By now, almost everyone has seen and had a chance to partake of the many cold-activated beer cans. Here is something a little different — a cold-activated spirits bottle.

Box 19 of the approval for Metropolis says:  “Labels contain thermochromatic ink – the cityscape will change when temperatures increase/decrease.” The label goes a bit further, to say “Chill your bottle to light up the night. Label changes when chilled.” Metropolis also has approvals for gin and vodka.

Chromatic Technologies, Inc. explains that such inks change color as their temperature changes. “Our thermochromic inks all work the same way … below the activation temperature they are colored and above the activation temperature they are clear or lightly colored. As the ink cools, the original color returns.”

B&H Colour Change Ltd. also claims to be a world leader in thermochromic printing and further explains:

The whole label or a small part will change colour at a selected temperature to show when the beverage is the correct temperature for serving/drinking. Bottle shrink sleeves can be preprinted with thermochromic inks prior to sleeving. Board packaging for take-home multipacks can be printed with thermochromic ink, to encourage consumers to chill them in the fridge.

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Here is Ron Jeremy’s “Adult Rum.” It is imported by One Eyed Spirits, of Texas.

John was going to say something witty here. But, upon reflection, we should not touch it with or without a ten foot pole.

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The people that set up the pre-market approval system for alcohol beverages probably did not anticipate that, sooner or later, it would come to this. Here is Erection Rum, imported by Data Commodities of Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Most of the world’s rum is produced in the Caribbean. Not a lot has been made in the US.

But lately there are signs of incipient production in California. Here are two:  Agua Libre and Eurydice. Both are made by St. George Spirits in Alameda, California. A Swedish blog explains:

Eurydice starts with the fresh-pressed cane juice of 100% California-grown sugar cane. The cane, grown in Southern California, is harvested and crushed at St George Spirits’ Alameda facility where it is fermented with two strains of wine yeast designed to accent the fruit and floral notes of the cane.

It is good to see that TTB is not asserting that an appellation may not be indicated. On some occasions TTB has asserted that vintage-, varietal-, and appellation-type claims should not be made on distilled spirits products because these subtle characteristics are not discernible after distillation.

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In the last post we showed a bottle that lights up.

This time, we have a functional package that goes a bit further. It lights up and plays music. Thank goodness for this video that captured it in action, before it faded off into oblivion. TTB approved Coyopa Rum back in 2001. At box 17, the approval says:  “Bottle may be equipped to play music (no words or lyrics) … may light up. … ‘Label and package made in China.’” Box 16 mentions that it’s a “distinctive liquor bottle.”

Like a lot of products, it does not seem to have lasted very long. This old, undated article explains:

The idea for Coyopa came to [Sidney] Frank in a dream; a vision of a bottle that played music and was animated. … He hired an engineer to design the electronics for the interactive label, and turned to R.L. Seale, a premier rum producer in Barbados to create the … rum. … “They might think it’s crazy at first, or just a gimmick, but once you get a good look at it, you are mesmerized. My Active Label® is a true breakthrough.”

Perhaps 2001 was a bit too early; the functional packages seem to be rolling out with greater regularity late in the same decade.

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One of the main warnings says, “Do not use this product for flaming dishes or drinks.” It’s a little bit like a Maserati with a warning that you should not exceed 55 mph.

We kind of thought flaming drinks were one of the main purposes for this product. If not, we went in search of the more conservative uses for this product. We found very little, with no trace of this product on Bacardi’s US website. This group seems to have no idea what to do with it either.

At an even higher concentration of alcohol is Golden Grain Grain Alcohol. It is 95% alcohol and is also plastered with warnings throughout the front, back and neck labels. This is a rare example of TTB allowing warnings other than the specific health warning mandated by Congress (see this for an example of a warning not allowed). It’s hard to say the extra warnings are not warranted here.

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Rogue Spirits makes a Dead Guy Whiskey “Ocean Aged in Oak Barrels for 1 Month.” Is it a gimmick or a good idea? Let’s just say they are not alone in searching high and low to make innovative products. Ocean Vodka “uses deep sea water from Hawaii” according to Luxist. “The water is drawn from 3,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean … to be devoid of surface pollutants.”

Montanya Distillers is headed in the other direction. They make Mountain Rum in Silverton, Colorado, where it is “altitude aged” far from the seas.

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Camper English wrote a great post about Cachaca, at Alcademics a while back. But he showed only small pieces of the label, leaving some room for us to come in with the labels and approvals. Alcademics said:

Of all the competitions between all the spirits brands, there is no more heated battle than the one for dominance of the cachaca market. Cachaca, Brazilian rum made from sugar cane (instead of molasses) is the ingredient in the Caipirinha … there are thousands of cachacas in Brazil, and most Americans don’t know what cachaca is.

He points out the leading brands, at this point, are Sagatiba, Cabana and Leblon. The Cabana label and its racy ad is above. We hesitate to categorize these products as rum, because the cachaca producers tend to insist it is not rum. But for now, TTB classifies it as rum, and requires “rum” on the label, as on each label here.

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If the US Government is warming up to North Korea, how much longer can it be until Cuban Rum is back? TTB has started to allow a small number of products from North Korea, and the news a few days ago is that this is part of a broader US-North Korea cooperation. Does anyone find the D in DPR a tad misleading? A good trend or bad?

We’ll go way out on a limb and foolishly boldly predict that Cuban Rum will be back in the US (legally) within two years, after an almost 50-year absence. The story is documented in this new book:  “Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause.”

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