May 3, 2023 • 22 mins
Get ready for a wonderful interview with Mrs. Georgia Kurre, the owner of Hampstead Oils and Vinegars on Highway 17 in Hampstead, North Carolina. We'll be talking to her about her delicious products, her beautiful gift packaging, her special events and recipes, as well as how she landed in Hampstead selling something she absolutely loves...and you will too! You'll even get a sample of her banjo playing.
Hampstead Oils & Vinegars
Oak Tree Center
16717 US Hwy 17, Ste 204
Hampstead, NC 28443
Website: HampsteadOils.com
Email: HampsteadOils@gmail.com
Phone: (910) 821-1373
Store Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday: 10am - 6pm
Sunday - Monday: Closed
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Episode Transcript
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Christa (00:04):
This is Topsail Insider and my name is Christa.
Join me as I travel aroundGreater Topsail interviewing the
fabulous business owners in ourbeautiful beach towns.
Locals absolutely need to hearabout the new restaurants and
the shops that are popping upeverywhere, and those folks
considering relocating to theTopsail area, well listen up and
(00:25):
find out what's available beforemaking the big move.
And anyone vacationing here?
You'll find that we have manyactivities to enjoy beyond our
beautiful beaches.
Let's do this.
Coming up, get ready for awonderful interview with Ms.
Georgia Kurre the owner ofHampstead Oils and Vinegars on
(00:48):
Highway 17 in Hampstead, NorthCarolina.
We'll be talking to her abouther delicious products, her
beautiful gift packaging, herspecial events and recipes, as
well as how she landed inHampstead selling something she
absolutely loves and you willtoo.
You'll even get a sample of herbanjo playing.
(01:13):
All right.
You ready?
Georgia (01:13):
Yeah.
Christa (01:14):
Let's just go for it.
Georgia (01:16):
Might as well jump in.
Christa (01:24):
Hi everyone.
Welcome to the very firstepisode of Topsail Insider.
My name is Christa and I am yourhost.
Today we are sitting withGeorgia and speaking to her
about her store, Hampstead Oilsand Vinegars Thank you very much
Georgia.
You are very welcome.
How are you feeling?
Georgia (01:41):
I'm feeling good.
Christa (01:42):
Awesome.
Okay, full disclosure, I workabout three or four doors down
from Georgia's store.
And I had this big idea, I'mgonna do this podcast, and I was
getting so excited about it.
And then right before it's timeto take those first steps to
start booking the interviews anddoing the actual work.
That fear hit me and just satthere overnight.
(02:04):
And then the next morning I wasjust racked.
I don't know that I can do this.
What am I doing?
What are you thinking?
And then I went to work and whenI left work, I looked over at
Georgia's store.
And there was the open sign, Istuck my head in the door.
I'm like, Georgia, doing apodcast.
Will you please be my firstguest?
And she's yep, I'm in.
I'm an open book.
Georgia (02:24):
I am too.
Christa (02:25):
So obviously your oils and vinegars, I wanna hear a
little bit about your oils andvinegars and like how many is
it?
Is it flavors?
Is it infusions?
Georgia (02:34):
So it is, I think I have about 43 or 44 right now.
I am terrible about seeing newthings and wanting to get them
immediately, so I trade thingsout pretty often.
We just added a new one thisweek.
They come from all over theworld.
They are infused, and fused.
(02:55):
Infused confuses peoplesometimes because it is a very
rare process.
You can only do it in veryspecific circumstances.
And what they do is theyactually take, so for example,
the blood orange is a fused oil.
So they take the oranges, theytake the olives, they crush them
at the exact same time.
Which really gets the flavorinto the oil.
(03:19):
And then, It has that reallygood flavor and it doesn't
happen often.
Most of the oils and vinegarsare gonna be infused where they
take usually essence ofsomething and put it in the
oils, and then that flavors theoils.
So I have those and then I have.
A few high quality non-flavoredoils and non-flavored vinegars
(03:41):
for people who are not lookingfor that.
I have some customers thatactually take some of the oils
as medicine.
So they'll take a yes.
They'll take like a tea.
Some of'em take like a teaspoonof it or a couple teaspoons.
Some of'em take a coupletablespoons.
Which
Christa (03:55):
ones.
Georgia (03:56):
are these?
So they're the high qualitynon-flavored oils.
They track their bio phenols andthe squalene and the vitamin E
and it's all on placards on theoils and you, the higher, the
better.
So there's been studies thathave come out that you show that
the antioxidants help withcancer, the squalene helps with
Alzheimer's, and then thevitamin E Of course, we all know
(04:18):
the benefits of that.
So those studies are coming out.
Pretty regularly and people areeducated on that and they come
in asking for those things.
Christa (04:28):
I had no idea.
Georgia (04:29):
Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it?
I
Christa (04:30):
love that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Super interesting.
And what part of the world areyou getting your oils from?
Georgia (04:35):
So all over the world, most of them come from Italy.
I would say 80%.
A lot of the fused oils comefrom Tunisia, and my company
actually goes all over the worldto get those high quality
non-flavored oils.
Right now I have one from Spain,one from Peru, one from Chile,
but they go everywhere.
They go to South Africa, they goto Australia.
(04:57):
There's even some out of Swedenand Albania, and they work
directly with the growers.
They go, they test it, they runall these chemical panels on it.
They're very serious about it.
They put'em into competitions.
They win a lot of competitions.
Christa (05:11):
That's so cool.
Georgia (05:12):
I'm really terrible about advertising that.
They send us videos andpictures.
They're like, we've got thislovely oil.
Look at this, and they'll showus videos of them crushing it.
They're.
They're in it to win it.
They're serious about
Christa (05:24):
it.
Yeah, I would, you should putthat stuff on your Facebook
page.
I would love to see that.
I.
