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Message on a Bottle: The Programmable Vodka Display

Liquor brands, especially vodka brands, have to do a lot to compete for attention on the shelf. Some accomplish this with tall bottles, others with oddly-shaped bottles that don't fit on the shelf or bottles shaped like skulls, and still others with bottles that light up when you pick them up.

Someone just stepped up the game. I saw an ad for this new vodka Medea that has a programmable rotating LED display.

I was curious as to how one programs it, so I went to the website where they have a video. With only a couple of buttons but the option to write several long messages one letter at a time (avoid words with "Z" as you'll be pressing the button 26 times- and the space bar comes after "Z"), you'll probably finish drinking the bottle of vodka long before you finish programming your message of "LETS GET CRUNK TOGETHER."

Watch the video here:

How to Program a Message on Your MEDEA Bottle from Medea Spirits on Vimeo.

After watching the video I'm tired and frustrated and I haven't even tried to code the thing. It reminds me a lot of the Macbook Wheel.

New Bottles: 1800 Tequila

I really like the 1800 Tequila Essential Artists series, for which artists submit their work to be included on tequila bottle labels. Well, they just announced their new batch: 12 new bottles culled from 15,000 online entries. You can see them all here.

Some of my favorites from the new batch are below the jump, as is a link to a YouTube video of the series.

New Packaging for Two Tequilas

Cabo Wabo and Tres Generaciones recently changed packaging. That is all.

Derby Designs

Limited-edition bottles in honor of this weekend's Kentucky Derby.

Woodford Reserve:

Woodford Reserve Bourbon is the “Official Bourbon of Kentucky Derby 135” and has served as the official bourbon for the past eleven years. Capturing the adrenaline-filled world of horse racing through the eyes of a jockey, Woodford Reserve, an award-winning small-batch bourbon, is honoring the country’s favorite horse race with the release of its limited edition 2009 Kentucky Derby bottle featuring artwork by retired jockey Tom Chapman.

Early Times Pre-mixed Mint Julep:

In recognition of its “Official Drink of the Kentucky Derby” designation, Early Times commissioned renowned equine artist Celeste Susany to create an original oil painting of an actual scene at Churchill Downs® for its 2009 Derby bottle. 2009 marks Celeste’s 10^th anniversary of painting the artwork for the Early Times Mint Julep commemorative bottle. Entitled “Dueling Towards Destiny”, this year’s painting depicts two powerhouse horses in stride racing towards the finish line with the Derby crowd and famed Twin Spires in the background. Launching in April 2009, the newly labeled one-liter pre-mix bottle will be available in limited quantities throughout the United States for a suggested retail price of $14.99.

Also, this year for the Derby, Maker's Mark is making their pre-mixed Mint Julep available to more places, including California.

Thujone Delivery Vehicle

Wow- This is a great animated website, promoting a product in cool bottles with limited edition goth-style art.

It's too bad about what's in those bottles. They have the European legal maximum amount of thujone, the chemical in grand wormwood that is the supposed hallucinogenic (but isn't really unless you poison yourself with it). In the EU the limit is 35 parts per million as opposed to 10 in the USA.

The thujone is placed in 25% alcohol (most vodka is 40%, most absinthe is around 65%) then made less bitter according to the text on the website. So you get the minimum amount of flavor and the minimum amount of alcohol with the maximum amount of thujone. 

Oh well, at least for once the website is pretty.

Now Your Sneakers Can Match Your Tequila

You've probably seen the very awesome 1800 Tequila Essential Artists campaign, in which artists get to do bottle designs for 1800 Tequila.

Well now they've hooked it up so you can design a pair of sneakers with the bottle art. It's pretty cool, though the cost adds up the more art you use. Here are a pair I designed.

Want!

You Light Up My Glass

I was familiar with Ty Ku liqueur, the... uniquely-flavored beverage in a bottle that lights up when you lift it. But thanks to an ad in Cheers magazine I noticed that it now comes in four variations.

I was expecting the worst but luckily didn't find it. The new products are soju (blue), junmai ginjo sake (black), and junmai daiginjo sake (white). I haven't tried any of them, but I sort of like the black and white bottles.

Fun with Labels

I found two fun new bottle labels today. One from Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant is a triple bock in 3D:

And this Kenwood wine label was done by Shepard Farley, he of Obama poster and Andre the Giant fame. (Check the necklace.)

 [link via art news blog]