Hot D Wake Up Juice rides specialty-foods wave

It’s been nearly seven years now since Chris Pinta, an admitted tomato-juice addict, started puttering around his Ohio City kitchen, searching for an antidote to a job he despised. “I guess I was looking for an exit strategy,” he told C-Notes recently. And as it happens, he came up with just that, in the guise of Hot D Wake Up Juice – a robustly seasoned, tomato-based drink that’s both an energy booster and a damn fine Bloody Mary mix. Along with his brother Scott, Pinta finally premiered the beverage two years ago, at a Las Vegas trade show. Since then, it’s gotten play in publications ranging from the Plain Dealer to Nightclub & Bar magazine, and it now seems poised to make a major splash on the national scene. ...