Robert C. Lehrman

Pine Liqueur, Pine Beer, Fir Brandy

February 17, 2009 by Robert C. Lehrman 1 Comment

Here we present several members of the pine family. Above is Clear Creek Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir. It is made in Portland, Oregon. Clear Creek explains how it’s made:

Inspired by an obscure Alsatian distillate called Eau de Vie de Bourgeons de Sapin, Steve McCarthy worked on developing the perfect Oregon version of a tree spirit, an Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir, for ten years. This eau de vie is made from an infusion of the springtime buds of Douglas fir picked by hand into clear brandy which is then re-distilled and re-infused with more buds. Finally it is strained and bottled. The green color and complex fresh flavor are from the Douglas Fir buds. No artificial colors or flavors are added.

Mandrin, by contrast, is a malt beverage made in France, and “brewed with Pine Needles.” A third example is Zirbenz, the Stone Pine Liqueur of the Alps. The Zirbenz website has a lot of surprising information about the stone pine — the “Agave of the Alps”:

the Arolla Stone Pine can withstand temperature extremes down to minus 40 Celsius. … the tree may take over thirty years before producing fruit, and thereafter has a harvest cycle of five to seven years. In the interest of conservation and future harvests, only 10-20% of each tree’s fruit is picked, and by law only in Steiermark and Carinthia.

Obama: Where the Line is Drawn

February 16, 2009 by Robert C. Lehrman 2 Comments

We wrote about President Obama’s appearance, on a beer label, many weeks ago. So we were going to leave the above label alone. But the Hennessy label has received surprisingly little press attention, and a reader reminded us about it. The Hennessy label provides a vivid illustration of where the line is drawn, in the matter of Obama-alcohol-beverage-labeling, and how to do it right and wrong. Hennessy got it right, apparently, by avoiding any direct reference to Mr. Obama (by way of name or likeness). They went right up to the line but did not cross it.
By contrast, as to the beer, Jill Jaracz wrote in to say:

Amid all the hoopla over the Presidential Inauguration, the TTB has officially nixed the idea of putting President Obama’s name and likeness on beverage labels by denying Ommegang Brewery’s application for a single-batch ale called Obamagang that they planned to release around Inauguration Day. TTB denied this label because they do not allow commercial use of someone’s name or likeness without that person’s permission.
In order to comply with the law, the Cooperstown, NY-based Ommegang chose to rename their product Ale 2009, and the new approved keg label depicts that the beer was created in honor of the Inauguration. However, Ommegang’s website still flaunts the ruling a bit by referring to the beer’s intended name “Obamagang,” and featuring the original images.
Brooklyn, NYC’s Sixpoint Craft Ales had registered the name Hop Obama Ale a few months ago, but the status of this label is now surrendered.

The Washington Post mentioned Sixpoint’s label problem here, and Bill Dowd at The Examiner covered it here.
The Hennessy ad is kind of hard to read and says: “In honor of the 44th President, Hennessy will make a donation to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund for every Limited Edition bottle purchased. Each one is a unique and individually numbered piece of history.” TTB helped ensure it would be a limited edition by allowing the 44 label for 6 months and 15,000 cases only.

Pee Like a Racehorse (or an Old Woman)

February 13, 2009 by Robert C. Lehrman 1 Comment

Is it a good old word or a bad one? Well it’s certainly an old word. The Online Etymology Dictionary says it goes back to around 1290:

piss (v.) … c.1290, from O.Fr. pissier “urinate” (12c.), from V.L. *pissiare, of imitative origin. As a pure intensifier (cf. piss-poor, piss-ugly, etc.) it dates from World War II. Pissed off “angry, fed up” is 1946, U.S. slang. To piss off “go away” is attested from 1958, chiefly British. Piss and vinegar first attested 1942. Piss-prophet “one who diagnosed diseases by inspection of urine” is attested from 1625. Piss proud “erect upon awakening” is attested from 1796.

It pops up fairly often on beer and wine labels. Above is Horse Piss Beer, made in Louisville, Kentucky. Another beer along these lines is Piss Brand Beer, made in Australia. And then there is Pisse Vieille wine, from Beaujolais. Wiki explains the name thusly:

The Brouilly cru also contains the famous Pisse Vieille vineyard (roughly translated as “piss old woman!”) which received it name from a local legend of a devout Catholic woman who misheard the local priest’s absolution to “Allez! Et ne péchez plus.” (Go! And sin no more.) as “Allez! Et ne pissez plus.” (Go! And piss no more). The vineyard name is the admonishment that her husband gave to her upon learning of the priest’s words.

