CAVIAR TRIP
YEAH, WE HACKED CAVIAR
And now YOU ARE INVITED to EXPERIENCE CAVIAR in an ALL NEW WAY!
The Caviar trip was created by accidenT, through a collaboration between chef & Guest @ RAW LAB IN CHARLESTON, SC. Seeing its potential, we’ve refined it for the caviar-curious, CONNOISSEURS & THE AFICIONADOS.
We’ve created a collection of 3 short, fun, interactive “master classes” that deliver the most interesting & cost effective ways to discover caviar…or to deepen your understanding and appreciation of it. We present a process, methodology and technique that unlocks the full potential of caviar for anyone, no matter how much or little you know about it. Its fun, social and edu-taining. When properly experienced, Caviar is truly the most dynamic food on earth and you’ll come away with mastery of the tools and tactics to experience all the dynamics caviar can deliver, at all price points, forever.
VIDEO BELOW BREAKS IT DOWN IN 40 SECONDS
THREE WAYS TO TRIP ON CAVIAR
CAVIAR CURIOUS - Intro
Never had caviar before? No Problem! Feeling a bit intimidated by it? You’re not alone. Prefer the company of others who are experiencing caviar for the first time? Great! You’ll soon know more about caviar than 99% of those who’ve been “eating it” for decades.
:45 minutes
$150
A+ Caviar of 1-2 varieties
A+ Champagne of 1 variety
2. CAVIAR CONNOISSEUR - Advanced
Been “eating it” for years or decades? Well, great! You know what it is like to drive a Ferrari. Now, let’t take that Ferrari out on the track with a driving coach sitting shotgun expand and elevate your caviar journey as you begin to understand what it is to be10x more from every kind of caviar you encounter. AND YOU WILL LOVE IT.
:60minutes
$250
A++ Caviar of 2-3 varieties
A++ Champagne of 2-4 varieties
3. CAVIAR AFICIONADO*- Expert
We would argue that there are only a handful of these in the world, like Master Sommeliers (there are actually 279 MS in 2025). And perhaps we’ll develop a certification process for “Caviar Masters”. But for now, this is a way to experience the finest caviar in the world with some of the best champagne available without hosting a $5,000 caviar party at your home.
:90 minutes
$500
A+++ Caviar of 3-5 varieties
A+++ Champagne of 3-5 varieties
EVERY GUEST will leave EACH OF THESE EXPERIENCES very IMPRESSED with what they SAW, TASTED & LEARNED. We ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEE IT!
RESTAURANTS & CHEFS: How is your caviar service special, different, worth talking about or worth sharing with others? Bring us in to work with your staff to develop an ELITE CAVIAR SERVICE and to train your staff in how to execute it.
END RESULTS FOR MASTER CLASSES
Understand what the “big deal’ with caviar is and see the value in it more than ever.
Learn the technique & methodology that will allow you to experience and appreciate EVERYTHING caviar has to offer…the highest expression of the product
Unlock the tools that will allow you to find your preferences and understand the different value propositions of caviars of various prices and qualities.
Begin to unravel the nomenclature, myths and misconceptions associated with caviar so you are not ripped off with chinese caviar or paddlefish roe.
Become confident in ordering caviar direct (to enjoy at home) and how to order it at restaurants.
WE LIKE BIG BUMPS
We cannot lie. Though, we didn’t invent the Caviar Bump, you are going to love what we’ve done with it.
More importantly, this practice is most certainly “correct” in that it is the first step in allowing people to experience ALL that fine caviar has to offer.
This is part of the process, ritual or experience, especially when sharing caviar with a group. And that’s always the best way to experience caviar.
So, the Bump is our Golden Rule. It all starts with that simple “method” which has been practiced by aficionados for centuries. You’ll learn several other secrets, tools, tactics, techniques and methodolgies.
BUT WHY? Many ask this question. The Answer: In our methodology we will use our mouth / palate / saliva / bio-chemistry the way it evolved to function. This unlocks myriad benefits in “taste” which have been transformative for many. Through our process you will come to understand why & you will agree. In the end you’ll be thrilled with what you’ve learned and unlocked - GUARANTEED.
Double Barrel Bump, 2022. Photo Credit: Kevin Joseph
ONCE UPON A TIME @ RAW LAB
100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
ANYONE WHO IS NOT IMPRESSED WITH ANY PART OF THE EXPERIENCE WILL BE FULLY REFUNDED. GUARANTEED!
