Slashdot Mirror
Nestle Patents Coffee Beer
Dotnaught writes "New Scientist reports that Nestec, a Nestle subsidiary, has applied for a patent on a fermented coffee beverage. In other words, coffee beer -- it foams like beer and packs the caffeine of coffee, with "fruity and/or floral notes due to the fermentation of the coffee aroma."
OMFG. Buzz Beer is teh shit! Kdawg will pwn your mother!
More wide-awake drunks.
in the Seattle area (Double Black) years ago!
Another frivolous patent.
Patently ridiculous!
I, for one, welcome our new drunk AND hyper overlords!
Marge: "Caw-fee!"
Bartender: "Bee-er?"
Why do people willingly put crap like this into their bodies? Caffeine isn't good for you. Neither is alcohol. Combine the two and you're not helping yourself.
Indeed, many of the best programmers I ever worked with were strictly against the use of caffeine and alcohol. Why is that? Because they needed to be at the top of their game, developing software that cannot fail. Hyperactivity or a clouded mind does not lead to good code, even if some claim it does.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
I don't drink beer, because I don't like the taste, but this sounds GOOD. mmmmm caffeine!
SecureThe.Net - Practical Resources for Securing Systems
The coffee keeps you going and the beer makes sure you don't have to care too much.
Physics is good
Homer
... and then they built the supercollider.
So much for 'free as in beer.'
How deliciously absurd!
End transmission.
I think Drew Carey has a lawsuit.
http://www.baramerica.com/bsreview/hybrid/006.html
Here's a food innovation that's up there with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Sheer inspiration.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens.
NB. I said beer was "knock-me-out" not "knock-me-up", so don't go getting any ideas. Not that the two are mutually incompatible, I guess...
Physicist, consultant, science communicator
If it looks like beer, foams like beer, but smells and tases like coffee, then it's this stuff. It has caffiene, but no alcohol. I'm wondering if this is just a novelty, or if there really is some place for it in the market since I think this probably would be more expensive than regular coffee. I would think if people want coffee they'd get coffee, and if they want beer they'd get beer. It just strikes me as a solution without a problem. A very clever solution, but still one without a problem.
Now someone please patent beers like blackberry honey wheat stout and things like pumpkin spice ale (ie "gay" beers or "beer for people who don't really like beer"). Then please sue the makers and get them off the market.
But don't drink too much, or you'll javomit.
Old people fall. Young people spring. Rich people summer and winter.
You'd think they'd at least come up with a better name for this 'drink,' instead of concatenating the two ingredients. Anyone who wants to see the patent application, the it's here [pdf]. I think I'll pass on the taste-test.
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Can I make ice cream out of it? (That should be one of My Rights Online too!)
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Beercola! http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/?t=archives&date= 2004-02-21
At first I thought it said "coffee *bar*" as in energy bar. I was INTO that idea! Edible coffee? Hell yeah!
I am not left-handed, either!
http://www.tvacres.com/beverages_beer_buzz.htm
;)
The Drew Carey Show
Robert Anton Wilson
Contrary to popular thought, some of the best beer out there is American. Arrogant Bastard Ale and Storm King Stout, anybody?
As much as people already abuse energy drinks, mixing a caffeinated beverage with an alcoholic beverage is insane. Now with people that will migrate their addiction to a new level, I see a pandemic of people becoming dangerously dehydrated.
The road between democracy and tyranny is paved with secrecy in the name of security.
Eh. This stuff has no alcohol content. No thanks! I'll take one of the Mountain Sun Brewery's Java Porters over this crap any day.
Two reasons:
1) Cappucino has a nice froth effect, as does macchiato, and they are delicious.
2) Ice coffee from vending machines is a staple in Japan, and it's delicious. It often has a bit of a foamy effect as well. Think soft drink, not hot beer!
I know someone who's been putting espresso into some of his homebrew for years (a bottle of it keeps you awake while you're working on a bender) but keeping the alcohol out is a new twist and might be worthy of a patent.
Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once... the bitch.
That's the first thing I think of.
Pyramid Brewries has it.
It tastes like crap, but http://www.molsonkick.ca/product.php?LANG=en Molson Kick is caffenated beer. "*Contains 3 g of guarana / 55 mg of caffeine per 341 ml bottle **Contains 3.1 g of guarana / 57 mg of caffeine per 355 ml bottle/can"
I thought my grandma patented apple pie!
I claim prior art! Drew
There are actually a ton of coffee beers, although not in the same sense as the article suggests:
http://www.ratebeer.com/ and search for 'coffee', 'mocha' or 'java'.
However, these are simply Porters, Stouts, etc. that are brewed as they would normally be but with the addition of coffee, being a complimentary and intuitive adjunct since roasted malts frequently contribute a coffeeish, roasty sort of malt bitterness and flavor to many dark beers.
In fact, this Nestle product wouldn't even seem to be eligible to be called beer since it doesn't appear to contain malt, a prime ingredient of beer along with water, hops and yeast.
Palaces, barricades, threats, meet promises
No thanks.
Beats me where these are from, but try St. Peters Porter or Original Flag Porter. (Original Flag may be US? Regardless, it beats any of the numerous US porters I've tried.) Any stout must top the standards of that category - Guiness, Murphy's, etc., and Storm King didn't do it for me. Even Rasuputin Imperial Stout was a more interesting drink. There are about 9 million different competitors in the ale category. It's hard for me, personally, to hand the #1 award to Arrogant Bastard, but it isn't a bad choice.
One of my favorite breweries already does this. Dogfish head's Chicory Stout is pretty decent.
From the URL:
"A dark beer made with a touch of roasted chicory, organic Mexican coffee, St. John's Wort, and licorice root."
I'd hope that the patent office would at least bother doing some research.
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
parent is obviously trolling.
"Buzz Beer" or "Cap-Beer-chino?" :)
Stay up and get drunk all over again!
Actually this drink does not contain any alcohol at all. I don't think it is really beer.
But anyway, for all those nay-saying this patent, I think it's a fairly decent one. It certainly isn't obvious!
From TFA:
Nestlé admits it was tricky to preserve the characteristic coffee smell in the production process. Coffee beans are roasted normally, and the chemicals containing the natural aroma collected in a cryogenic condenser, before being converted into coffee oil. The remains of the roast are then ground to powder, mixed with yeast and sucrose, and fermented for 4 hours at just below 22C. At this temperature the yeast can still metabolise but does not generate alcohol.
The aroma oil is then mixed in with the liquid and nitrogen is injected to make it foam. Adding a touch of extra sugar also helps trap the aroma until the drink is poured, Nestlé claim.
Now, ask yourself, is that obvious? I think this patent is perfectly acceptable.
"A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
You're just miffed that they don't brew coffee over there at SCO. It's understandable, really. I'd be cranky too! Plus if it weren't for the occasional game of five against one, I'd be barking mad, or at least worse than I usually am, at any rate. And that explains a lot of things, I think. Oh! You're gonna bitch about that, too I can hear it now--Something about how Carnal Tunnel Syndrome is a life long debilitating disease, and how it rots the brain, and causes arthritis and manus capillus! Well, you can take that thought, fold it until it's all sharp corners and shove it up your ass! And we'd better not catch you enjoying that.
Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
That's not BEER you smell on my breath, it's coffee. COFFEE! Hey, put those damn handcuffs away!
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
Goblins, trolls, orcs, demons, lizardmen, ogres, and werewolves have been drinking this stuff for years.
Drugs are just very lucrative. The question is : why not ten years ago, why not twenty ? That's a deep puzzle to me.
Stephan
http://stephan.sugarmotor.org
Google: Results 1 - 10 of about 73,300 for "coffee beer". (0.20 seconds)
Does anyone think they're the first to think of combining the two most addictive beverages in the world?
