Sobering move in store for sweetened spirits.Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard SALEM - Sexy TV ads and glossy magazine images may try to convince America that "malternative" drinks are the beverage of choice among the young and hip. But soon, hipsters and other Oregonians could have a tough time finding hard lemonade and the other sweet-tasting malt-based drinks in supermarkets and convenience stores The following is a list of convenience stores organized by geographical location. Stores are grouped by the lowest heading that contains all locales in which the brands have significant presence. - unless the Legislature intervenes. State regulators issued a memo to the alcohol industry last week, warning that stores can't sell the drinks starting Jan. 1, 2004, because most of their alcohol comes from distilled spirits rather than the brewing process. That would relegate rel·e·gate tr.v. rel·e·gat·ed, rel·e·gat·ing, rel·e·gates 1. To assign to an obscure place, position, or condition. 2. To assign to a particular class or category; classify. See Synonyms at commit. the drinks to the shelves of liquor stores and make them subject to the state's "liquor markup (text) markup - In computerised document preparation, a method of adding information to the text indicating the logical components of a document, or instructions for layout of the text on the page or other information which can be interpreted by some automatic system. " tax rather than the much lower beer excise tax Excise Tax 1. An indirect tax charged on the sale of a particular good. 2. A penalty tax applied to ineligible transactions in retirement accounts. This penalty is assessed by and paid to the IRS. Notes: 1. . And that's how it should be, say advocates of the change. The "alcopops" are especially alluring to young people, they claim. Though no data exists to indicate young people consume the drinks more heavily than adults, former state Liquor Control Commission administrator Pam Erickson said she's certain that's the case. "These products don't look much like beer, nor do they taste like it," said Erickson, now director of the Oregon Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking. "These products are particularly designed for the first-time drinker because they mask the alcohol taste. They are sweet and they taste like pop." She cited a report by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) is a research and advocacy organization, based in Washington, DC, which monitors and reports on youth exposure to alcohol advertising. at Georgetown University Georgetown University, in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C.; Jesuit; coeducational; founded 1789 by John Carroll, chartered 1815, inc. 1844. Its law and medical schools are noteworthy, and its archives are especially rich in letters and manuscripts by and last year that said teen-agers were more likely than adults to notice magazine ads for alcohol. In the "alcopops" market, teen-agers noticed twice as many ads as adults for Kahlua Black Russian
For Blacks in Russia, see . The Black Russian is a cocktail of vodka and coffee liqueur. Cocktail and 75 percent saw ads for two brands of hard lemonade. Laura Bowers Bowers is a surname, and may refer to
"(They're) targeted toward younger drinkers," she said. "I've always looked at (them) as the younger drink." The industry that produces the beverages is asking the Legislature to change the definition of a "malt beverage Malt beverage is an American term for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic fermented beverages, in which the primary ingredient is barley, which has been allowed to sprout ("malt") slightly before it is processed. " to include drinks such as Zima, Skyy Blue and Mike's Hard Lemonade. A similar bill supported by the "malternative" industry, House Bill 3097, would override the Liquor Control Commission's Jan. 1 deadline, putting off the switch until 2005. The issue - with its tax and sales-volume implications - is important enough to the industry that a national trade group called the Flavored Malt Beverage Coalition flew its Connecticut-based lobbyist to Salem to testify before a Senate committee last week. But despite the advertising onslaught and the political heat, the apparent target audience may not find the battle worth waging. Despite industry data showing strong sales for certain products, such as Bacardi Silver and Smirnoff Ice, the "malternatives" market as a whole has been flat or declining. Data last year showed that sales were down 20 percent or more for seven of the top 15 malt beverages. "I don't drink it," said Bowers, the UO student. "I'd never drink anything like that," echoed Maclean Jackson, a 21-year-old student at UO. Jennifer Asher, 29, said the drinks also have a negative connotation con·no·ta·tion n. 1. The act or process of connoting. 2. a. An idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing: for some. "Guys don't drink (them) because it makes them feel less masculine," she said. "They think it's too sweet." The debate brings up a common question for just about anyone who's tipped back a bottle of the sweet, citrusy drinks: How can the labels describe them as "malt beverages"? The answer: A federal study of 114 of the products found that 105 of them derived 76 percent or more of their alcoholic content from the distilled spirits referred to on the label as "added alcohol flavors." The fermented-grain base of the drinks - the aspect that allows the industry to call them malt beverages - was filtered to remove the golden color and bitter, malty taste. As a result, newly proposed federal rules would require that drinks that get most of their alcohol from the brewing process be sold and taxed as malt beverages. Otherwise, they would be taxed and regulated as distilled spirits. Mark Nelson, a Salem-based lobbyist for Anheuser Busch, has urged the Legislature to extend the deadline as the industry works on ways to reformulate Verb 1. reformulate - formulate or develop again, of an improved theory or hypothesis redevelop formulate, explicate, develop - elaborate, as of theories and hypotheses; "Could you develop the ideas in your thesis" the drink to comply with federal rules distinguishing distilled spirits from malt beverages. His company makes Bacardi Silver. Gregory Altschuh, the Flavored Malt Beverage Coalition administrator who traveled to Salem, said it was unclear that Oregon's alcohol regulations would allow such products into liquor stores given their low alcohol content - a contention the Liquor Control Commission rejects. As a result, Altschuh said, "Consumers would no longer be able to purchase the low-alcohol alternative beer products they are enjoying today." Not everyone in the industry is clamoring clam·or n. 1. A loud outcry; a hubbub. 2. A vehement expression of discontent or protest: a clamor in the press for pollution control. 3. A loud sustained noise. to keep flavored malt beverages stocked in grocery and convenience stores. Paul Romain, lobbyist for the Oregon Beer and Wine Distributors Association, said his clients support efforts to treat them as hard liquor hard liquor A popular term for beverages with a high–often > 30% by volume–ie, 60 proof alcohol content–eg, gin, rum, vodka, whiskey; HLs are preferred by alcoholics as a steady state of low-level inebriation is easier to maintain. See Standard drink. . Many in his industry are concerned that the products could represent a fad similar to wine coolers in the 1980s, with one big difference: Unlike Bartles & Jaymes coolers, "malternative" drinks carry the brand names of established hard-liquor products, such as Citrona vodka, Jack Daniels Jack Daniels may refer to:
The worry is that the beverages could serve as a gateway for people to leave behind low-alcohol drinks at grocery stores - not just "malternatives" but also beer and wine - as they graduate to the 80-proof hard stuff. The push isn't competitive self-interest, Romain said, since distributors make plenty of money trucking "malternatives," along with beer and wine, to retailers across the state. The businesses want to make sure they're distributing products that will be responsibly consumed by adults - which means beer and wine but not "malternatives." "We just don't want to wake up some morning to read in the paper that some 16-year-old girls died because they drank that stuff," he said. CAPTION(S): They may contain malt, but many "malternative" beverages get most of their alcohol from distillation distillation, process used to separate the substances composing a mixture. It involves a change of state, as of liquid to gas, and subsequent condensation. The process was probably first used in the production of intoxicating beverages. . Please turn to DRINKS, Page A9 Drinks: Demand for beverages has fallen off Continued from Page A1 |
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