Hey, there, North Jersey!

We’ve slowly been making our way through the northern counties of New Jersey, and we’ve recently hired Joe Zapoitc… Zapoticz… Zapoticzny…

…“Joe Zap”…

…to open up Passaic, Bergen, Essex, and Hudson counties for us!

“Joe’s got a bunch of experience, with over seven years in beer sales,” says Director of Sales Bill Zaninelli. “More importantly, he really wants to get our name out there. He’s got a real desire to spread Cape Beverage’s brands throughout Northeast New Jersey. When you combine that with a last name that’s as difficult to pronounce as my own, I know Joe’s going to do a great job here.”

Welcome Joe Zap!

Originally from Edison, Joe attended Rutgers University and has been in Jersey City for the past five years. He’d spent nearly ten years at Piscataway Liquors, learning all he could about craft beer before moving on to one of the distributors in the area, working his way up to their Craft Beer Manager.

Recently married, Joe and his bride Suzie spent their honeymoon in Japan.

“We spent a day wandering around the Golden Gai in Shinjuku,” he says.

We’d never heard of this place, so we went to the Googles, expecting sunny, bright photographs of golden gods and traditional Shinto temples. Suffice it to say, this is not the case.

Golden Gai is essentially six narrow alleys lined exclusively by about 200 ramshackle, shanty-style bars, some fitting no more than two or three patrons. These aren’t even dive bars — they aspire to be dive bars. It’s just this side of a permanent beer festival. It’s basically a brightly-lit, insanely fun refugee camp.

How awesome does that sound?!?

“We didn’t eat food all day and just kept drinking into the night,” he tells us. “It was a rough morning.”

Joe reports that the Japanese love their karaoke, which isn’t unusual, but they put his renditions of Tom Jones’ “Sex Bomb” to shame.

He watches a lot of movies — “a mix of a lot of really good stuff and a lot of really shitty stuff. Everybody would say The Room when it comes to shitty stuff.”

If you’re looking for a modern contender for the title of Worst Film Ever Made, The Room definitely gives Plan 9 from Outer Space or Manos: The Hands of Fate a run for their money. Not to be confused with the Brie Larson vehicle from 2015, The Room is so so-bad-it’s-good that James Franco needed to make a film chronicling the creation of this anti-masterpiece. It truly defies description — thankfully –, and the depths to which it sinks must be seen to be believed.

However, he will list a series of good movies he enjoys, as well: Die Hard (“just the first one”), Beverly Hills Cop, Bloodsport, and Home Alone 2.

“Home Alone 2’s better than the first one,” he says. “It’s definitely a derivative film, but they up the ante in the second one.”

To stay in shape — and to work off all the beer weight — Joe is an avid runner.

“I’m not as intense as Evan,” he says, “but I’m trying to work up to a half-marathon in Jersey City in the fall.”

When it came time to look for a new position, Joe wanted to work with us for a few reasons.

“It seemed like an awesome work environment,” he says. “Everybody’s happy. Hopefully, I’ll still be able to continue to evolve and grow in the craft beer universe.”

He’s only had a brief chance to explore the town of Cape May, but enjoys what he’s seen.

“It seems like a really fun place to hang out and hit the beach,” he says. “I wish it were closer to me.”

Thus far, he’s been enjoying his time at Cape Beverage.

“It’s been great so far,” he says. “It’s a great work environment. It’s casual. Obviously, I’m out there busting my ass, but I’m having a good time so far.”

He points to Coastal Evacuation as his favorite beer.

“Even for a double, it’s very approachable,” he says. “You can still crush a couple of them. Within moderation. If I’m at home.”

However, Joe knows how to appreciate the simple things. When asked what makes him happy:

“Drinking good beer and spending time with my wife.”

Sounds good to us!

Be sure to say hello to Joe when you see him out in the field!