I'm sure the patent is much more specific than just mixing the two, enough to make it unique, but the general idea is nothing new. I really didn't know you could patent food, but I guess where there's a will there's a way.
Unless... maybe the editors know something we don't.
Maybe this beer reads RFID. Perhaps it scans our passports. Maybe it records our fingerprints with its innocent, refreshing-looking condensation and uploads them to the NSA. Maybe the DRM on this beer is a trap for people drinking it and listening to pirated mp3s. Perhaps it is chemically manipulated to induce truthful confessions from college students regarding their Bittorrent habits.
You guys may smell coffee. I smell a rat.
(Waves hand) Question...
How the fuck is this "your rights online"?
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
My guess is that the selling point of the product is that it is a packaged foamy drink. It is easy to market foamy. Coffee shops do a good job selling foaminess. The other bottled caffiene drinks are all flat. So, something that foams might stand out.
What about the open source beer ? http://www.voresoel.dk/main.php?id=70 Made by a group of students at the IT-University in Copenhagen. It seems that they just copyed that idea.
Homer: Uh, yeah. I need something that will keep me awake,
alert, and reckless all night long.
Clerk: Well, Congress is racing back to Washington to outlaw
these. [puts a bottle of pills on the counter]
Homer: [takes bottle] Sold!
[downs most of the pills on the spot]
Clerk: Hey, you can't take that many pep pills at once.
Homer: No problem, I'll balance it out with a bottle of sleeping
pills. [takes another generous helping of pills]
-- "Maximum Homerdrive"
If you open yourself to the foo, You and foo become one.
I've been fermenting "coffee wine" at home here for the last 4 weeks. It should be ready by the 17th of this month and I am eager to try it. Nothing like caffinated alcohol.
Randimal: AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG-CG-AT-AT-CG-AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG-AT-CG-CG-AT-AT-CG-CG-AT-CG-AT-AT-CG
"The final product contains about 0.2% alcohol. Non-alcoholic fermented coffee beverages could be obtained if the process employs aeration during thefermentation with the yeast." Which they wont do because that'll kill the aeroma..
Ok so its non-alcoholic enough for sale in Canada as a Non Alcoholic Beverage.
Remindes me of Beavis And Butthead when they buy Non Alcoholic Beer.
so if you can come up with another way to make it they can swivel... ;)
Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
Nestle basically bought all of the chocolate manufacturing in Europe.
Take a look at your kitkat some time - licensed from Nestle.
I was at a restaurant at 10,000ft in the alps. Nestle hot chocolate, of course.
All of Nestle's chocolate products are made with powdered milk, except for Callier - the only Nestle chocolate made with fresh milk. Have fun getting it in the states.
Probably the only chocolatier that Nestle doesn't own is Caotina - damn hard to get that stuff in the states too.
My point is, Nestle has long been your chocolate overlord - the Microsoft or Google of chocolate, especially European chocolate.
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
Is getting drunk?
There is truth in humor.
This stout has coffee added to it and it is fantastic. Its rated #14 in the top 100 beers of the world at Beer Advocate If you live in Southern California its fairly easy to find in high-end grocery stores and better liquor stores.
Why the hell are they calling it Coffee beer if it doesnt have alcohol in it, it should be called frothy coffe or something similar......beer with caffeine....now that would be something worth a patent ;)..
I worked for them for many years and remember when their "water monopoly" got broken up by the French govt because they owned Perrier, Vital, and Evian. BTW: I really like their Perugina chocolates that you can find more and more frequently here in the United States. more choco monopoly stuff: http://www.nestleeuropeanchocolate.com/
Who invented this? Don't they just cancel eachother out? It's like the simpsons where homer takes sleeping pills and energy pills.
or else!
I know Coffee Beer existed before because I drank some more than 10 years ago.
b eerandotherbeverages.html
So I decided to pop a search out there:
http://www.californiawineandfood.com/links/coffee
Also from another site analysing beers: Mountain Sun's coffee beer also has more of a coffee flavor. "I love the Mountain Sun Java, but it has a lot more coffee character," Parker said. "That's the beauty of it. Even in something as esoteric as a coffee beer you can have a range of choices. That's what makes brewing great."
===
Can you patent something that has been around for awhile, just because it hasn't been patented yet? I thought you can only patent your own ideas?
WTF?
MoM++ - A Classic Expanded - [Master of Magic 1.5]
http://mompp.sourceforge.net/
People have been using coffee as an ingredient in stouts for years!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_stout
Guinness
Nice weather for penguins...
The patent in TFA calls the invention "a coffee beverage" and "a process for making such products." What gives?
you can have my violent video games when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.
Prime UID Club
In the same article they mention a "Cellphone chaperone", interestingly mine http://www.meta-sat.com/ and several other built-in car-phones can do exactly that. From certain numbers previously registered with the phone you can call the car and listen in to what is happening. It is used by numerous delivery companies. They go further and can upgrade the phones software remotely too.
There was even a demonstration of such a system on British TV at least 10 years ago being used by the police in "sting" operations against car thieves.
How do they get a patent for such a thing when there is just so much prior art?
threadeds blog
Pass me some of that weed, dude! My aroma is fermenting!
fifth sigma, inc.
...or didn't you know that, submitter?
pfft.
vk.
i was out last night, entering the office this morning with a good hangover, and what do i have to read? coffe beer? only my superior fast alt-tab-reflex prevented me from throwing up all over my keyboard. lesson learned: hangover + slashdot = not good.
On second thought, let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.
Forget coffee beer -- I'm sticking with Kahlua (a coffee liqueur). It's versatile. You can drink it, you can mix it with other forms of alcohol to create mixed drinks, you can add chocolate and ice cream to make a mudslide, you can put it in a milkshake, you can add it to brownies, you can make tiramisu...
Heck, you can put Kahlua in coffee!
I don't see being able to do any of that with a beer made from coffee. Not if I want the result to be drinkable, anyway.
and I could have scooped them - some years ago, I noticed that the stale instant Nestle tastes incredibly lot like a stale weak beer. (I thought it was nice that they did not use the usual burnt motoroil flavor like Folgers'). So they were just passing a beta version of their birra Coffiest!
I doubt that we will ever figure out - and I suspect that even if we did figure out we couldn't do much about it
Hmm..I liked this better when it was called Baileys Irish Cream & Coffee.
Charlie Papazian in the 'Bible' of homebrew talks about the use of coffee in brewing beer, and I believe this stands since the first edition in 1984.
...taking tranquilizers and sleeping pills at the same time. Highly dangerous to your health.
And yes, this also reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer loses the Steak Eating Contest.
I dont eat much chocolate, but when I am over in the USA, I make sure that I get some hersheys products. They are quite tasty. Kisses and Peanut Butter cups, especially.
I was thinking, shortly after I first heard about that Open Source Gurana-enhanced beer, that it would be really funny to mess with the idea and highlight the brokenness of the patent system by taking out a patent on "Enhancement of Beer by Brewing With Naturally Occuring Stimulants"
Now I really, _really_ wish I'd gone through with an application!!
455fe10422ca29c4933f95052b792ab2
Caffeine has been around for centuries and again, within moderation, it isn't going to kill you or make you stupid.
"Coffe is a slow poison. It has to be. I have drunk eight cups a day for fifty years, and I am still not dead." -- Voltaire
A google search for coffee beer turned this up: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4073075.stm Seems somebody's made coffee beer alreadly
"Nestle Patents Coffee Beer"
Applying for a patent is not the same as patenting- trust me. Remember all that crap lying around that is completely unremarkable, yet has "pat. pend." embossed on the side?
However it is typically true that, patent application+$40k in lawyer fees=patent=PROFIT!