Georgia (05:28):
when I figure that out, I will do it.
Christa (05:30):
I understand completely.
And what about your vinegars?
Georgia (05:34):
So same most of them come from Italy.
They're done in the Modernamethod, which is an Italian
method for making vinegars.
So I have white vinegars, I havedark vinegars.
The difference is the darkvinegars.
are Cooked in a copper kettle,and then they're aged for a
certain amount of time.
And the white vinegars, it usesa white grape must, which is a
(05:55):
part of the grapes, and theydon't cook'em.
So your white vinegars are gonnabe tartar fresher, and then the
dark vinegars are gonna havedeeper flavors, even sweeter
flavors than the white vinegars.
Christa (06:07):
My favorite I'm sure everyone has their favorites.
I just love a straighttraditional balsamic vinegar.
And if it's an aged balsamic,it's got that extra sweetness.
I love it so much.
Yes.
Georgia (06:17):
have the 18 year age.
You can get older ones, but theystart getting really expensive
and I'm trying to make sure thatI keep my quality high and my
prices is low.
Christa (06:27):
Good.
Good.
We appreciate that.
Yes, thank Okay, so one of myfavorite things in your store is
actually not an oil or avinegar, It's your salt,
specifically your truffle salt,I can make the frozen french
fries.
For my kids.
I pull mine off to the side
Georgia (06:46):
special, pile,
Christa (06:47):
and I feel like I'm in a five star restaurant.
Like That
Georgia (06:50):
is amazing.
And I tell people, I'm like, anygreen vegetable, you put that on
the end of any green vegetableand it really just adds
something extra to it.
It tastes really good.
Christa (07:01):
So what other flavors are there?
Because I haven't focused on anyof the other ones yet.
Georgia (07:05):
So there's fire salt, which actually does not have any
salt in it.
I actually have people thatcannot eat salt that come in and
buy that flavoring for theirfood.
So it's spicy.
Then I have a shashimitogarashi, which is a very spicy
seasoning that people.
Tend to put on Asian dishes.
My son especially puts it onramen.
He loves ramen.
He's all about the ramen bowls,so he'll put that on there.
(07:27):
I have a hickory smoked saltalso very delicious, which is
self-explanatory.
More like a barbecue kind offlavor.
And then I have a garlic breadseasoning that is, I describe it
to people as when you come outof a restaurant and you have the
garlic breath, like you arelike, I need to go home and
brush my teeth.
I have garlic Yeah.
That's that.
(07:47):
have that here.
And I use that very sparingly.
A little bit goes a long way.
Christa (07:52):
I just got my boys used to having I put a little garlic
in on my butter bread and theyjust starting to fall in love
with that.
So I might have to take some ofthat home today and give it a
whirl, but I will be, go easy on'em for sure.
Yeah.
Georgia (08:03):
Start slow.
Christa (08:03):
now.
Do you have rubs or I wasconfusing that with the salts.
Georgia (08:07):
I do not have rubs.
I have jams, jellies, andmustards.
Christa (08:10):
know about those.
Let's hear about those.
Georgia (08:12):
they're mostly spicy jellies, because I like spicy
jellies.
I do have a couple that are, Ihave a bourbon pecan blueberry
that's not spicy.
Yeah, they're just like theones, you throw on the cream
cheese and everybody enjoy.
And then I have, One that's ahot bacon jelly.
And people had, somebody told methat, put that on hamburgers is
delicious.
(08:32):
And I would've never thoughtthat.
Christa (08:34):
I would never have thought about that either.
And the mustards,
Georgia (08:36):
yes, I have mustard, like a dill pickle, mustard.
I think I have a raspberrymustard.
There's three or four differentkinds of mustards that, some
people just love mustards.
Christa (08:45):
my husband's one of those.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Georgia (08:47):
Try to have a little bit of everything.
Christa (08:48):
So this weekend you had one of your sample Saturdays.
And you served the little thecheesecakes?
Yes.
The mini cheesecakes.
That was raspberry.
Yes.
Was it Yes,
Georgia (08:57):
It was the new dark raspberry vinegar.
Christa (09:00):
I wanna try that before I leave today as
Georgia (09:01):
Yes.
Okay.
It's good.
It's a good one.
Christa (09:04):
Okay.
I also, and this is how I firstmet you, was my boss sent me
over here to buy Christmas giftsFor their employees.
The, the packaging here is soclassy and so well done, and I.
And you can get the medium sizebottles or you, I like your
sample packet where we can mixthe salts and give people a gift
(09:24):
like that.
I think We used those and putthem in our gift baskets for our
district managers it was sogreat.
But I think what impressed methe most on that very first time
was you gave me a recipe toinclude with the oil and vinegar
that I chose for them.
And I just thought that was thecoolest thing.
So I think if I go to a partyand I wanna be guaranteed that
(09:46):
I'm gonna be invited againlater, I'm showing up for that
stuff as my hostess gift.
This is my new place.
If I'm going to a party, I'mcoming to Georgia's place first.
And get set up.
Okay.
Yes.
Georgia (09:58):
So I tried to be really thoughtful about.
The packaging.
I try to be really thoughtfulabout all of that because I try
not to have things that go inthe trash and I try to buy
biodegradable things.
I, but I try to buy qualitythings.
The packaging, a lot of it comesfrom Italy.
They're actually grappa bottleboxes that are coming from
(10:20):
Italy.
But I buy them from a man outtaMinnesota.
He imports them into Minnesotaand then I get them from him.
Christa (10:25):
I know too that these recipes that I'm referring to
for the oils and vinegars andsuch you can find those recipes.
You'll probably get a recipehere if you come to her sample
Saturdays,
Georgia (10:37):
Yes, I actually make a little booklet.
I try to make four things eachsample Saturday, two dishes, two
drinks, one alcoholic, onenon-alcoholic.
