speaks for itself

I always sort of knew my wife would end up in Time Magazine, with Donald Trump and a bottle of whiskey. The Time article about Margie Lehrman, ACSA, whiskey — and even George Washington — is here.

The key part says:

What is bad news for consumers is worse news for distillers in the U.S. says Margie Lehrman, executive director of the American Craft Spirits Association — especially small and medium-sized businesses. “The EU is a very important market for craft producers who have really boomed in recent years, creating 20,000 new jobs,” she says. “The President should consider the impact not only on the companies but also on the communities that they’re working in. These distilleries have often brought life and even tourism to run-down parts of towns, that previously people just didn’t go to.”

Lehrman also questions the sincerity of Trump’s “America First” rhetoric. “It’s a shame whiskey has been caught up in this because if you go back to the roots of our country, with George Washington having a distillery at Mount Vernon, it’s really American heritage that’s being attacked here,” she says. “We urge the E.U. and the U.S. to work together to fix this and a stance that is mutually beneficial.”

Who did not see this coming but should have? Hey Christopherson, who says beer and wine are closely related/un-related for trademark purposes? Hey Messinger thanks for telling me about this.

It is common knowledge that the beer field is crowded, when it comes to trademarks. But many steps further, even the beer-fish-trademark field is crowded, it appears.

1. Dogfish
2. Ballast Point Yellowtail
3. Sculpin
4. Roosterfish
5. Shark Attack

And so on. NPR noted:

American trademark law lumps breweries together with wineries and distilleries, making the naming game even chancier. A widely circulating rumor has it that Yellow Tail Wines, of Australia, came after Ballast Point Brewing Co., in San Diego, for naming a beer “Yellowtail.”

Ballast Point’s pale ale is now conspicuously lacking a fish-themed name (a signature, if not a trademark, of the brewery), though an image of a brightly colored yellowtail still resides plainly — and legally, it seems — on the label. A spokesperson for Ballast Point said the company could not discuss the matter.

Here is an innovative new spirits product called Cocktail Caviar. It is “burst-able pearls of naturally flavored spirits.” You can toss them in some wine, or freeze them and add them to other drinks. The product is so new that there is not much about this product on the web so far.

If I understand correctly, these chickpea sized “pearls” are a giantized version of the tiny booze droplets that make up Palcohol. Here, the alcohol is encapsulated in a layer of kelp and so it not quite a liquid and not quite a solid. Maybe there is shock fatigue after the Palcohol surprise, or the size of the pearls makes an enormous difference, or it’s the upscale marketing — but it does not seem like this product is bound to raise hackles the way the powderized product has. Steven Hollenkamp, the man behind this product, explained that part of the appeal of the brand name is that “caviar” is not at all likely to appeal to minors.

I happened to meet Steven this week and he explained:

We worked diligently with TTB getting Cocktail Caviar approved. This included 240 emails, dozens of phone calls and several in-person meetings with TTB administrators, one of which was a lengthy sit down meeting with several high-ups at...