Ysidro Sake Spritz Captures the Refreshing, Stunning, and Sophisticated Coastal Vibe of Montecito

Since the 1880s, the town of Montecito in California’s Santa Barbara County has been synonymous with luxury. Throughout its history, the town has drawn movers and shakers from the entertainment, business, and high society worlds. Just an hour and a half’s drive from the bustling city of Los Angeles, Montecito’s beautiful coastline, scenic hills, mild climate, and rich heritage have made it the perfect retreat.  

It’s this sophisticated aura around Montecito that inspired the creation of Ysidro, a sake-based, ready-to-drink spritz. Ysidro has an alcohol percentage of 6.9, with flavors of organic grapefruit and sea salt providing a perfect mix of sweetness and acidity with a long refreshing finish. This is combined with a high-quality sake base made by a brewery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, which boasts some of the purest and highest-quality water in the world.  

The origin of Ysidro dates back to the Spring of 2020, when the pandemic lockdowns were in full swing and everything felt uncertain. Facing a severely limited choice of activities, Montecito resident Monica Epstein attended an online wine tasting hosted by her neighbor, Alex Dessouky, who owned a wine importing business. That night, Monica had a dream about starting a new drink, and she told her husband, Seth, about it when she woke up. Later that day, they were walking down Miramar Beach, and they ran into Alex. Seeing it as a sign, Monica and Seth told Alex about their idea, and the three agreed to turn that dream into reality. They immediately set out to formulate the perfect drink that would eventually become Ysidro. 

According to Monica, the main concept behind Ysidro is a drink that embodies Montecito – something that feels very local and steeped in the town’s culture and history. Most canned drinks, especially the mass-produced ones, feel “placeless” and cannot be associated with any particular locality. Unlike these drinks, Ysidro is made in small batches, ensuring utmost quality control and local flavor. 

“Montecito and the wider Santa Barbara area are comparable to the French Riviera, with its picturesque views and rich culture,” Monica says. “Ysidro embodies la dolce vita, or the good life, but in a very California way.” 

For the flavoring, they arrived at sea salt and grapefruit, the combination of which evokes the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean’s shores and Santa Barbara’s reputation as a prime location for growing citrus fruits. 

“When it comes to wine and spirits, where it comes from is important,” Alex says. “Champagne comes exclusively from the Champagne region of France, and tequila comes from Jalisco, Mexico. We aim to create the same association with Ysidro and Montecito with Ysidro’s unique combination of flavors.” 

With this goal, one may wonder why sake, a Japanese rice alcohol, is the base of Ysidro. Seth explains that they tried numerous other alcohol bases for the drink, but none performed as well as sake, which has a clean and pure taste that other alcoholic beverages cannot replicate. Using something as exotic as sake also reflects the spirit of innovation that California is known for, with the state hosting the tech and entertainment capitals of the world in Silicon Valley and Hollywood, respectively. 

Furthermore, there has been a recent industry trend showing interest in Asian spirits. In part, this is being informed by the curiosity of younger consumers who desire new and unique flavor profiles, as well as the expectation that the alcohol they are consuming is of the highest quality. Ysidro’s Junmai Ginjo sake is considered to meet both of these demands.  

“We're focused on quality, not on tradition and being stuck in the way that things are,” Seth says. “We used a base that results in the greatest flavor, and it’s the best foundation to bring together the nuances of the flavorings. We've tried almost every alcohol base ever invented, but when we tried sake, it was a lightbulb moment, and everything clicked. We all agreed that this is brilliant, and nobody's done it before, so we'll set out to do it.” 

The Ysidro brand is also something that harkens to the locality, with the San Ysidro Road being one of the main thoroughfares in Montecito, going from the ocean to the mountains. This road, which is also close to where Alex, Seth, and Monica live, is named after Saint Isidore the Laborer, patron saint of farming and agriculture, hence the saint appearing on the packaging. In addition, the soft pink hue of the cans is inspired by the ‘pink moment’, which occurs during sunset when the mountains along the coast turn pink in the evening light. 

“What started out as my dream one night during the pandemic is now a reality,” Monica says. “Working closely with Seth and Alex, we were able to develop a drink that captures the wonderful feeling of being in Montecito, giving drinkers a uniquely smooth, crisp, and refreshing experience in every can.”