And I try to make a littlebooklet of all the recipes and
hand them out
Christa (10:48):
Oh, that's wonderful.
Georgia (10:49):
em.
I can give you one today.
Christa (10:51):
those
Georgia (10:51):
too.
Yes,
Christa (10:52):
there are perks to doing this.
Okay.
And I know that I did see somerecipes on your website.
So I know that some are listedthere and also Facebook page, so
be sure to find Hampstead Oiland Vinegars on Facebook as
well.
You were not, you're not fromHampstead?
Okay.
So I wanna find out what got youhere.
(11:12):
I wanna know where you were bornand raised and your little bit
of history there, but how didyou end up in Hampstead and how
did you end up doing oils andvinegars?
What led you here?
Georgia (11:22):
Okay.
Long story short, so I'moriginally from Tennessee.
The hills of Tennessee.
I met my husband.
He was living in Charleston.
I was living in Chattanooga.
He was there for SWAT teamtraining.
He was a policeman outside ofCharleston.
So we dated long distance for ayear and then I moved to
Charleston and lived there for,I think I was there for four
(11:43):
years.
And he got hired on with theNavy and our first duty station
was, where we were.
So 17 years ago, our first dutystation was here and he is an
ocean person.
Like his happy place is thewater.
And he always wanted to comeback here, so we.
Christa (12:03):
moved
Georgia (12:04):
And lived a lot of places as you do with the
military.
And the plan was always to comeback here.
He retires in two years.
Our oldest was starting highschool.
Our youngest is starting middleschool.
It was time to get somewhere andstay somewhere.
Christa (12:17):
Get your roots down.
Yes.
Yeah.
Georgia (12:18):
And so he always, we came back to Hampstead, we
moved.
The summer of 2020 wheneverything was in lockdown.
we got our orders the weekendthat they shut down everything
and they said, but you're stillmoving.
We said, but how are we gonnamove?
They said you just gonna have tofigure it out.
You don't get to travel.
You don't get to do a househunting trip.
(12:39):
Just figure it out.
So we bought our house over the
Christa (12:42):
internet.
Georgia (12:43):
our realtor did a FaceTime and we walked around
and that's how we bought
Christa (12:47):
our house.
Georgia (12:47):
Georgia.
I'm not even kidding you.
So That's frightening.
I guess it was, but it's turnedout good.
So we, my parents live with us,so we had, the biggest thing is
always accommodate my parents.
So there was a place for them atthis house they're still, active
and, but they need us close,Yes.
So they're right next door.
(13:08):
A lot of things can beoverlooked if we're
accommodating everyone.
So we bought.
And we came here, and then Istarted looking for a job and I
could not get a job.
And I know everybody sayseverybody's hiring.
Nobody was hiring when I was fora No.
Christa (13:23):
that time it it was different.
Georgia (13:24):
It was, and I couldn't even get anybody to call me.
Christa (13:26):
Were you looking just here in, in
Georgia (13:29):
I was looking here Wilmington,
Christa (13:31):
Oh, you were going down to Wilmington
Georgia (13:32):
yes.
Oh yes.
And so my, because we've movedso much, I have a very weird job
history.
I've done a lot of things I'vebeen a software project
coordinator.
I've worked for a lawyer, I'veworked for a school district.
Every time we would move, Iwould do something different.
So I I understand that my,
Christa (13:49):
you're well rounded.
Georgia (13:50):
right?
And my resume.
Weird,
Christa (13:52):
well-rounded.
Georgia (13:54):
So I told my husband, I said, I am and to go back a
little bit, when our last dutystation was Mississippi, we
lived in this tiny little townin Mississippi called Pass
Christian.
Outside of New Orleans.
About an hour.
And they had one of these storesin the town.
And I loved it.
And I would go every month and Iwould spend a little money and I
would get myselfe something newand we would, make things with
(14:17):
it.
And I loved it.
For me, it was a blast.
And so I, when we moved here, Iwas like, I'll be fine.
They'll have something.
It's a big city, it's fine.
And there was nothing.
And so I told my husband, Isaid, I think I'm gonna open a
store.
And he said, what you're doingwhat?
I said, I think I am.
He said, okay, I'll help you.
And so I talked to some friendswho have their own businesses.
(14:40):
I was thinking about that whenyou were talking about this
earlier.
The doubt.
And I definitely called thosepeople many times and said, am I
thinking about this the rightway?
Am I doing this the right way?
And got lots of feedback becauseit is scary.
It's very scary.
Christa (14:56):
It is.
You're obviously investing moneythat's clear, but it's your time
and all of your And your familyhas to go along with you and it
takes, a lot of energy fromeverybody involved.
Yes.
And you put forth a lot ofeffort and You just hope and you
pray that it's gonna go the waythat you have this vision in
your head.
And so has it gone you Yes.
Georgia (15:18):
So it's going, I feel like it's going really well.
I like, I'm very lucky, myfamily's very supportive.
You'll see my kids up herehelping me out on breaks.
My husband comes up here, Godbless them, and changes light
bulbs for me and builds thingsfor me, and so they're very
supportive and it's going reallywell.
I think people here like to eatwell.
(15:39):
They like to try to be healthy.
They have active lifestyles andI feel like they come to see me
to help with that.
Christa (15:46):
So you guys are fully settled here in Hampstead?
It's done,
Georgia (15:49):
yes.
I'm not moving again.
Okay.
He gets itchy feet but I figureif I have a store, It's gonna be
really hard to pick up and moveagain.
That's right.
That's right.
Christa (15:58):
You've taken that big step and you've opened this.
So what would you say has beenthe biggest challenge you've met
so far
Georgia (16:06):
so I don't know what, I don't know.
I just make it up as I go Soevery day is really truly an
adventure.
