Meet Ryan Espi | Co-Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ryan Espi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
First Light Coffee Whiskey began as a class project at SDSU. My Co-Founder, cousin, and fellow SDSU Alum, David Elizondo, came to me with a spirits concept in late 2019.

At the time I was working (and admittedly partying) late nights in the startup world while chasing dawn patrol surf sessions in the early morning. I found myself often being fueled by coffee in the mornings and whiskey at night…

We decided to take that mentality of choosing adventure and celebrating life’s best moments and mix it with two of the world’s most celebrated beverages, coffee & whiskey.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
First Light represents the start of a new day and the begining of new adventures.

Unlike most of the flavored spirits on the market, First Light Coffee Whiskey doesn’t use any artificial sweeteners and is naturally vegan and gluten-free.

We combine American whiskey with real coffee extract and organic agave nectar to create a whiskey unlike anything you’ve ever tasted.

We’ve been on the market for just over two years, and our trajectory keeps increasing. The spirits industry is extremely capital intensive and competition is stiff. If you look on any given bar, most of the brands are represented by a few large companies.

This presented a multitude of challenges that our team had to overcome to get recognized being a local family owned brand.

My advice, be scrappy, be resilient, and build relationships.

When your in a market dominated by companies with some of the largest bankrolls in any industry, you’re not going to make it if you try to compete directly.

Lean into the strength of your team and your product differentiation to make a splash you own way. Treat people as people, not business deals. Get to know who you’re working with and who’s selling and buying your product. Care about them, ask them questions, make friends first, do business second.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love this question!

First thing we do is wake up at First Light, grab some coffee and hike down the HCM trail down to blacks beach. Here we’ll catch some waves before heading up to the brand new Breakfast Republic in La Jolla for some great eats and an Ube Latte with a shot of First Light Coffee Whiskey.

From here, assuming we’re having a sunny day, we’ll head down to OB for a relaxing few hours at an undisclosed beach near Sunset Cliffs.

We’ll pop over to Tahona bar for a couple cocktails… *pro tip* ask about the speakeasy in the back! After that we’ll walk down the street to Harney Sushi, one of my favorite sushi vibes in the city, for night-time eats.

If we’re still energized and looking for some dancing, we can pop into Revel Revel, Spin, BangBang, or one of the many house music venues in the city.

You thought we were done…? Oh no, we saved the best for last and close the night out at my long-time favorite bar, Aero Club. Shot’s of First Light for everyone. Who’s coming with me?

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a shout out to the SDSU community, the San Diego distillers community, and my close friends and family.

None of what I have achieved would have been possible without the love, support and mentorship from key members of each of these incredible groups.

Website: https://www.firstlightwhiskey.com/

Instagram: @firstlightwhiskey

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanespi/