Eight hands- that's four people for you maths-challenged. And yes, WE HAND-MAKE our own stuff, in small batches, and with MAD love in Mile-High City, Colorado.

Hey, you don't see pictures of screaming people on our labels, do ya? The Preserves are mild-medium, and the spicy notes always meander in at the end of the bite. So don't let the names scare you away. Give them a try, because that's how you discover great things... or not!

Like a wine maker, we use a refractometer to measure the suspended sugars in our berries to make sure they were picked at their peak flavor, and it also tells us how much sugar to use. Unfortunately, there is no precise method for measuring how hot peppers are, so we have to go by taste, and we all know, that's not vey scientific. It's the sort of stuff that keeps us up at night.

Well, frankly, it's a little offensive. Jelly is basically juice turned into a gooey paste by adding high fructose corn syrup and then shoved into a jar on your local WalMart shelf. WE DON’T MAKE JELLY. We lovingly and painstakingly source and cook WHOLE FRUIT, just like your grandma did, to make Preserves. So, please don't call our stuff 'jelly' and we won't make fun of you for not knowing the difference.

It's because we cook our Preserves for 3 minutes or less. This means the natural fruit juices don't evaporate, which also means, the vivid fruit flavor always comes first, not the concentrated sugar flavors common to mass produced 'jellies'. So, if you see a little separation, rejoice, stir up the contents with your fingers and all will be delicious again.

Not quite, but one of our best foodie friends is the Cheese Impresario in Los Angeles, CA. She's a walking cheese wikipedia and, is a wine and spirits ace to boot. If we need pairing ideas, she's only a phone call away. As the song goes, "we get by with a little help from our friends."

If you live outside the Rocky Mountain states (CO, UT, NM, KS), or N. California, you can buy PRiMO online @ www.yayprimo.com. If you're lucky and do live in them states, you can find us @ Whole Foods (in the Cheese Section), Tony's Market, Mollie Stone's and umpteen other cheese, wine and natural grocers. If you shop at a cool market that supports hand-crafted and unique goodies and would like to see PRiMO there, then drop us a line. We may do something nice for you for being a good snitch :-)

Well, it helps to be OCD! But seriously, it's part science, part whimsy. I like to tinker with different ingredients to see what's possible. It took years to come up with my creations- some were adapted, most are original. But I've also had my share of doozies- thank God for composting!

The Preserves can last a long time. I've had a few jars in my fridge for over 3 years and they seem fine. Unlike wine though, they don't get better with age. The fruit starts to lose it's luster and taste a little tired- you would too! 

1) We love them- who doesn't! Nothing says summer like a plump vine-ripened raspberry.
2) We don't want to be like everybody else, and
3) Unlike the truck-ripened bananas, stone fruit, apples and countless others , you can't cheat and pre-pick the berries- they only come off the vine when they're good and ready. Ponder that when you're chomping on your apricot jelly next time!

We thought about it for a minute, but then decided, nah! We like making stuff with pulse!