The the doubt is hard.
Like you doubt yourself in themiddle of the night.
You wake up and you're like, amI doing the right thing?
Christa (16:21):
You've obviously, there's always gonna be
challenges, but what would yousay are some of the biggest
surprises and the reward.
That you've had so far withHampstead oils and vinegars.
Georgia (16:31):
So meeting people has been delightful.
my experience with the people ofHampstead is they're friendly.
They love to talk.
They're from lots of differentplaces.
Yes, the local people aredelightful and fun, but then
there's people from other partsof the country who also who have
lived other places that have hadthese stores And so they come in
(16:52):
excited.
Do you have this flavor?
Do you have that flavor?
Yeah.
They're excited that you'rehere, which I find so much fun.
And then just they share lots ofinformation with me and they
share recipes with me Nice.
and for me.
I told my husband, I said Iwanted, when I was trying to
figure out what I was going todo, I said, I.
want to Sell something that Ilove I want to chitty chat with
(17:13):
people.
You're doing that.
That's what I'm doing.
You're doing it
Christa (17:18):
so many different levels.
Okay, so in Tennessee, is thatwhere you learned how to play
the banjo?
Georgia (17:29):
No, but that is where I fell in love with the banjo,
because where I grew up inTennessee, they had something
called the Mountain Opry, it wasup on top of a mountain was on
Saturday nights and for I thinkcouple dollars you could go in
there and the local people wouldcome in and play.
and there was always people inthere playing the banjo.
(17:51):
And I was Fascinated.
Oh yes.
Always.
And so as when we lived inMississippi, my husband bought
me a banjo and banjo lessonsbecause there was a man there
that had a thing called theBluegrass Cabin.
he started teach me.
So I started learning maybeabout five years ago.
Christa (18:09):
What?
Georgia (18:10):
yes, about five years ago.
Christa (18:12):
Okay.
Because I do work, a coupledoors down from you.
Sure.
Sometimes I can walk out the.
And I just, I hear this musicfill the air and it's just so
nice because that's notsomething you're used to
hearing.
And you're just kicking back infront of your store, playing the
banjo in the middle of the day.
It's lovely.
(18:35):
So I'm gonna have you draw acard, Now these cards have
nothing to do with business,
They're called talking pointcards, and I use'em around the
dinner table with my kids
Okay, so go ahead and pick a card and read that
question and give me youranswer.
Georgia (18:49):
Okay.
Let's see what we again, what doyou wish you had more time for?
Christa (18:55):
Let's hear it.
Georgia (18:57):
I wish I had more time to not have something scheduled.
I wish I had just.
more Of Downtime because I don'tknow about you, but every single
minute it seems like of my daysget completely scheduled up.
And it would be nice to justhave a little
Christa (19:13):
little bit more time where it's just free time that I
can do what I want and not whatI need to do.
Georgia (19:18):
A hundred percent.
A hundred
Christa (19:20):
percent agree with you.
Georgia (19:22):
Maybe I just wanna take the dog for a walk and I or and
just go down and sit by thewater the beach.
And there's not a lot of, and Iknow, and I say this to my
husband a lot, I say it's goingto, our kids are gonna be gone
and we're gonna have all thetime in the world and the house
is gonna be so quiet.
And it's coming before we knowit.
Yeah.
And so we should this while wehave it.
(19:43):
But I really would just like tobe able.
I have nothing on the agenda.
Christa (19:48):
Thank you for doing that.
Absolutely.
Okay.
Before we go, I wanted to findout if you have any upcoming
events or any specials thatyou're running that our
listeners need to know about.
Georgia (19:58):
So I am trying, I try to do sample Saturdays.
I try to do at least one everycouple of months.
I always advertise them.
I do.
Corporate events and privateevents.
And so if people are interestedin that, all they have to do is
call.
I actually have one coming upnext week.
Tell me about those.
What is that like?
So the few that I've done, threeso far, and what I do is I
(20:21):
provide food two dishes twoDrinks with the recipes.
And then they also get twobottles two small bottles of oil
or vinegar, oil, whatever youwant.
You can pick whichever two.
You.
Okay.
You do.
And that's usually about$35 perperson.
it lasts a couple of hours.
People can come in, try things,have some dishes, talk and enjoy
(20:43):
themselves.
Christa (20:44):
Oh, they come right here to the store.
Georgia (20:45):
here to the store.
Yes.
Yes.
Christa (20:48):
Any specials?
Georgia (20:49):
Yes.
If people will like and sharethe podcast up until May the
13th, you can come in and showme that you've liked and shared
the podcast on Facebook, I'mhappy to give whoever that is,
10% off of whatever they decideto buy from the
Christa (21:04):
store.
I love it.
Thank you so
Georgia (21:06):
much, Yes, you're very welcome.
Christa (21:09):
It's been so nice talking to you.
You're so wonderful.
You're And you made my firstpodcast the best.
And I just wanna thank you fromthe bottom of my heart.
Georgia (21:17):
Oh, you're welcome.
I'm happy to do it.
Christa (21:18):
I do wanna talk about the details real quick.
Hampstead Oils and Vinegars,it's located in the Oak Tree
Center.
It's at 16 717, US Highway 17,and Georgia is in suite two oh
four.
Her phone number is(910)821-1373.
You can also reach her via emailat Hampstead oils gmail.com, and
(21:42):
your website is Hampsteadoils.com If you can't get this
written down, then just look inmy podcast notes and I'll have
it there for you.
So thank you so much for joiningus today.
I hope you come back for moreand thank you again, Georgia,
for being my very first podcastinterview.
You're welcome.
Thanks for asking me.
Hey, thank you for joining metoday on Topsail Insider.
(22:03):
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And if you're a business ownerand you wish to set up a
pre-interview or you want toadvertise, please email me at
topsailinsider@gmail.com.