Funny, still no reference of those tomatoes crossed with tobacco...
/Didn't RTFA
Brought to you by Homer.
Then what is it good for???
Is there anyome there who's able to do this *above* 22C? *wishesforit*
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Not all chocolate stouts have chocolate in them (but the smooth toasted malt gives a chocolaty flavour), however Youngs does:
Young's Double Chocolate Stout has an intriguing twist. Chocolate malt and real dark chocolate are combined with Young's award winning rich, full flavoured dark beer to craft a satisfyingly indulgent, but never overly sweet experience.
Pale ale and crystal malt, chocolate malt, special blend of sugars, Fuggle and Goldings hops, real dark chocolate and chocolate essence.
Mmmmmm!
...Kraft Foods?
They own suchard (known for their good hot chocolate) and Cote d'Or (best "normal customer chocolate" i know. especialle with nuts).
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
...is the Nutri-Matic machine.
Opinions expressed above are mine, and not my employees'.
I dont no if it is obvious or not but it has plenty of prior act eg.: Americas Triple Black Coffee Stout
Does it still have dead babies in it?
The Nestlé company sells powdered baby milk in the third world, using advertising methods that would be illegal in the West to suggest that it is "better" for babies than the natural milk that they have been drinking from their mothers' own breasts for years without ill effect. The upshot of this is twofold. Mothers who don't know better are left out-of-pocket buying an unnecessary product, and babies are exposed to health hazards from the unclean water {not to mention they don't get the massive immune system boost that comes from drinking breast milk}.
It isn't strictly Nestlé's fault that the local drinking water is so polluted, but it's still downright irresponsible of them to market their products in this way.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
I used to think Guinness would make a good beer float (as in, ice cream float) but never got around to trying it. I should patent it!
Their exact process for doing so may be somewhat unique, but coffee beer has been around for a long time, the most popular type being the coffee porter
I would say something about them not being able to stand up in court, but the caffeine helps with that.
"Hex, Bugs, and Rockn'Roll"
His was a beer with coffee flavoring if I remember the show correctly. This is coffee made in a similar fashion as beer. They are entirely different.
Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
Heck, I've been pouring Kahlua into my coffee at work every morning since...
Why are you all looking at me like that?
At this temperature the yeast can still metabolise but does not generate alcohol.
I thought I finally found something to get me through another day at work.
Make love, not reality television.
Dark Lord Imperial Stout comes directly to mind.
Adding coffee to beer is nothing new. Beer involves grain. This is something altogether different.
Mead is fermented honey. Beer is fermented grains (with other stuff added like fruit, honey or coffee). Wine is fermented grapes/fruit.
Fermented coffee would be?
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
You should never be coding for ten hours. Anybody working on serious software would never pull a stunt like that. Like you said, you start making mistakes. So it's better just to stop at eight hours, and start fresh the next day. Chances are you'll actually be in a better position to hit your deadline, because you're not stuck tracking down and fixing all the errors you made while drugged.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Finally, life imitates art - just like "Buzz Beer" on the Drew Carey Show. Their motto - "Stay up and get drunk all over again!"
Nestlé may own all European crap chocolatiers, but not the good stuff. Stop by Chocosphere and browse the selections. [snobby chef]Amedi and Valrhona are widely considered the world's finest brands and most certainly are _not_ owned by Nestlé; Callebaut isn't anything to sniffle at, either. I can't comment on anything else, those are the only three brands I've tried[/snobby chef]
Seriously though, if you're a chocolate fan, you need to try this stuff. I myself prefer the Valrhona Jivara milk chocolate, or the Amedi Porcelana if I'm in the mood for darck chocolate. Expensive, yes, but some things are worth paying for.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
Since when can recipes be patented?! I'm surprised Nestle hasn't patented the chocolate-chip cookie.
