Santasti: Scrubbing Bubbles

Nicole Chamberlain wants you to be p.c. But your rash political commentary is the least of her worries, because in the world of SanTasti, p.c. means palate-cleansed. Chamberlain and her partner Andrew Macaluso are diving into wine markets nose-first, to prove that their product has a place in the industry, and making us wonder if Pellegrino is, perhaps, so last year.

In the future of fine dining, when you order a bottle of sparkling, intending to make the most out of your five star experience, you just might find, and be giddy to see, a bottle of SanTasti dropped onto your table. It’s water. But it’s got some bubbles, so it’s a sparkling water. Yet it’s a palate cleanser. So, actually, scratch that. SanTasti is a little bit of everything, and that multidimensionism probably warrants its own category.

SanTasti is a palate-cleansing beverage that’s only been around a short while—it just had its first birthday. In a market where age usually equates greatness, Santasti is proving itself as a necessity in the wine tasting business, and breaking into other tasting businesses as well—olive oil, chocolate—anything else food gurus find themselves “tasting.”

Chamberlain and Macaluso got the idea for SanTasti while they were students at California Polytechnic State University. “We were studying for finals,” Chamberlain says. “Andrew was sitting at his desk, and he looked up and said, ‘What if there was a beverage that could clean your palate?’ And I said, ‘Yea, that would be cool.’ We wrote it down in our idea book, left it alone for a few months, and came back to it later,” she remembers. After finals were over, of course.

Nine months from idea to finish, the duo worked fast, Chamberlain says. Winning CalPoly’s Innovation Quest in June 2008 helped fund their project. “Our first production run was the day before [Macaluso] turned 23,” Chamberlain says. “It was a good birthday present.”

More than a year later, SanTasti now comes in three flavors: Peppermint, Cinnamint, and the Classic. The flavored versions were originally intended for smokers or coffee drinkers. “Instead of chewing a stick of gum, you’re drinking water that gets rid of the crappy taste and freshens your breath at the same time,” Chamberlain says.

But she insists that the company’s main focus is the Classic, the original flavor of SanTasti. To dispute allegations that it’s no different from gargling with a plain ol’ bottle of Perrier in between gulps of merlot, Chamberlain breaks down the science behind the product. “Ours is half the carbonation, so it’s not going to shock the palate as much. The whole formulation is that it actually removes the tannins,” she says. “It also has citric acid to stimulate saliva flow to wash away flavors. We balance it with a tiny bit of sugar, so it’s not just an acid bomb in your mouth.”

In other words, this palate-cleansing beverage doesn’t intend to strip away a layer of your tongue and bring your taste buds back to ground zero. Think of it more as a balancer, less as a cleanser. As for now, Chamberlain and Macaluso are working on creating a 750 ml bottle, which would be more appropriate for restaurants and tasting rooms, as well as experimenting with new flavors of SanTasti. Keep and eye out for the duo, whose Einstein turned winestein career epiphany has sent them in the right direction to make an impact on the wine tasting industry. Lucky for us, they’re just getting started.

Tagged as: cleanser, clear the palate, palate, Palate Cleanser, SanTasti, Sparkling Water, tasting, Water, wine