media buzz

Mention the words “kombucha” and “buzz” in 2006 and you’d likely be referring to the drink’s growing popularity. But mention those same words today and you’d likely be talking about allegations the fermented tea drink contains a small but legally significant amount of alcohol. As a recent TTB statement illustrates, the Bureau is working with FDA to ensure that kombucha sold as a non-alcoholic beverage—currently all kombucha—contains less than 0.5% alcohol. Some reports claim kombucha contains up to 3% alcohol. From the TTB release:

Kombucha is a fermented tea that is typically marketed as a non-alcoholic beverage, which means that it may contain a trace amount of alcohol, as long as the overall alcohol content is less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume. In some cases these products have alcohol contents that significantly exceed 0.5 percent. At this point, TTB does not know how many brands might be affected by this issue. […] TTB plans to take samples of kombucha products from the marketplace and test their alcohol content in order to determine if the products are labeled in compliance with Federal law. If TTB finds alcohol beverages that are not labeled in accordance with Federal law, we will take appropriate steps to bring them into compliance.

TTB’s kombucha inquiry received...

It’s been a long time since any single wine label got as much press as the one above. We don’t want to rehash the Cycles Gladiator story yet one more time; it is well told here for example. Instead, we are curious about the lines dividing art, free speech and obscenity. TTB is regularly called upon to judge these matters. Today, it’s your turn to judge. Please take a peek (if you dare) and report your opinion in the poll below. A quick view of all four labels is here (this is the fastest and easiest view, for the poll). [polldaddy poll=”2111484″] Another view, showing the full label approval for each product, is below.

• A.  Cycles Gladiator Red Wine
• B.  Toogood Foreplay Red Wine
• C.  Mendielle Vertu Merlot
• D.  Naughty Nancy’s Nut Brown Ale

Go ahead and vote in the poll or comment or both.

Maybe the world is not in such a sorry state after all, if there is room for outrage about a few beers named after exits on the New Jersey Turnpike. Various media report that MADD was alarmed about Flying Fish Brewing Company’s new Exit 4 beer, named after the nearest highway exit. Google already has well over 8,000 hits for this puny controversy. MADD is apparently concerned about linking driving with drinking, or condoning the same. But even the most cursory review shows that the link here, and the impropriety, are tenuous to put it mildly. Speaking of tenuous connections, it will be difficult for Flying Fish to find a connection between the unique aspects of 29 exits, and 29 distinctive beers. This is well evidenced by Exit 11, the second in the series; the connection is that both relate to … a confluence. Plenty of other labels highlight a highway or exit. Side Pocket Foods has about 10 Exit 172 labels. This Weibel wine celebrates Route 66, and this Oak Ridge wine pays homage to Route 88. And here is Route 3 Chardonnay. There is no reason for MADD to be alarmed about any of them.