15 an hour, whatever it is, it’s you sit up there with wine and a friend and, eat some crab and drink some like, it’s just it’s a pleasant experience that I think people just kinda drive by and don’t think about sometimes. But that’s the best happy hour spot down right there On the water.

Scott Cowan [00:50:51]:

There we go. Okay. What about and I’d like to think we’re getting towards The tail end of the pandemic, I’d like to think that life is going to revert back towards more social gatherings and of, you know, more than 2 people at a time. How’s the island music scene? Well Is there a is there a scene up there?

Cole Sisson [00:51:17]:

There has been. There has been historically, there was. When I was younger as a child, there were more local acts and local bands and local, like, You know, the Grange and Oddfellows and there were some really cool local talent. But generationally, it seems to have shifted a bit. And, I mean, being gone for almost 2 decades, even coming back now, it feels like there’s a few more, you know, bands that come to play from other places. I know that Avery Adams is playing great music, and he’s a he’s a talented chef here on the island. I know there’s some great music on the island, and I wish that I had more names to just, you know, our friends Isaac Frosto is making some really cool music with, Okay. He’s doing kind of this hip hop.

Cole Sisson [00:52:01]:

He’s there’s some really cool music, but I wonder what it will be like. I also am curious, You know, as kind of COVID, hopefully, like, dissipates a bit, what that will look like, because I really love the concerts we used to have in the fields. There used to be really, really cool concerts outside in fields, where we’d all kind of drive up and I’m hoping that hoping that comes back.

Scott Cowan [00:52:26]:

Okay. Earlier on, you you mentioned golf. Is there much golf on up there?

Cole Sisson [00:52:37]:

Oh, yeah. We can go up in the woods, and you can hit, like, Happy Gilmore style, like, up in the trees. Basically, see if you guys

Scott Cowan [00:52:44]:

I’m talking about real

Cole Sisson [00:52:45]:

courses now.

Scott Cowan [00:52:46]:

Come on. Sorry. Sorry. So, anyway but let me ask you this question. So in your travels around the state, Is there a golf course that pops to mind that you’d like? Oh, that that’s a fun course?

Cole Sisson [00:52:57]:

Well, you know, I talk a big game as you’ve seen over the last 50 minutes, but I my my golf my My golf is terrible.

Scott Cowan [00:53:04]:

So it’s it’s all good.

Cole Sisson [00:53:05]:

My golf is terrible. Shay and I go out a lot here. There’s a 9 hole course, Works out Okay. That Justin Taylor does a really good job taking care of. Okay. And I like to play with my brother in law’s down in Seattle. We normally just play kind of the municipal courses. It just kind of I don’t have a favorite, but I’m going to.

Cole Sisson [00:53:22]:

If we get back on the show and, like, let’s say, let’s go for 5 years when I’m have a little more time to just kinda relax.

Scott Cowan [00:53:29]:

You say that now. In 5 years, I’ll call you up and you go, well, I’m watching these 6 other things right now.

Cole Sisson [00:53:34]:

No. Everything is rolling now because I wanna be able to Chill in 5 years. That’s the plan, Scott.

Scott Cowan [00:53:38]:

Oh, okay. Good luck

Cole Sisson [00:53:39]:

with that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Scott Cowan [00:53:42]:

There’s a little sarcasm in my voice. No. Okay. All right. So I’m going to all right. So this is I always like to ask people about, you know, coffee is my thing, so I’ll skip coffee because You’re gonna be investigating that, but where I come up to the island for the you know, I just say I hop on the ferry next week, so it’s early spring. Where would be a great place for me to grab lunch?

Cole Sisson [00:54:08]:

Oh, man. There’s a ton of cool places right now, but, I think that the spot that’s attracted my attention is a place called Voyager. There is

Scott Cowan [00:54:19]:

a Okay.

Cole Sisson [00:54:19]:

There is a lunch spot. It’s run by, a husband and wife team, and he used to be the culinary director at, Doe Bay Resort, John Chappelle. And the 2 of them and their team there are you know, they’re putting out sandwiches which kinda lead, But they’re so talented from a culinary background that it’s almost like no matter what they do, they do it well. The thing there, like so many small businesses, they’re just packed because, You know, locals recognize when a good thing happens. And so when somebody’s starting to do that, then all of a sudden, there’s I mean, it’s like the eye of Mordor. You know, and there’s just on them, and it’s just like they keep, like, a traction beam. And so, like, it’s packed, but it’s because they’re doing a really good job. Honest, Good food.

Cole Sisson [00:55:03]:

I think that if people explore their menu a little bit more, they do like a black cod pate. They do clams and seasoned. They’ll do oysters. They do these really cool things. Just come in for, like, their banh mi  and they’re, like, local sandwiches with, like you know, they use local pork. A lot of local ingredients. They have great list of Mhmm. Farms.

Cole Sisson [00:55:20]:

So that would be kind of, like I think they’re tucked away too, kinda close to us. So, like, you kinda have to work a little bit to find them, But that’s

Scott Cowan [00:55:28]:

Mhmm.