“The most innovative culinary experience I have ever had…”
-Klara Glowczewska, Executive Travel Editor, Town & Country Magazine & former Editor in Chief, Conde Naste Publishing
OUR METHODOLOGY & TECHNIQUE
MORE OF A RITUAL, CEREMONY, TRANCE OR TRIP THAN IT IS A “SERVICE”.
WE DON’T EAT CAVIAR, WE EXPERIENCE IT - To its GreatesT possible potential
No AccoutremenT - None. Ever. NOTHING SHOULD GET BETWEEN YOU AND THE CAVIAR.
Stillness & Silence - Always. LIKE A MEDITATION.
MusiC- Used to heighten THE TRIP. IT WORKS.
Eyes Closed - Removes distraCtions and ELEVATES OUR sense of taste.
WE ARE CAVIAR BRAND AGNOSTIC - Meaning we are not trying to sell you OUR caviar.
THIS ISNT TABLE SERVICE - Its a collaboration and a social interaction between all in the room…a master class where you learn from others and us
HOST THIS IN YOUR HOME OR CLUB
We are happy to bring one fo these pacakges to your home, yacht, club…etc.
Kevin with Jacques Cousteau in La Paz, Mexico 2025
ABOUT US
Master Merrmelier Kevin Joseph created and polished The Caviar Trip @ Raw Lab in Charleston, SC between 2021 and 2026.
When asked “how did you come up with this” his answer is simple and surprising to most:
I didn’t. WE DID. My guests at RAW LAB and I experimented with the best ways to get the most out of fine caviar over 4 years. With the help of 12,000 guests (12 guests x 1000 services) we found the TRUTH. And, more importantly than what we learned to do is what it’s effect has been. It has proven to be a transcendent epiphany for all, especially for Foodies, Gourmands or Epicureans who are in a constant journey of discovery in food & wine.”
DEEP DIVE ON OUR CAVIAR PHILOSOPHY
Fine Caviar is EXACTLY LIKE a high performance sports car…it does not do what it was built to do unless given the right fuel, road/track, driver, technique, tactics & methods. If you don’t know how to handle it, you simply cant get from it that which it has to offer. Most people EAT caviar which is similar to driving a Ferrari on suburban streets to dinner, downtown. That’s nice, but a Ferrari is capable of much more than that. Caviar was meant to be experienced intentionally like a Ferrari is meant to be experienced at 120mph. We will show you how to experience caviar to its greatest & highest potential, and to it’s highest expression. It might feel a lot like having a coach take you and your Ferrari on a closed track and getting you comfortable doing 150mph, lap after lap.
If caviar isn’t the most dynamic food on earth, we don’t know what is. We can how you how in 120 seconds (or more) seconds a fine caviar will go through 5 distinct phases. Not even the finest of wines can dance on your palate for that long, evolving the whole time. These are things you can taste and feel. You can easily perceive the phases starting, ending, blending, evolving, peaking, yielding and coming to a conclusion. It is like listening to a song you love.
What caviar can do is seldom realized, especially when we handicap our palate with dough, starch, salt or acid found in potatoes chips, blinis and other accoutrement. If you wanted to experience the power of a painting, song or sculpture you’d free yourself of distractions, barriers and noise. When you allow yourself to be present with it and only it. That is what we do with our Caviar Trip.These tiny and powerful eggs have delicate differences from fish to fish, farm to farm, season to season…just like wine or oysters. It takes 7 years for a sturgeon to come out maturity and produce a fine caviar. It takes a lot of husbandry and expertise to shepherd a fish to that age and moment. It takes more care and expertise still to cure, age and deliver the caviar to a profession who’ll be able to guide you though what to look for and evaluate the quality of that caviar base on industry standard and metrics. To understand your preferences for caviar you’ll benefit from perspective, objectivity, expertise and experience of a professional who can point out what to look for without TELLING you what you see or how to feel about it.
THIS IS WHAT WE DO! We create a safe space for you to be open to the experience. With your trust and permission, we take you on a tour, a trip and sometimes put you in a trance. Its a kind of meditation where you can find every nook and cranny, every delicate flavor and sensation, every instrument in the song, the melody, harmony, lyrics and meaning of it too. Once given the tools to evaluate the various characteristics of caviar and the metrics of quality you’ll then have the tools and knowledge to be able to find your favorites…just like you’ve likely done with wine, and maybe oysters too. We are NOT going to tell you that you should prefer this caviar or that caviar, rather we are going to give you the tools and tactics used by professionals for eons to make up your own mind, as you experiment with caviar going forward.
