NEWBIES: SAG – a 'forbidden' spirit finding a new home in NYC
Founded by artists, and beloved by New York's creative cocktail bars, SAG is bringing a centuries-old Iranian recipe into the light. And the dog logo is genius.
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For decades, aragh sagi1 has been banned in Iran (the country has been dry since 1979).
That doesn’t mean people aren’t making this raisin-based spirit, however. Speak to SAG founders Amir, Sasan, Siavash and Saman, and they’ll tell you the generations-old recipe went underground, passed down through families and made by uncles and friends behind closed doors.
It’s a recipe they’re now making in New York – and building as a bev/alc brand. The label, the dog mascot, the excellent playlists they share on their website? It’s all part of the SAG brand world, and it’s all extremely charming.
A brand born out of homesickness
The four of them haven’t been back to Iran for 14 years, and they found themselves missing aragh sagi; not just the drink, but the experience of getting together with friends to enjoy it.
“Aragh sagi is like a smooth, Iranian version of Grappa,” explains Amir. “Every society or culture will turn their sugary fruit into delicious alcohol. You can think of sag like an unaged brandy, but made with raisins.”
Sassan started making it only to share amongst themselves at first, but friends loved it. The SAG brand was born.
And because both Sasan and Saman are artists, it was born with a deep level of love, care and artistry. They’ve created the brand world themselves, designing the black-and-white label (and pulling in an artist friend to create the linocut dog’s head at the heart of it). They also manage SAG RADIO: a set of playlists that we couldn’t recommend more (why don’t more bev/alc brands do this kind of thing?)
Let’s talk about the dog
That dog mascot (sag in Farsi literally means the dog) references an iconic Iranian aragh brand that had a beagle photo on the bottle – which was so popular people would go to liquor stores and say: “I want that doggie”. This New York interpretation is an homage to that, according to Amir.
“We’re bringing a piece of memory of the Iranian drinking culture,” he says.
And that bottle design has worked as a major selling point, with Amir saying bar managers see the bottle and are “already locked in”.
7,000 pounds of Cali sun-dried raisins
To make aragh sagi you need raisins. A lot of raisins. According to Amir, 7,000 pounds gives you only around 1,000 bottles. Sasan isn’t making that by hand anymore – these days, SAG’s liquid is made in a distillery in New York, by a Jewish-Moroccan couple who make a similar kind of spirit, instead using figs.
And the four founders are uncompromising about this recipe. “We could have made shortcuts,” says Amir, “in the alcohol industry they add flavor to it. But it’s not what we wanted to drink ourselves.”
Storytellers love storytellers
SAG’s distribution strategy is similarly deliberate. They’re not chasing down any old bar, according to Amir. “We’re going where they’re open to storytelling,” he says. “There’s something about the culture or heritage of the rooms.”
That approach has found them homes in more than 50 bars including Superbueno in NYC, and in the NYC and LA offshoots of the London-based Persian restaurant Berenjak. In fact, any bar or restaurant that’s sharing a story about cultural heritage has quickly warmed to SAG.
“This is not a VC-backed project”
While Sasan and Saman handle the creative side of the brand, Amir leads the ‘business’ end. He comes from a corporate career and admits he’s a competitive person. For him, the biggest challenge for the brand is to keep it all feeling natural.
“This is not a VC-backed, cashed-up project,” he tells us. “It mean a lot to us.”
But despite the four founders coming from very different backgrounds, they trust each other completely. If Amir is worrying about margins or pricing, his co-founders are more philosophic: “If it’s going to work, it’s going to work.”
“If you have a good product and you’re kind to people,” says Amir, “good things are going to happen to you.”
If you’re wondering if that strategy feels a little naive, consider: some of the best bars in New York already serve SAG. Mixologists love it. The business is finding new partners overseas. And all of that without spending money on a brand agency, marketing or paid social. They just show up, talk to people, tell the story and that’s enough. Sometimes, simple works best.
For our usual NEWBIES rite of passage, we asked:
What’s the brutal truth you’ve learned about building a bev/alc brand?
“Because we’re artists, we’re busy... spending more time is one of the challenges. But we’re working, finding ways.” — Saman
“For me, the biggest challenge is that I get really competitive. So I try to just let go of that and think about this as... it has to feel natural. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be talking to us.” — Amir
With the wisdom of experience, what would you tell other bev/alc founders?
“Don’t start a business. Just make art.” — Saman
“Really put all your effort in creating a high quality product. The product that we’re making was for us, not for others. Do what you want, really believe in it, and make something that you would want for yourself. And then be generous.” — Amir
“Trust your vision and do it slowly... work towards your ideas and learn as you go.” — Sasan
THE NEW RULE:
You don’t need to chase every single partnership with every single bar. Find the people that will understand your history and your narrative, and give it the love it deserves.
The New Rules is a labor of love by nihilo.agency
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The founders asked if we could include a quick pronunciation guide. It’s Arr-agg saggy, like saggy pants.