(22:23):
Please also find, and like theTopsail Insider Facebook page, I
provide links to the new podcastthere each week, as well as
providing photos of thebusinesses that I'm highlighting
along with any of their upcomingevents.
So, hey, let's do this againnext week.
I'll see you around Topsail
This is Topsail Insider and my name is Christa.
Join me as I travel aroundGreater Topsail interviewing the
fabulous business owners in ourbeautiful beach towns.
Locals absolutely need to hearabout the new restaurants and
the shops that are popping upeverywhere, and those folks
considering relocating to theTopsail area, well listen up and
(00:25):
find out what's available beforemaking the big move.
And anyone vacationing here?
You'll find that we have manyactivities to enjoy beyond our
beautiful beaches.
Let's do this.
Coming up, get ready for awonderful interview with Ms.
Georgia Kurre the owner ofHampstead Oils and Vinegars on
(00:48):
Highway 17 in Hampstead, NorthCarolina.
We'll be talking to her abouther delicious products, her
beautiful gift packaging, herspecial events and recipes, as
well as how she landed inHampstead selling something she
absolutely loves and you willtoo.
You'll even get a sample of herbanjo playing.
(01:13):
All right.
You ready?
Georgia (01:13):
Yeah.
Christa (01:14):
Let's just go for it.
Georgia (01:16):
Might as well jump in.
Christa (01:24):
Hi everyone.
Welcome to the very firstepisode of Topsail Insider.
My name is Christa and I am yourhost.
Today we are sitting withGeorgia and speaking to her
about her store, Hampstead Oilsand Vinegars Thank you very much
Georgia.
You are very welcome.
How are you feeling?
Georgia (01:41):
I'm feeling good.
Christa (01:42):
Awesome.
Okay, full disclosure, I workabout three or four doors down
from Georgia's store.
And I had this big idea, I'mgonna do this podcast, and I was
getting so excited about it.
And then right before it's timeto take those first steps to
start booking the interviews anddoing the actual work.
That fear hit me and just satthere overnight.
(02:04):
And then the next morning I wasjust racked.
I don't know that I can do this.
What am I doing?
What are you thinking?
And then I went to work and whenI left work, I looked over at
Georgia's store.
And there was the open sign, Istuck my head in the door.
I'm like, Georgia, doing apodcast.
Will you please be my firstguest?
And she's yep, I'm in.
I'm an open book.
Georgia (02:24):
I am too.
Christa (02:25):
So obviously your oils and vinegars, I wanna hear a
little bit about your oils andvinegars and like how many is
it?
Is it flavors?
Is it infusions?
Georgia (02:34):
So it is, I think I have about 43 or 44 right now.
I am terrible about seeing newthings and wanting to get them
immediately, so I trade thingsout pretty often.
We just added a new one thisweek.
They come from all over theworld.
They are infused, and fused.
(02:55):
Infused confuses peoplesometimes because it is a very
rare process.
You can only do it in veryspecific circumstances.
And what they do is theyactually take, so for example,
the blood orange is a fused oil.
So they take the oranges, theytake the olives, they crush them
at the exact same time.
Which really gets the flavorinto the oil.
(03:19):
And then, It has that reallygood flavor and it doesn't
happen often.
Most of the oils and vinegarsare gonna be infused where they
take usually essence ofsomething and put it in the
oils, and then that flavors theoils.
So I have those and then I have.
A few high quality non-flavoredoils and non-flavored vinegars
(03:41):
for people who are not lookingfor that.
I have some customers thatactually take some of the oils
as medicine.
So they'll take a yes.
They'll take like a tea.
Some of'em take like a teaspoonof it or a couple teaspoons.
Some of'em take a coupletablespoons.
Which
Christa (03:55):
ones.
Georgia (03:56):
are these?
So they're the high qualitynon-flavored oils.
They track their bio phenols andthe squalene and the vitamin E
and it's all on placards on theoils and you, the higher, the
better.
So there's been studies thathave come out that you show that
the antioxidants help withcancer, the squalene helps with
Alzheimer's, and then thevitamin E Of course, we all know
(04:18):
the benefits of that.
So those studies are coming out.
Pretty regularly and people areeducated on that and they come
in asking for those things.
Christa (04:28):
I had no idea.
Georgia (04:29):
Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it?
I
Christa (04:30):
love that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Super interesting.
And what part of the world areyou getting your oils from?
Georgia (04:35):
So all over the world, most of them come from Italy.
I would say 80%.
A lot of the fused oils comefrom Tunisia, and my company
actually goes all over the worldto get those high quality
non-flavored oils.
Right now I have one from Spain,one from Peru, one from Chile,
but they go everywhere.
They go to South Africa, they goto Australia.
(04:57):
There's even some out of Swedenand Albania, and they work
directly with the growers.
They go, they test it, they runall these chemical panels on it.
They're very serious about it.
They put'em into competitions.
They win a lot of competitions.
Christa (05:11):
That's so cool.
Georgia (05:12):
I'm really terrible about advertising that.
They send us videos andpictures.
They're like, we've got thislovely oil.
Look at this, and they'll showus videos of them crushing it.
They're.
They're in it to win it.
They're serious about
Christa (05:24):
it.
Yeah, I would, you should putthat stuff on your Facebook
page.
I would love to see that.
I.
Georgia (05:28):
when I figure that out, I will do it.
Christa (05:30):
I understand completely.
And what about your vinegars?
Georgia (05:34):
So same most of them come from Italy.
They're done in the Modernamethod, which is an Italian
method for making vinegars.
So I have white vinegars, I havedark vinegars.
The difference is the darkvinegars.
are Cooked in a copper kettle,and then they're aged for a
certain amount of time.
And the white vinegars, it usesa white grape must, which is a
(05:55):
part of the grapes, and theydon't cook'em.