We will not, on a web page, be able to duplicate the magic that occurs, even with the videos and photos provided. We hope, however, that you’ll come and experience fine caviar with us. You’ll find that in the presence and with the trust of the other guests there is a magical epiphany that this our techniques, rituals and ceremony creates that will change you, forever.
YES, WE ARE CAVIAR BRAND AGNOSTIC, BUT…
We are fans of a certain American Caviar. From Idaho. Why? Its affordable, approachable and a great introduction to caviar. We know EXACTLY how it is produced, where it is produced and who produces it. We KNOW it has no toxic additives and that the industry there is highly regulated, sustainable and responsible. We KNOW this is A+++ product at its price point and in it’s category. We are sure this caviar is created through best practices and best producers. We know all this because we went there and inspected EVERYTHING, with our own eyes. For all of these reasons it’s not imtimidating (as caviar can be for many).
Evaluating and vetting brands by these standards and with these practices is how we earn trust from those we serve. We DO NOT sell caviar for money, we deliver caviar experiences to create caviar consumers, lovers, connoisseurs and aficionados by leveraging knowledge, experience, expertise and THE TRUTH! When you do that, sales of quality caviar follows.
Kevin Joseph & Gary Lemon see a girl about some caviar.
IDAHO SPRINGS CAVIAR
Sooo, caviar from a farmed Sturgeon in Idaho makes not sense to you? OK. Lets start there. The place, product and process is unreal!
IDAHO SPRINGS STURGEON FARM is an ABSOLUTELY singular place and operation!
So, at RAW LAB we serve ONLY this American Caviar, YES, AMERICAN! From Idaho. YES, IDAHO! And the best thing is that in doing so IS THAT we sacrifice NOTHING And gain some notable benefits IN QUALITY, FOOD-safety and taste OVER OTHER MANY CAVIAR BRANDS.
GREAT READ: America’s Finest Caviar - Saveur Magazine
THIS is ONE of the things that makes their caviar so special, unrivaled even.
It is fed by water that pops out of the Snake River Aquifer 100 feet from the top of the raceways that hold the sturgeon. This water has been filtered though ancient volcano basalt rock for 250,000,000 years! It’s as pure as water gets.
Thousands of springs burst out of the ridges along the river over hundreds of miles. The Snake River was once a paradise for the White Sturgeon. Indigenous and plentiful, the species was nearly wiped out for its meat and caviar. These days they are a highly protected species and the caviar they produce comes from state of the art animal husbandry and bleeding edge aquaculture developed over the past 100 years of practice.
IT STARTS HERE: After the water gushes out from the mountain ridge it is directed to the farm, just 100 feet downhill. Tens of millions of gallons of water a day sees sunlight for the first time in 250,000,000 years.
This flows DIRECTLY into the farm and over the Sturgeon who swim in some of the purest water on Earth. In the raceways (built on a shallow sloping plateau) this mineral rich, alkaline water flows past the fish quickly. Like a mighty, though short, river…their natural habitat.
The raceway complex is like a series of shallow rivers packed with thousands of happy and healthy female sturgeon.
Density like this would be problematic in a typical caviar farm as filtration of the water would need to be state of the art and fail-safe.
That’s expensive and in the event of natural disaster, little is fail safe. But density here and unlimited, free, pure, flowing water makes filtration completely unnecessary.
The fish spend no more than a half a second in the same water and waste is immediately washed away by incoming water from the aquifer.
Waste gets pulled down the raceways, past the fish, by gravity.
After it exits the raceways it flows into a pond which holds large sturgeon and trout which are alphas and sometimes use as brood stock.
IT ENDS HERE: The farm’s water becomes Lemon Falls and runs into the Snake River.
Then, just 150 feet from that pond it makes it’s dramatic entry into the Snake River via
MY DAY AT THE FARM
I learned so much on this day. What an experience. What an epiphany! The people, place and process that create this product are as legitimate as it gets. The fish were so vibrant, strong and healthy. Holding them (or trying to) was like wrangling a wild critter from another age. They’re like a log or missile of muscle, so dense and strong…dinosaurs, literally 350,000,000 years evolved.
This was the Coup de Gras! Sucking eggs from a living sturgeon to evaluate her health, the quality of the eggs and determine whether or not she was ready for harvest. Ill never forget that moment. A tiny slit is made in her belly, near the ovaries, which are surrounded by eggs. A small tube is placed in that hole and gentle suction applied. You’ll see the process in the video below. Inspection of the eggs for size, colorless, texture, firmness and flavor is done.
Mother Load! 40kg of Caviar, roughly. Photo Credit: Kevin Joseph