"A process by which cookie dough and chips of chocolate are combined and heated to extreme temperatures to modify the ingredients into a tasty treat we all love. Best served with milk. By the way, serving cookies with milk violates our earlier patent, a process and method to quench thirst through bovine means after cookie ingestion."
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
"The beverage is made in a similar way to beer, but fine-tuned temperature control stops the formation of ethyl alcohol. So the new drink could go down well with people who want a long tall pick-me-up while driving."
If I want a long tall pick me up while driving, I'll get my wife to run in to Dunkin' Donuts.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
One to two servings of ethanol per day demonstratively lower risk for heart disease. Similar studies suggest the same is true for caffeine. The amount caffeine present in two to three cups of coffee, when taken every day, improves cardiovascular health. Caffeine and ethanol, like most chemicals, are good when taken in the appropriate dose and harmful when abused.
Artisanal brewers have been using coffee in beer for the longest time...not that the patent office will ever notice that, given their sordid track record of late.
See: Wolf Tongue Brewery
Espresso Stout
Among others.
Some simple brewing facts for you: yeast metabolizes sugars, and gives off alcohol and CO2 as their by product. Coffee, in and of itself, has no sugars that are fermentable. Therefore, Nestle will have to add sugar. That's where they run into prior art: at that point, coffee is another adjunct to the brew. Since this has been done more or less since coffee was introduced to the Western hemisphere, their patent had better be extremely specific in order to withstand scrutiny. They certainly will not be able to patent the whole idea of "coffee beer" or for that matter, "coffee liquor" or anything else. The folks that make Kaluha must be laughing over their, ahem, coffee this morning.
As for the "fruity" flavors they are talking about, that is abother by-product of brewing. Most of the time, yeasts, especially ale yeasts, produce esters as by-products in addition to CO2 and alcohols. For a good example of this, go and buy a Weihenstephan beer (which is only the oldest continuously operating brewery in the world, since 725 AD,) whose flagship beer is a wheat beer that has pronounced clove and "fruity" esters because of the yeast that they use. They are specifically iso-amyl acetate, the same ester found in bananas. So, Nestle proposes to "patent" very natually ocurring brewing by-products? Note that Weihenstpehan is only one example. Head north to Belgium (the veritable Disneyland of beers) and you will find brews with every ester under the sun and more. So where can Nestles propose to patent something that has been done for centuries, and has the hallmark of a brewery that has been in operation for over thirteen centuries?
To use the British phrase: bullocks.
Hey wait a minute! Drew Carey invented that on his show, remember Buzz Beer, although in the show he did have to sell it off, maybe it was to Nestle?!
"Just remember, it takes a village idiot." -- The Motley Fool.
Well all I can say about this story is that the the idea of patenting a recipe is absurd. But "whilst I'm on" I thought I might as well share my favourite coffee related drink recipe.
Take 1 oversize pint glass. Add 1/3 pint Vodka and 1/3 pint cold filter coffee (this should be good quality filter coffee that has been left to go cold) Finally add 1/3 pint lemonade allowing it all to mix well (do it right and a slight frothing will ensue, do it wrong and you;ve got a table covered in froth !). Now add a couple of ice cubes to taste and drink.
It's got a lovely, almost chocolatey taste, gets you boozed up after a few and is far better than this "propietary", IP restricted Nestle rubbish to boot !
Hic... hic... hic...
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
Nuts & Gum... together at last!
Try Suntory Boss canned coffee or a Manhattan Special. The former can be difficult to find outside of Japan (though I've found it in NYC). Manhattan Special is an espresso soda, which I think would be great if it weren't so sugary. Neither is fermented.
Now if they'd just patent and produce toothpaste flavored orange juice, I'd be completely content with the variety of drinks available.
Content Management System: A pretentious way of saying "text editor."
I know people who program after drinking coffee and have a mug in their office. Having studied in Germany for a semester, I can't say I've ever seen anyone with a full beer stein in their office. Drinking on one's own time is not the same as drinking and trying to code.
