I don’t mean to keep harping on the Tito’s Vodka cases — but there sure are a lot of them — and they are important. Because there are so many, it is not easy to keep track of how it’s going, hence this handy Scorecard. Most of the cases are slowly grinding along, with no clear winner or loser (as shown with the ⇔ symbol). At one extreme, the Aliano case went especially well for Tito (⇑). At the other extreme is the Hofmann case (⇓). In late November Judge Miller allowed Hofmann, the first-filed case, to go forward, past the defendant’s motion for summary judgment. It got even worse, five days later, when the court gave the plaintiffs permission to go into the plant and see exactly how Tito’s Vodka is made, despite the company’s strong objections.

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  We reached out to Tito and his lead lawyer to make sure we are not missing anything important, and to ask a few questions, as follows. From early on, Tito said he knew it was going to be a long haul.

How’s it going? Business has continued to be good. The lawsuits have been a distraction. But our consumer base is growing, and they have been extremely loyal. They appreciate Tito’s Handmade Vodka for...

This webinar is today. I should have put this up a long time ago to give you all a chance to sign up. Anyway, it should be great because where else can you get some Tom Cunningham and Simon Fleischmann for less than the cost of a few rounds of fancy cocktails? The signup link is here and it’s not too late to sign up. The topic is all the recent lawsuits like Tito’s, Maker’s Mark, Beam, etc. Tom and Simon are seasoned trial lawyers on the defense side, and I will cover the regulatory issues.

Kombucha law is on the front page of tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal. Because kombucha law is so interlinked with alcohol beverage law, this is to underscore some alcohol beverage points only touched upon lightly in the article (subscription required).

1. TTB has decided that most kombucha is beer for tax and permit purposes.
2. This is because it is fermented tea. It is beer rather than a “malt beverage” because it lacks hops and malted barley.
3. Most kombuchas are over 0.5% alcohol by volume during production, but less than that amount after bottling and at consumption. These can be called over-under kombuchas.
4. It is ok for a kombucha to be 0.5% alcohol by volume or higher, after bottling, but only if the product jumps through most of the hoops required for Budweiser. This would include permits, taxes, a Government Warning, no sales to minors, sales via the three tier system. These can be called over-over kombuchas.
5. Unlike Budweiser, the legal requirements would not include TTB label approval, because, like gluten free beer, the product lacks the hops and malted barely that would otherwise confer labeling jurisdiction upon TTB.
6. Most kombuchas need FDA rather than TTB labeling.
7. The article mentions a few recent lawsuits on these topics. So far there are five class action lawsuits. Two of...