Amendments to the Canadian Trademarks Act have sparked
an industry debate
By Charlene Rooke
About 15 years ago, at a charming Shanghai teahouse,
I drank “blooming tea” made from a cluster of dried
botanicals that flowered blue in the clear mug. Squeezing
in a lemon wedge garnish turned it fuchsia. That was the first time
I’d seen anything like it, but a few years later I’d be served sweet,
indigo-coloured nam dok anchan, a popular Thai iced tea, on my
arrival at a trendy Bangkok hotel.
This colour-changing ritual is now familiar to global fans of
gins infused with butterfly pea flower (also known as butterfly
pea blossom), which gets its magical-seeming properties when
an infused liquid’s pH is lowered, for instance with citrus juice
or tonic water. Empress 1908 Gin may be the most familiar
brand to Canadians: produced by Victoria Distillers on Vancouver
Island since 2017, when it partnered with the castle-like Fairmont
Empress, also incorporating the hotel’s bespoke tea in the recipe. It
was named Best Alcohol Drink at the World Beverage Innovation
Awards in 2017, and it’s available in most Canadian provinces,
parts of the U.S., the U.K., Philippines, Germany, New Zealand,
Japan, and beyond, via liquor e-commerce sites.
The gin’s colourful, fairly-tale success took on a darker hue
in mid-June of this year when several small-batch distillers
across Canada received a letter, via email, from Victoria Distillers
Natthapon Ngamnithiporn/123rf
24 § POURED CANADA § www.poured.ca
/www.poured.ca
