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donkeygin

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  1. I think I asked too many questions. Let's dial it back, and just look at TM.. There are currently 4 TM given for: 'Hot Rod' 1. protein-based or granola-based meal replacement bars for medical purposes 2. Australian red table wine excluding tea or herbal tea flavored wine 3. dietary and nutritional supplements in the nature of [ heral ] * herbal * teas 4. Herb Tea So, I'm afraid if I go after: 'Hot Rod' TM 5. distillery of spirits (gin, vodka, whiskey) excluding wine, tea, dietary supplements and meal replacement bars I might still get pushback. If instead I go for a different Trademark: Hot Rod Distillery or Hot Rod Spirits Will that give me more protection?
  2. I'm based in Asia, looking to primarily sell regionally - however of course would be interested in internet fulfillment to US and EU and eventual distribution. Would suck to get a brand going here - and find someone in Connecticut or Germany has started using the same brand. I did a search on TESS and COLA and don't see my brand name, lets call it: 'Hot Rod Distillery' - it's actually pretty damn to difficult to believe that my name isn't already in use... So I'm a bit nervous. It IS however already taken for tea, and a cooperative (medical). Meaning 'Hot Rod' (tea manufacturer) is TM and 'Hot Rod' (a cooperative) is TM and in legal battle with tea guys. a problem? I'm incorporated here, in my country. Do I need to seek trademark for my brand in US, EU and every country I wish to sell? Or, maybe just the few largest ones? Or is just the US enough? I'm only producing gin - should I seek 'Hot Rod Gin' or go with 'Hot Rod Distillery' I believe they say you have to be conducting commerce prior to issuing the Trademark. Is setting up a website and selling collateral enough to start? I don't have artwork / brand to go with the name yet. I wanted to secure the TM before sharing my business idea with several design firms because I have a fairly unique bottle / brand concept. Wouldn't want it to show up on their next client gig. I'm going to try to submit the TM myself and see how it goes. Any help appreciated.
  3. Just putting together a spreadsheet for botanical prices as I ordered a testing still and want to try out my recipes: Compared Starwest, Mountain Rose, Pacific and Herbco Pretty large disparity in prices, even though some seeds / roots are coming from the same country (Egypt, India, etc). For ease of computation just looked at per pound price for a few basics: Coriander, Cubeb, Grains of Paradise, Licorice root, Angelica, Orris Root, Anise, Juniper Starwest: $165.00 Mountain Rose: n/a Pacific: $112.00 Herbco; $74.00 Mountain Rose didn't have enough of the above to count, and Pacific would have come out a bit more expensive as they were missing Juniper. (say around $130) Guess question is, are you really getting better quality from Starwest to justify the 100%+ markup? Or, conversely - is Herbco offering substandard ingredients for those prices? And of course - second question, what's the best place to source your Juniper berries?
  4. thanks for the link. nice looking taster still. did you: - macerate the botanicals in some kind of muslin bag - find a way to suspend them in this pot to steam infuse - do one botanical at a time and mix them later? won't even ask what the Artisan cost you.