Cole Sisson [00:55:28]:

That’s where I would say. And and, you know, and then even once we open, we’re we’re gonna be like, hey. Come see us. Like, you have 2 lunches. So, like, have 1 lunch with us and 1 lunch with them. And

Scott Cowan [00:55:37]:

Great. Well, that’s, you know, that’s the whole thing about going to a place is Like you, you said you spend your time planning where you’re going to eat and drink the next week. You know, kind of that’s my thing too. So I always like to My goal when I travel, which to me seemed like a brilliant idea, but I guess it’s been done way many more times is to never eat somewhere that I can eat when I’m at home. So, it’s easier said than done. But if you’re traveling to a town And you’ve traveled the world, I haven’t done that. But if I’m driving to insert name of town here in Washington, let’s just say I’ll just pick Selah, cool.

Scott Cowan [00:56:18]:

I ran out of town. I I don’t I don’t know whether to eat in Selah. So, you know, It’s always kind of fun to be armed with some ideas like, Oh, if I go to Selah I should go to here versus So, I always like to ask, where’s a great place to go to lunch? Because lunch is pretty casual normally for most of us. And I had this conversation once with a utility company worker and I was on the phone with her And she was in Walla Walla and I asked her, I said, Hey, before we go, where’s a great place to grab lunch on Walla Walla? And she was like, What? I said, well, I gotta come down to Walla Walla, and I’m looking for a great place to go for lunch. She’s like, I think that’s the Strangest question I’ve ever been asked while on this job. I’m, like, okay, cool. And she told me to go to this place called Andre’s Kitchen, which was It was in a gas station and they’re no longer there. They’re no longer in the gas station.

Scott Cowan [00:57:17]:

And they moved they got their own brick and mortar space now. And I don’t think I would have ever tried the food at the gas station without somebody telling me to go there. So, I always like to ask because You know, like Voyager. I don’t know. Maybe I’d go there and walk by and go, I don’t know. I’ll go over here instead, and I’ll end up at the bad place, you know, or wherever because you know, so.

Cole Sisson [00:57:36]:

Yeah. We used to have I used to for a brief period of time, one of my, other business ideas. I wouldn’t call it a failed business, but one of my other things I I bought a Mercedes Sprinter van, like a really nice And I was doing, like, these tours of the island, like, local only tours taking people to, like Yeah. Local producers into farms and having, like, picnics and, like, all these It was cool, but, it was a lot of work. So, Voyager is easy. And then, you know, Buck Bay shellfish farm is kind of like It’s crazy these days because it’s so popular. But the reason it’s so popular is because you sit outside, you crack oysters, clams, fresh crab and Eat, drink some wine and, you know, orcas is exciting. The islands are exciting, but those are definitely spots that I would go.

Scott Cowan [00:58:20]:

K. So as we wrap this up, 2 things for you. First off, why don’t you tell everyone where they can find you online?

Cole Sisson [00:58:28]:

You can Let’s start with that. Okay. Which which website should we start with?

Scott Cowan [00:58:32]:

You can Go go that’s up to you. You get some insights.

Cole Sisson [00:58:35]:

So basically, Doe Bay Wine Company dot com. .Com isn’t active yet, but it will be soon, in which case you can visit that. You can also check out Instagram pages. We’re very active on Instagram at At The Orcas Project and at Doe Bay Wine Company. And, yeah, you can find us.

Scott Cowan [00:58:59]:

Awesome. Alright. So the last thing then is what do you wanna leave our guest with? Tell them, you know, you get the final say. Final word.

Cole Sisson [00:59:08]:

Okay. Well, I hope that you love exploring Washington state as much as we do, and this guy, Scott, is a hoot. So let me tell you. No. We would love

Scott Cowan [00:59:18]:

checks in the mail.

Cole Sisson [00:59:18]:

We would love for you to visit us on the island. Please be respectful. I think that we’ve had a lot of tourism in the last couple of years, and it It’s, grown to the point where as locals, you know, it is overwhelming sometimes for us. So although we welcome you to the island, we ask that you respect, especially In a time like now with, the current climate and and COVID and realize that we have a older population. And so that no matter when you go, we’re fiercely protective of our island. So Please please visit. Please, as you would respect any local spot. Sometimes people forget that on vacation, but I think it’s extremely important.

Cole Sisson [00:59:53]:

And, we’ll be happy to help those who ask us questions and and who take the time to get to know us. But I do think that’s really important. And, yeah, Explore the whole state. Explore all the areas because the islands get a ton of attention right now. We have a ton of press, but there are so many cool little places around the state that I go to when I leave the island, and I think that’s important too, from a personal professional. Last thing, It’s an exciting time for food and wine and beverages, and we’re not the only company up here. There are a lot of other people in the islands doing extremely exciting things. So you can always reach out to us and we’re happy to to point you in in a direction.

Cole Sisson [01:00:29]:

And, thank you for tuning in today. And thank you, Scott, very much for having us.

Scott Cowan [01:00:34]:

Thank you, Cole. That was That’s awesome. Thanks so much. Join us next time for another episode of the exploring Washington State podcast.