So your white vinegars are gonnabe tartar fresher, and then the
dark vinegars are gonna havedeeper flavors, even sweeter
flavors than the white vinegars.
Christa (06:07):
My favorite I'm sure everyone has their favorites.
I just love a straighttraditional balsamic vinegar.
And if it's an aged balsamic,it's got that extra sweetness.
I love it so much.
Yes.
Georgia (06:17):
have the 18 year age.
You can get older ones, but theystart getting really expensive
and I'm trying to make sure thatI keep my quality high and my
prices is low.
Christa (06:27):
Good.
Good.
We appreciate that.
Yes, thank Okay, so one of myfavorite things in your store is
actually not an oil or avinegar, It's your salt,
specifically your truffle salt,I can make the frozen french
fries.
For my kids.
I pull mine off to the side
Georgia (06:46):
special, pile,
Christa (06:47):
and I feel like I'm in a five star restaurant.
Like That
Georgia (06:50):
is amazing.
And I tell people, I'm like, anygreen vegetable, you put that on
the end of any green vegetableand it really just adds
something extra to it.
It tastes really good.
Christa (07:01):
So what other flavors are there?
Because I haven't focused on anyof the other ones yet.
Georgia (07:05):
So there's fire salt, which actually does not have any
salt in it.
I actually have people thatcannot eat salt that come in and
buy that flavoring for theirfood.
So it's spicy.
Then I have a shashimitogarashi, which is a very spicy
seasoning that people.
Tend to put on Asian dishes.
My son especially puts it onramen.
He loves ramen.
He's all about the ramen bowls,so he'll put that on there.
(07:27):
I have a hickory smoked saltalso very delicious, which is
self-explanatory.
More like a barbecue kind offlavor.
And then I have a garlic breadseasoning that is, I describe it
to people as when you come outof a restaurant and you have the
garlic breath, like you arelike, I need to go home and
brush my teeth.
I have garlic Yeah.
That's that.
(07:47):
have that here.
And I use that very sparingly.
A little bit goes a long way.
Christa (07:52):
I just got my boys used to having I put a little garlic
in on my butter bread and theyjust starting to fall in love
with that.
So I might have to take some ofthat home today and give it a
whirl, but I will be, go easy on'em for sure.
Yeah.
Georgia (08:03):
Start slow.
Christa (08:03):
now.
Do you have rubs or I wasconfusing that with the salts.
Georgia (08:07):
I do not have rubs.
I have jams, jellies, andmustards.
Christa (08:10):
know about those.
Let's hear about those.
Georgia (08:12):
they're mostly spicy jellies, because I like spicy
jellies.
I do have a couple that are, Ihave a bourbon pecan blueberry
that's not spicy.
Yeah, they're just like theones, you throw on the cream
cheese and everybody enjoy.
And then I have, One that's ahot bacon jelly.
And people had, somebody told methat, put that on hamburgers is
delicious.
(08:32):
And I would've never thoughtthat.
Christa (08:34):
I would never have thought about that either.
And the mustards,
Georgia (08:36):
yes, I have mustard, like a dill pickle, mustard.
I think I have a raspberrymustard.
There's three or four differentkinds of mustards that, some
people just love mustards.
Christa (08:45):
my husband's one of those.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Georgia (08:47):
Try to have a little bit of everything.
Christa (08:48):
So this weekend you had one of your sample Saturdays.
And you served the little thecheesecakes?
Yes.
The mini cheesecakes.
That was raspberry.
Yes.
Was it Yes,
Georgia (08:57):
It was the new dark raspberry vinegar.
Christa (09:00):
I wanna try that before I leave today as
Georgia (09:01):
Yes.
Okay.
It's good.
It's a good one.
Christa (09:04):
Okay.
I also, and this is how I firstmet you, was my boss sent me
over here to buy Christmas giftsFor their employees.
The, the packaging here is soclassy and so well done, and I.
And you can get the medium sizebottles or you, I like your
sample packet where we can mixthe salts and give people a gift
(09:24):
like that.
I think We used those and putthem in our gift baskets for our
district managers it was sogreat.
But I think what impressed methe most on that very first time
was you gave me a recipe toinclude with the oil and vinegar
that I chose for them.
And I just thought that was thecoolest thing.
So I think if I go to a partyand I wanna be guaranteed that
(09:46):
I'm gonna be invited againlater, I'm showing up for that
stuff as my hostess gift.
This is my new place.
If I'm going to a party, I'mcoming to Georgia's place first.
And get set up.
Okay.
Yes.
Georgia (09:58):
So I tried to be really thoughtful about.
The packaging.
I try to be really thoughtfulabout all of that because I try
not to have things that go inthe trash and I try to buy
biodegradable things.
I, but I try to buy qualitythings.
The packaging, a lot of it comesfrom Italy.
They're actually grappa bottleboxes that are coming from
(10:20):
Italy.
But I buy them from a man outtaMinnesota.
He imports them into Minnesotaand then I get them from him.
Christa (10:25):
I know too that these recipes that I'm referring to
for the oils and vinegars andsuch you can find those recipes.
You'll probably get a recipehere if you come to her sample
Saturdays,
Georgia (10:37):
Yes, I actually make a little booklet.
I try to make four things eachsample Saturday, two dishes, two
drinks, one alcoholic, onenon-alcoholic.
And I try to make a littlebooklet of all the recipes and
hand them out
Christa (10:48):
Oh, that's wonderful.
Georgia (10:49):
em.
I can give you one today.
Christa (10:51):
those
Georgia (10:51):
too.
Yes,
Christa (10:52):
there are perks to doing this.
Okay.
And I know that I did see somerecipes on your website.
So I know that some are listedthere and also Facebook page, so
be sure to find Hampstead Oiland Vinegars on Facebook as
well.