  5. Hey, Still wet behind the ears (dripping), hope this is the right forum. Looking to create a craft gin shop. A few questions; - Understand a pot still with helmet is good enough, no column needed? I'll just be using NGS with botanical basket. Can anyone point the way to a decent starter copper or stainless still for gin? - How many bottles per 8hr day should I aim to produce for just starting out? (just selling locally and regionally at first). Just a ballpark - as this will decide the size of my pot. - Still unclear if macerating the botanicals or hanging them in a basket is best? Is there a decent resource that explains the difference and a walkthrough? I noticed some are using one herb a time and making concentrated botanicals and then mixing them, vs heaping them all in the basket for each batch. Also see that soaking them requires less botanicals. - Anyone have a link to a very small 4 - 6 liter home pot still to test my recipes - while I wait for the big pot? - I'm in Asia, my country has (very) few laws concerning alcohol production, and my shop is in a special economic zone, so importing / exporting are pretty easy. Is there an issue with direct sales to US or EU through internet fulfillment? I see that US and EU are INSANE with hoops you have to jump through if you're there and trying to produce - but what about foreign alcohol coming in? When I was in US I would regularly order from UK and Thaiand and never had issues. - Get so confused when I see gin startups using equipment like this ( http://blog.invisionapp.com/gin-design-process/) what am I even looking at here? The big tank is probably NGS, the smaller converted kegs are what?? Yes I would love a pretty copper pot - but beauty be damned, if there's a cheaper way to start out and that lets me spend more on quality, marketing and sales - I'm all for it.. - Where are most people sourcing their bottles from? I see plenty in China (close to me), some in France, Turkey etc. I've spent countless hours looking at branding and bottles online and notice there seem to be <40 bottles that most craft shops are picking from. I have a unique vintage bottle I want to reproduce - any idea where to go? - I'm sure there's a LOT of complexity I've yet to see. However gin production (starting with NGS) seems pretty cut / dried - compared to other industries like wine making - why do most craft businesses fail? Is it because they don't have a strong brand or differentiator? Poor marketing skills? Jump into it too quickly? Spend too much? - I have a large plot of farmland and people to farm it. Is it worth it to grow my own botanicals organically? Or just source them.. It seems that most craft shops are looking to be unique by finding the most exotic sounding botanicals available - 'orange peel' isn't enough - they need mongolian-highland-star-shaped-blood-orange-peel Is this mostly just marketing? I'll stop there, already too many questions. Appreciate it.
  6. Cool, you just saved me some money Do you have any links to what you started with and are currently using? Thanks for the response!
  7. Hey guys, Still in the research phase to see if I want to jump into the craft gin business. I'm a long-time expat living in Asia, if you can believe it there's not one single gin manufacturer in this country - that's just wrong.. I'd like to fix that. I spent a few weeks learning more about about the history of gin, another week researching distilling NGA just so I'd have the background. Fascinating stuff, from technical point of view to the artisanal quality of the final product! It's a bit overwhelming, like going back to school where there are 50 professors and each talks a little bit about the subject or related subjects and you have to put it all together on your own, and you can't ask questions. I have a local source for NGA, so that simplifies things. As far as I understand I primarily need a pot still with a basket for the botanicals. If I could get a handle on what kind of equipment I need for steam infused Gin it would go a LONG way in me not ripping my hair out. http://www.hillbillystills.com/product/3-pot-still-and-26-gallon-boiler-hs5500-combo-with-thermoport/ I saw this, but it doesn't seem exactly right. I'm sure there are better manufacturers. There are tons of tinsmiths, metal guys around me, but this is really technical equipment, I'd rather just buy a still to begin with and fabricate if I grow. I read this excellent PDF: http://www.phillippdunn.com/liqour/MakingGinVodka.pdf But the author promotes using a water heater as a still.. Not exactly what I was thinking. If some empathetic soul could jump in and answer ANY of questions I would be grateful. I have a million, but have edited it down to 5. 1. Can you point me to a decent quality setup / still needed for taking NGA and turning it into a final product with botanicals? 2. Are online classes like distilleryuniversity.com worth the dosh? Or are they geared more towards making whisky and home stills. 3. I run a marketing / design business, I understand it takes awhile to market any brand / product - what sized operation / output should I shoot for? To start with I'll be selling locally, then (hopefully) regionally, along with international direct fulfillment. I'd rather scale up then grow up (due to initial costs). 4. I have some regional botanicals that I want to use in my recipe. I understand this business takes a long time to get up and running. How do most craft business start out testing their mixes? Buy a small home still kit and start testing? 5. I have a large amount of farmland here, and plenty of workers to farm it. However some of my botanicals just won't grow (11b) like Juniper (doh!) Is it even worth it to try to grow my own herbs organically - or do most craft shops just purchase in bulk and store them? Thanks so much!
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