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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A long way from painted urns, or ink on paper, here is another example of innovative, functional, modern, social(?) beverage packaging. My Bud Light encourages the consumer to modify the labeling a little bit. Bud’s press release says:

Message On A Bottle: Bud Light Introduces ‘My Bud Light’ Packaging
New Package Allows Consumers to Add Personal Message on Bottle’s Label

ST. LOUIS (April 1, 2011) – Bud Light, the world’s best-selling beer, is introducing a new way for beer drinkers to personalize their bottles with the brand’s latest packaging innovation, “My Bud Light.”

Beginning April 4, Bud Light 12-oz. bottles will feature the My Bud Light label, which allows adult beer drinkers the unique opportunity to add their own personal touch to the bottle. Using a key or coin, consumers can “write” a message or draw an image on the label.

“This new bottle is one of the many ways we can bring Bud Light’s fun personality to life,” said Mike Sundet, senior director, Bud Light. “Bud Light drinkers are always looking for fun, quirky ways to express themselves, and the My Bud Light bottle offers them a canvas to do just that.”

A Chicago purveyor of other beer-personalization-paraphernalia hastens to add:  “Following BeerTAG’s footprint, the new innovation from Budweiser further confirms the consumer demand for a great beer identification solution.”

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We thought this approval (for Smirnoff Frozen Vodka & Lemonade) was noteworthy because it points out several things.

First of all, it tends to show that it’s okay to add a little bit of extra verbiage, to the mandated statement of composition, on a distilled spirits specialty. The required statement is probably VODKA WITH NATURAL FLAVORS AND FD&C YELLOW #5. The one on this label adds a few extra words such as MADE WITH SMIRNOFF. It adds a few other descriptors nearby, at VODKA & LEMONADE.

Second, it tends to show it’s okay to put the color details on the back, if the general statement is on the front. CERTIFIED COLOR (general) is on the front and CONTAINS FD&C YELLOW #5 is on the back only.

Third, this shows it can take a lot of work and a mighty long time for a big company to bring a product to market. This approval is already about eight months old, and there is no sign of  this product on the web or at the indicated domain.

Fourth, it’s probably an unusual, pouch-type package and freeze technology, based on the approval, but we’ll need to wait a bit longer to see it.

Finally, as with many other Smirnoff-branded products, the references to VODKA are very large, even though it could be said that it’s not vodka.

These are fairly technical points, but many of these issues arise often.

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Distinctive container? Box 18c of this approval says it is.

Kodiak Imports, of San Diego, California, has several TTB approvals for spirits products packed in containers that look quite a bit like fire extinguishers. If you stop and think about it, the brand name doesn’t exactly suggest that it puts out fires, and the back label points out that “This is not a fire extinguisher.” Then again, it does look a lot like exactly that. The website says “The multi award winning packaging looks like a fire extinguisher, complete with a locking pin, lever, and a nozzle through which Firestarter Vodka is poured.” Thank goodness it’s only 80 proof.

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Well it’s not exactly the Elvis-type decanter so popular in the age of Mad Men, but here is a bottle that more or less breaks the conventional mold. Republic Tequila is imported by Momentum Brands, of Austin, Texas. The Jim Beam Club site has a good collection of, well, collectible decanters, and we wonder if Republic is sufficient to make the cut.

This is an example of a “distinctive container” (as at item 18(c) of the approval) and helps explain why the familiar COLA form happens to mention bottle approval (and not just label approval) in the name of the form. Thanks to a friendly person in Texas for sending this photo.

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It looks a fair amount like Tourment Absinthe, but this time around it’s beer. Or, more specifically, Tourment “Absine Refresher” Gargoyle Citrus is a malt beverage with wormwood and other flavors. The product is made by City Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and it has also been approved in a Bohemian Berry version.

From time to time, TTB explains that there is no specific US standard for “absinthe,” so we wonder if it was really necessary to drop the TH out of ABSINE.

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Distinctive liquor bottle indeed. Here is Popsy, complete with the 17c distinctive liquor bottle approval box checked off. This liqueur is made in Germany and imported by Import ANT Wines of Venice, Florida.

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It only takes a few minutes to upload your label to COLAs Online, if it only has about one panel, such as this beer label. On the other hand, if you have a bag-in-box container, it’s a lot more work. TTB wants every panel of the box uploaded separately. Gallo’s Peter Vella wine is a good example of how TTB wants it. Each of six panels is uploaded so that the entire label approval runs six feet or more when printed.

It is common for bag-in-box containers to show the equivalent measure in bottles, ounces or glasses. This can trip up the unwary, as in this recent rejection. TTB generally requires not just the size of the box but also the size of each unit to which the box is compared (for example, “5L is equivalent to 6.5 750 ml. bottles”). The Vella label shows how TTB wants it.

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Whipahol must be doing well, because now along comes another “Alcohol Infused Whipped Cream.”

It apparently is packed in an aerosol can. The back label says “CREAM is completely shelf stable and DOES NOT need to be refrigerated even after use.” The qualifications suggest that TTB wanted to check out this claim. This is canned by Temperance Distilling Company in Temperance, Michigan. For other advances in things whipped, there is Pinnacle Whipped – Whipped Cream Flavored Vodka.

November 30, 2010 Update:  here is a good CNBC clip on Whipahol, from yesterday. It is hard to believe that this light and frothy product can be portrayed as something sinister, and whipped up into the next “controversy in a can.”

December 8, 2010 Update:  the whipped booze products get so very much attention (including our extensive on-air interview with CBS radio) that TTB issues a statement, to explain how such products are regulated.

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Here is Adult Chocolate Milk. It is liqueur, made by Temperance Distilling Company in Temperance, Michigan.

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