The Washington Legal Foundation Comment; Top 6 Things to Know

February 12, 2009 by Robert C. Lehrman Leave a Comment

wlf
It is likely that all beer, wine and spirits labels will change dramatically in the near future. TTB has been working on new rules since CSPI and other groups submitted a petition in 2003. The new rules would require a “Serving Facts” panel on every container. This panel would include a lot more information, such as the typical serving size, number of servings per container, calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat. Because this is a big, controversial change, TTB has received more than 18,000 public comments during the past few years. There are far too many comments for most people to review, and so we will highlight and summarize the most noteworthy comments here. The most recent proposal and comments are here. This is comment 7 in a series; to see others, click on the “serving facts” tag below.
The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) is a national, nonprofit public interest law and policy center in Washington. WLF’s comment explains:

The Serving Facts rule would make alcohol beverage labels much more similar to food, supplement and OTC drug labels.
WLF objects to what the rule would prohibit, rather than what it would require. The rule would prohibit advice on standard drinks and moderate drinking, from the US Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and drink equivalency graphics.
TTB may not ban truthful and non-misleading information such as this, from beverage labels. Here, “TTB has offered no evidence of how and to what extent consumers may be misled by basic, truthful information.”
WLF promotes policies consistent with a free-market economy and defends the rights of individuals and businesses to conduct their affairs without excessive intervention from government regulators. WLF is especially interested in protecting commercial speech rights — both the right of speakers to provide, and consumers to receive, information.
Even alcohol beverage labels are protected by the First Amendment. This proposal would violate that Constitutional provision. The proposal is directly at odds with Rubin v. Coors and the Central Hudson cases decided by the US Supreme Court. TTB has no business keeping people in the dark about these things.
“Irrationality pervades TTB’s” proposal. This agency is suppressing information another federal agency seeks to disseminate. TTB seeks to ban the information on labels but allow it on websites and ads. It is illogical.

Diamonds, Gold & Vodka: What Recession?

February 11, 2009 by Robert C. Lehrman Leave a Comment

One is filtered through diamonds and the other has gold flakes in the bottle. Double Cross Vodka is made in the Slovak Republic, where it is “filtered with diamond dust.” The small red strip label says so. Thanks to The Intoxicologist and Emily Haile for bringing this to our attention. Luxist explains:

The seven-times-distilled spirit uses only 100 percent organic, estate-grown winter wheat and mountain spring water drawn from aquifers located 200-feet below ground level. Double Cross’ diamond dust filtration system is said to provide unprecedented filtration capability because of the “unique shape and sub-micron size of the diamond dust particles.”

Rather than filter through the costly substance and leave it at the distillery, Gold Flakes Vodka puts the 24 karat gold right in each bottle. Luxist says it will retail for about $60 per bottle.

Hello Kitty Wine

February 10, 2009 by Robert C. Lehrman 7 Comments

A lot of labels on this blog speak to men. This one speaks loudly to women. Above are two of four Hello Kitty table wines imported from Italy by USA Wine Imports of New York, NY.
Wiki says Hello Kitty is:

one of many simply drawn fictional characters produced by the Japanese company Sanrio. Designed by Ikuko Shimizu, the first product, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974, and in the United States in 1976. … The Hello Kitty line has since developed licensing arrangements worth more than $1 billion a year in sales. Examples of products depicting the character include dolls, stickers and greeting cards to clothes, accessories, school supplies, dishes and home appliances.

This might be good for Valentine’s Day. Sanrio has licensed an awful lot of Hello Kitty products, and who would not enjoy a Saturday afternoon flaunting their Hello Kitty Lawnmower?

Robert C. Lehrman

Pine Liqueur, Pine Beer, Fir Brandy

Obama: Where the Line is Drawn

Pee Like a Racehorse (or an Old Woman)

The Washington Legal Foundation Comment; Top 6 Things to Know

Diamonds, Gold & Vodka: What Recession?

Hello Kitty Wine

Federal District Court Declares Federal Ban on At-Home Distilling Unconstitutional

Foreign Producers Should Get Ready for Big CBMA Tax Benefits

No Beer for Putin

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Federal District Court Declares Federal Ban on At-Home Distilling Unconstitutional

Foreign Producers Should Get Ready for Big CBMA Tax Benefits

No Beer for Putin

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