That said, I gave up caffeine years ago. I love the taste of coffee so once every few months I'll indulge myself, but very rarely. I used to get tired at random points during the day as well as be fairly erratic mood-wise.
However, alcohol, I've found, doesn't have the same after-effects as caffeine, for me anyway. If alcohol effects you negatively, that's fine, no need to be a zealot, but that doesn't extrapolate to all of humanity. If you really want to go a step further, stop having sexual activity since it also clouds the mind and can make one lazy. Or maybe you should cut out eating, after eating, I usually feel the need to have a nap, and tiredness can't lead to good coding.
Unless you're a virgin and very picky vegan who advocates not eating cooked food, I'm afraid the absolutist reasoning breaks down rather quickly.
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
I guess having a patent to restrict availability of this idea is a very good thing...
Oh well, what the hell...
Since when has it become acceptable to grant patents on recepies? Even the Coca Cola Company does NOT have (and should not have) a patent on cola.
I would tend to agree with you, but certain food processing techniques (NOT recipes) are pretty, well, inventive. I don't know about you, but I don't have the equipment for cryogenic separation of coffee oil in my kitchen. Of course, their patent is useless if the product tastes like shit.
But let's say for the sake of argument that you are right in this case, that the coffee fermentation is just a recipe, and fairly obvious to someone "skilled in the trade," as patents always say. Does that mean all food processing techniques are obvious and non-patentable? Assuming, of course, you believe there is at least some benefit to having patents at all. The first innovative food idea that came to my mind was banana juice. I think making banana juice had been a challenge for years until these folks in India managed to have success, and I think their work certainly deserves a patent.
The american 'IP'-quest is getting more and more rediculous by the day. [sic]
I agree with that sentiment whole-heartedly. Lately I've been more and more sympathetic to the idea of abolishing intellectual property altogether--copyrights, patents, whatever. This is supposed to be a free market, right? Let the market sort it out: whoever has the best implementation, wins. How often does an inventor even get a dime from his or her invention? My grandfather's inventions made millions of dollars--for his employer. On the flip-side, the protection offered by patents allows companies to invest more in R&D, and without that capital expenditure, inventors wouldn't have access to labs and expensive equipment.
Si la vida me da palo, yo la voy a soportar Si la vida me da palo, yo la voy a espabilar
Here is one recipe from that link (I just might have to try it):
I don't 100% get the reference, as I find that show more insipid than Everyone Hates Raymond, but up north here we already have caffeinated beer.
Personally, I always thought that getting tired from excess alcohol consumption was the body's way of saying ENOUGH!, but it's hugely popular with ravers who can't get their E/meth fix in.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
But no doubt the claims in this patent are more specific than just "Beer with Coffee."
Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
Homer no function coffee well without?
Sounds similar to the soy sauce process. I agree that it's a recipe, and maybe they should use something other than patent to protect it.
Ahh sweet, sweet nicotine. and a link for the clueless. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomacco
D F T T!!!
Mir tut es leid, Menschen daß Einfältigfehlersuchenbaumfolgendenaffen sind.
I have enough problems when I mix SkyRocket caffeinated chocolate syrup with my 99 Bananas or Parrot Bay. Heart pumping harder, faster.... aieee!
Just because you can, does not mean you should.
Vores Øl beat them to it and licensed under the CC license. I wonder if Nestle has any derivative 'code' in their recipe?
just because it's fermented doesn't mean it's BEER
no alcohol, no hops, means no beer
it's just fermented coffee
Does anyone else wondering why this is filed under Your Rights Online?
FanFictionRecs.net
This must be for the Japanese market, where you are never more than a few feet away from a can of beer or a can of coffee. My guess in one of the seedier parts of Tokyo, a beer vending machine and coffee vending machine were dropped right next to each other outside a love hotel, and nine months later one of them vended this new beverage.
# wrote sig.txt, 23 lines, 31337 chars
Because it's not crap.