You were not, you're not fromHampstead?
Okay.
So I wanna find out what got youhere.
(11:12):
I wanna know where you were bornand raised and your little bit
of history there, but how didyou end up in Hampstead and how
did you end up doing oils andvinegars?
What led you here?
Georgia (11:22):
Okay.
Long story short, so I'moriginally from Tennessee.
The hills of Tennessee.
I met my husband.
He was living in Charleston.
I was living in Chattanooga.
He was there for SWAT teamtraining.
He was a policeman outside ofCharleston.
So we dated long distance for ayear and then I moved to
Charleston and lived there for,I think I was there for four
(11:43):
years.
And he got hired on with theNavy and our first duty station
was, where we were.
So 17 years ago, our first dutystation was here and he is an
ocean person.
Like his happy place is thewater.
And he always wanted to comeback here, so we.
Christa (12:03):
moved
Georgia (12:04):
And lived a lot of places as you do with the
military.
And the plan was always to comeback here.
He retires in two years.
Our oldest was starting highschool.
Our youngest is starting middleschool.
It was time to get somewhere andstay somewhere.
Christa (12:17):
Get your roots down.
Yes.
Yeah.
Georgia (12:18):
And so he always, we came back to Hampstead, we
moved.
The summer of 2020 wheneverything was in lockdown.
we got our orders the weekendthat they shut down everything
and they said, but you're stillmoving.
We said, but how are we gonnamove?
They said you just gonna have tofigure it out.
You don't get to travel.
You don't get to do a househunting trip.
(12:39):
Just figure it out.
So we bought our house over the
Christa (12:42):
internet.
Georgia (12:43):
our realtor did a FaceTime and we walked around
and that's how we bought
Christa (12:47):
our house.
Georgia (12:47):
Georgia.
I'm not even kidding you.
So That's frightening.
I guess it was, but it's turnedout good.
So we, my parents live with us,so we had, the biggest thing is
always accommodate my parents.
So there was a place for them atthis house they're still, active
and, but they need us close,Yes.
So they're right next door.
(13:08):
A lot of things can beoverlooked if we're
accommodating everyone.
So we bought.
And we came here, and then Istarted looking for a job and I
could not get a job.
And I know everybody sayseverybody's hiring.
Nobody was hiring when I was fora No.
Christa (13:23):
that time it it was different.
Georgia (13:24):
It was, and I couldn't even get anybody to call me.
Christa (13:26):
Were you looking just here in, in
Georgia (13:29):
I was looking here Wilmington,
Christa (13:31):
Oh, you were going down to Wilmington
Georgia (13:32):
yes.
Oh yes.
And so my, because we've movedso much, I have a very weird job
history.
I've done a lot of things I'vebeen a software project
coordinator.
I've worked for a lawyer, I'veworked for a school district.
Every time we would move, Iwould do something different.
So I I understand that my,
Christa (13:49):
you're well rounded.
Georgia (13:50):
right?
And my resume.
Weird,
Christa (13:52):
well-rounded.
Georgia (13:54):
So I told my husband, I said, I am and to go back a
little bit, when our last dutystation was Mississippi, we
lived in this tiny little townin Mississippi called Pass
Christian.
Outside of New Orleans.
About an hour.
And they had one of these storesin the town.
And I loved it.
And I would go every month and Iwould spend a little money and I
would get myselfe something newand we would, make things with
(14:17):
it.
And I loved it.
For me, it was a blast.
And so I, when we moved here, Iwas like, I'll be fine.
They'll have something.
It's a big city, it's fine.
And there was nothing.
And so I told my husband, Isaid, I think I'm gonna open a
store.
And he said, what you're doingwhat?
I said, I think I am.
He said, okay, I'll help you.
And so I talked to some friendswho have their own businesses.
(14:40):
I was thinking about that whenyou were talking about this
earlier.
The doubt.
And I definitely called thosepeople many times and said, am I
thinking about this the rightway?
Am I doing this the right way?
And got lots of feedback becauseit is scary.
It's very scary.
Christa (14:56):
It is.
You're obviously investing moneythat's clear, but it's your time
and all of your And your familyhas to go along with you and it
takes, a lot of energy fromeverybody involved.
Yes.
And you put forth a lot ofeffort and You just hope and you
pray that it's gonna go the waythat you have this vision in
your head.
And so has it gone you Yes.
Georgia (15:18):
So it's going, I feel like it's going really well.
I like, I'm very lucky, myfamily's very supportive.
You'll see my kids up herehelping me out on breaks.
My husband comes up here, Godbless them, and changes light
bulbs for me and builds thingsfor me, and so they're very
supportive and it's going reallywell.
I think people here like to eatwell.
(15:39):
They like to try to be healthy.
They have active lifestyles andI feel like they come to see me
to help with that.
Christa (15:46):
So you guys are fully settled here in Hampstead?
It's done,
Georgia (15:49):
yes.
I'm not moving again.
Okay.
He gets itchy feet but I figureif I have a store, It's gonna be
really hard to pick up and moveagain.
That's right.
That's right.
Christa (15:58):
You've taken that big step and you've opened this.
So what would you say has beenthe biggest challenge you've met
so far
Georgia (16:06):
so I don't know what, I don't know.
I just make it up as I go Soevery day is really truly an
adventure.
The the doubt is hard.
Like you doubt yourself in themiddle of the night.
You wake up and you're like, amI doing the right thing?
Christa (16:21):
You've obviously, there's always gonna be
challenges, but what would yousay are some of the biggest
surprises and the reward.
That you've had so far withHampstead oils and vinegars.
Georgia (16:31):
So meeting people has been delightful.
my experience with the people ofHampstead is they're friendly.
They love to talk.
They're from lots of differentplaces.