"The is no negative side effect to 5 or less cups of coffee a day." --Pharmacist I know.
My dentist told me it was better than drinking soda. He convinced me to drop soda entirerly in favor of coffee.
In laboratory rats caffine has been shown to reduce the negative side effects of radiation.
http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0952-4746/22/1/306
http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jul25/articles23.htm
Many others available if you search for caffeine and radiation.
I find being offended by me offensive.
Some tie wearing mongrel was watching re-runs of the Drew Cary Show.
-Fiend-
Correction: The beer most American's drink is piss.
Believe me, American microbrewers are cranking beers every bit as tasty (and often more daring and interesting) than what they are drinking on the other side of the Atlantic.
The one possible exception (but not with respect to variety) would be Belgium, because they make some fantastic stuff!
--Joey
I can claim prior art. I'm sure I did this once when drunk. I may even have the photos. Although I bet they're all blurry. It tasted good at the time, although the next morning when I reheated it... Ugh.
We already have the Double Black. They should stick with what they know.
What I want to see is Nestle Choc beer. Maybe frozen on a stick. Possibly syrup for ice cream.
I think you underestimate just how much I just dont care.
Mars is owned by Masterfoods International
http://www.beertravelers.com/micros/wolftongue.htm l
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4073075.stm
http://www.ineedcoffee.com/01/03/espressostout/
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Speciality_Beer_5140781_4
I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
Cut me a break. The other mention of Buzz Beer was post #13938847, a mere 54 posts before mine. At the time I hit the page and searched for other references it had not yet been posted. We must have been posting at very nearly the same time. And I get redundant for it. Boo, hiss.
Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewery beats the more mass produced stuff all hollow. But I don't know if you can find it anyplace outside of Oregon...
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Nestle is the worlds largest food & beverage manufacturer, but they do not own all of the Chocolate. There are plenty of other brands: Masterfood (Mars, M&M', etc) Ferrero (Rocher, Rafaelo, Nutella, tic-tac, etc) Cadbury Lindt Plus Nestle gives your the 5 worlds largest manufacturers. Nestle is just so big as it owns things you wouldn't even know about. Such as a large share in L'Oreal cosmetics. They certainly spread their wings.
I let coffee ferment in day-old beer in college, about 10 years ago. Unfortunately someone consumed all the evidence.
Seriously, there were breweries doing this in 1999 in Seattle (where else), so they are going to have to use a lot of weasel words to make the patent hold water.
- - - Non Caffeine Drink or Drink Error
Beer made from java, but is it cross platform?
http://www.patentlysilly.com/patent.php?patID=6749 882
It might be more helpful to point out that the fermentation process for this product leads to something along the lines of a traditionally made soft drink, such as ginger beer, dandelion & burdock or fermented lemonade, having nearly or actually no alcohol. The process they employ is radically different because of the oil seperation stage followed by the now everyday nitrogen injection (like Caffreys who cannot complete their website because their staff are drunk). An interesting and patent free alternive to this would be to make ginger beer as normal except to include expresso grounds in the jar with it. Its pretty stunning stuff, but don't stop there take a leaf out of the brewers books and try lemon or orange zest, liquorice (a favourite with darker beers) or cherry skins. There is a basic recipe here: http://thefoody.com/drinks/gingerbeer.html All of these work with proper beer fermentation but you have to wait 20 days longers to get the result. Also remember that keeping everything sterile is the art of good brewing.
Bubble Pipe Life does not stop and start at your convenience Dude
You're right that foaminess sells. It sure doesn't make sense to me.
Man, you really need that seminar!
Coffee beers have been around for a long time, that's nothing new, in fact if it were ever patented it would be public domain by now.
Who cares about the ozone layer?...thanks to CFC's I can write my name......IN CHEESE!!!
It's sold up here in Seattle :) Even regular restaurants carry it sometimes, hell I've seen taps of it at Red Robin of all places.