Yes, the local people aredelightful and fun, but then
there's people from other partsof the country who also who have
lived other places that have hadthese stores And so they come in
(16:52):
excited.
Do you have this flavor?
Do you have that flavor?
Yeah.
They're excited that you'rehere, which I find so much fun.
And then just they share lots ofinformation with me and they
share recipes with me Nice.
and for me.
I told my husband, I said Iwanted, when I was trying to
figure out what I was going todo, I said, I.
want to Sell something that Ilove I want to chitty chat with
(17:13):
people.
You're doing that.
That's what I'm doing.
You're doing it
Christa (17:18):
so many different levels.
Okay, so in Tennessee, is thatwhere you learned how to play
the banjo?
Georgia (17:29):
No, but that is where I fell in love with the banjo,
because where I grew up inTennessee, they had something
called the Mountain Opry, it wasup on top of a mountain was on
Saturday nights and for I thinkcouple dollars you could go in
there and the local people wouldcome in and play.
and there was always people inthere playing the banjo.
(17:51):
And I was Fascinated.
Oh yes.
Always.
And so as when we lived inMississippi, my husband bought
me a banjo and banjo lessonsbecause there was a man there
that had a thing called theBluegrass Cabin.
he started teach me.
So I started learning maybeabout five years ago.
Christa (18:09):
What?
Georgia (18:10):
yes, about five years ago.
Christa (18:12):
Okay.
Because I do work, a coupledoors down from you.
Sure.
Sometimes I can walk out the.
And I just, I hear this musicfill the air and it's just so
nice because that's notsomething you're used to
hearing.
And you're just kicking back infront of your store, playing the
banjo in the middle of the day.
It's lovely.
(18:35):
So I'm gonna have you draw acard, Now these cards have
nothing to do with business,
They're called talking pointcards, and I use'em around the
dinner table with my kids
Okay, so go ahead and pick a card and read that
question and give me youranswer.
Georgia (18:49):
Okay.
Let's see what we again, what doyou wish you had more time for?
Christa (18:55):
Let's hear it.
Georgia (18:57):
I wish I had more time to not have something scheduled.
I wish I had just.
more Of Downtime because I don'tknow about you, but every single
minute it seems like of my daysget completely scheduled up.
And it would be nice to justhave a little
Christa (19:13):
little bit more time where it's just free time that I
can do what I want and not whatI need to do.
Georgia (19:18):
A hundred percent.
A hundred
Christa (19:20):
percent agree with you.
Georgia (19:22):
Maybe I just wanna take the dog for a walk and I or and
just go down and sit by thewater the beach.
And there's not a lot of, and Iknow, and I say this to my
husband a lot, I say it's goingto, our kids are gonna be gone
and we're gonna have all thetime in the world and the house
is gonna be so quiet.
And it's coming before we knowit.
Yeah.
And so we should this while wehave it.
(19:43):
But I really would just like tobe able.
I have nothing on the agenda.
Christa (19:48):
Thank you for doing that.
Absolutely.
Okay.
Before we go, I wanted to findout if you have any upcoming
events or any specials thatyou're running that our
listeners need to know about.
Georgia (19:58):
So I am trying, I try to do sample Saturdays.
I try to do at least one everycouple of months.
I always advertise them.
I do.
Corporate events and privateevents.
And so if people are interestedin that, all they have to do is
call.
I actually have one coming upnext week.
Tell me about those.
What is that like?
So the few that I've done, threeso far, and what I do is I
(20:21):
provide food two dishes twoDrinks with the recipes.
And then they also get twobottles two small bottles of oil
or vinegar, oil, whatever youwant.
You can pick whichever two.
You.
Okay.
You do.
And that's usually about$35 perperson.
it lasts a couple of hours.
People can come in, try things,have some dishes, talk and enjoy
(20:43):
themselves.
Christa (20:44):
Oh, they come right here to the store.
Georgia (20:45):
here to the store.
Yes.
Yes.
Christa (20:48):
Any specials?
Georgia (20:49):
Yes.
If people will like and sharethe podcast up until May the
13th, you can come in and showme that you've liked and shared
the podcast on Facebook, I'mhappy to give whoever that is,
10% off of whatever they decideto buy from the
Christa (21:04):
store.
I love it.
Thank you so
Georgia (21:06):
much, Yes, you're very welcome.
Christa (21:09):
It's been so nice talking to you.
You're so wonderful.
You're And you made my firstpodcast the best.
And I just wanna thank you fromthe bottom of my heart.
Georgia (21:17):
Oh, you're welcome.
I'm happy to do it.
Christa (21:18):
I do wanna talk about the details real quick.
Hampstead Oils and Vinegars,it's located in the Oak Tree
Center.
It's at 16 717, US Highway 17,and Georgia is in suite two oh
four.
Her phone number is(910)821-1373.
You can also reach her via emailat Hampstead oils gmail.com, and
(21:42):
your website is Hampsteadoils.com If you can't get this
written down, then just look inmy podcast notes and I'll have
it there for you.
So thank you so much for joiningus today.
I hope you come back for moreand thank you again, Georgia,
for being my very first podcastinterview.
You're welcome.
Thanks for asking me.
Hey, thank you for joining metoday on Topsail Insider.
(22:03):
If you like today's episode,please hit the follow or
subscribe button so that you canget the Topsail Insider Podcast
delivered automatically towhichever podcast platform
you're listening on.
And if you're a business ownerand you wish to set up a
pre-interview or you want toadvertise, please email me at
topsailinsider@gmail.com.
(22:23):
Please also find, and like theTopsail Insider Facebook page, I
provide links to the new podcastthere each week, as well as
providing photos of thebusinesses that I'm highlighting
along with any of their upcomingevents.
So, hey, let's do this againnext week.
I'll see you around Topsail
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