DESC:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)

Title of invention:
Mahua Based Gin and Method of Production thereof

Applicant:
Name Nationality Address
Agave Industries India Pvt. Ltd. Indian Flat No C-4,1st Floor, Kartik Enclave, Borda, Madgaon, South Goa-403602

The following specification describes the invention:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY

[001] The present application claims priority from Indian patent application no. 202021049807.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[002] The present invention relates to potable alcoholic beverage. More particularly, the invention relates to an alcoholic beverage based on spirit distilled from the mahua flower.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[003] Mahua (Madhuca longifolia) is an Indian tropical tree found largely in the central and north Indian plains and forests. It is a fast-growing tree that grows to approximately 20 meters in height, possesses evergreen or semi-evergreen foliage, and belongs to the family Sapotaceae. It is adaptable to arid environments, being a prominent tree in tropical mixed deciduous forests in India in the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, Telangana, Kerala, Gujarat, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
.
[004] Mahula fruit is an essential food of Western Odisha people. There are many varieties of food prepared with its fruits and flowers. The mahua flower is edible and is a food item for tribals.

[005] Mahua flowers are rich in total sugars, with reducing sugar present in high amount. The flowers are fermented to produce the alcoholic drink mahua, a country liquor. Tribals of Surguja and Bastar in Chhattisgarh and peoples of Western Orissa, Santhals of Santhal Paraganas (Jharkhand), Koya tribals of North-East Andhra Pradesh, Bhil tribals in western Madhya Pradesh and tribals of North Maharashtra consider the tree and the mahua drink as part of their cultural heritage. Mahua is an essential drink for tribal men and women during celebrations.

[006] The liquor produced from the flowers is largely colourless, opaque and not very strong. It is inexpensive and the production is largely done in home stills.

[007] Mahua is very rich in fermentable sugars (glucose, fructose and maltose) (Wealth of India., 1954) and the tribal people prepare country liquor (‘mahuli’) from these flowers by typical yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) fermentation (Bhagmol and Joshi, 2002). Preparation of mahua wine from fresh flowers has also been reported (Yadav et al., 2009). Various products like alcohol, brandy, acetone, ethanol, lactic acid and other fermented product have been prepared from the dry mahua flowers et al., 2010).

[008] Mahua has a significant economic role in the lives of the tribal people of Central India, generically referred to as ‘Adivasis’. The estimated 500 million kilograms of flowers, that are handpicked by the tens of millions of tribal folk, are sun-dried and used as food and fodder, as well as to make potable alcohol. Adivasis barter the dried flowers for grain, or sell them for cash, during the lean agricultural season. Over 95% of all mahua flowers are made into alcohol.

[009] The onset of industrial and agricultural modernisation is clearing the forests of Central India, with few new mahua trees currently being planted, if any. Colonial British administrators, and later post-independence Indian ones, deemed unreported collection of mahua flowers, and making mahua spirit, illegal, and placed a heavy tax on its limited sale.

[010] Premium spirits, primarily from the West, made an entry, flooding the Indian market. Also, artificially flavoured neutral alcohol, commonly known as IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) steadily became mainstream in urban areas. Their consumption soon became a statement of class within urban circles.

[011] Mahua got relegated to becoming a rural “country” spirit that urban people would become wary of. Non-standardised processes and the forcing “underground” of mahua trade caused the taste and quality to deteriorate. Mahua culture, the indigenous communities that support it, the wildlife that relishes it and the stories that flow from it, will soon become endangered.

[012] Mahua is the only spirit in the world that is distilled from a naturally sweet flower. Mahua spirit – both the product and the process to make it in a basic form - are familiar to the tribal folk from 13 states of Central India. The product and process can be considered as prior art and traditional knowledge.

[013] Gins are of myriad kinds and manufactured in multiple ways. By and large, Gins are based on grain spirits and are flavoured with juniper berries, in addition to a varied mix of botanicals, like dried herbs, flowers, spices, fruits and roots. The grain spirit is typically a high alcohol strength neutral spirit and the juniper berries and botanicals, added towards the end of the production process, are the major flavour contributors to the end product.

[014] In very recent times, distillers have started experimenting with spirits distilled from fruits, like grape, as a contributor base, or possibly as the entire spirit base. These spirits may or may not contribute significantly to the flavour of the Gin. Gin based on grain spirit (neutral or bouquet); Gin based on spirits distilled from fruit, or cane (neutral or bouquet); and Gin based on a blend of spirits obtained from grain and fruit or cane (neutral or bouquet), are all consider members of the international family of Gins. Juniper berries are the only strict requirement in terms of flavor.

[015] Traditionally Gin is manufactured from ENA (extra neutral alcohol)
in one of the following ways.:
1. Pot distilled Gin represents the earliest style of Gin, and is traditionally produced by pot distilling a ferment, made from grain or other materials of agricultural origin, then redistilling it one or more times, with flavouring botanicals, to extract the aromatic compounds. Due to the use of pot stills, the alcohol content of the distillate is relatively low; around 68% ABV for a single distilled Gin or 76% ABV for a double distilled Gin.
2. Column distilled Gin is produced by first making high proof (e.g. 96% ABV) neutral spirits distilled from a fermented mash or wash, using a column still. The fermentable mash or wash for this spirit may be derived from grain, sugar beets, grapes, potatoes, sugar cane, plain sugar, or any other material of agricultural origin. The high alcoholic strength spirit is then redistilled with juniper berries and other botanicals in a pot still, or hybrid still (the combination of a pot and column still). Most often, the botanicals are suspended in a "Gin basket" positioned within the head of the still, which allows the hot alcoholic vapours to extract flavouring components from the botanical charge.
3. Compound Gin is commonly made by flavouring neutral spirits with essences, other natural flavourings, like essential oils, or natural botanical ingredients left to infuse in neutral spirit without redistillation.

[016] Mahua based liquor is common to central India. However the resulting liquor is not suited to the taste of modern urban people and hence is not popular. Prior art lacks a Gin made from mahua spirit as a base spirit. Specifically, in the prior art, none of the existing Gins use a base bouquet spirit distilled from the fermented sugars of a naturally sweet flower, whether in totality, or as a major contributor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[017] The present disclosure relates to a product that utilizes mahua spirit as the base for Gin i.e. Gin based on the spirit distilled from the naturally sweet mahua flower. The present invention relates to unique mahua based Gin, having the mahua spirit as a contributing spirit, or as the entire spirit base, with juniper berries providing a prominent flavour, and additional botanicals augmenting the flavour. The present invention also includes a method of production of mahua based Gin. The present invention discloses mahua based Gin and method of manufacturing mahua based Gin.

[018] The present invention discloses a method of manufacturing a mahua based gin comprising the steps of (1) fermenting mahua flowers with water and yeast to form fermented mahua liquid (2) distilling fermented mahua liquid to produce mahua spirit using distillation process (3)passing the vapors during the distillation process through a porous device containing juniper berries and botanicals (4) condensing the vapours to form the final distilled alcoholic liquid and (5) filtering and diluting the final distilled alcoholic liquid with water to produce the mahua based gin.

[019] The present invention further discloses a mahua based gin comprising of a mahua flower, water, yeast, juniper berries and botanicals.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
[0020] The foregoing detailed description of mahua based Gin and method of production thereof is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating of the present subject matter, an example of preparing mahua based Gin is provided as figures; however, the invention is not limited to the specific system disclosed in the document and the figures.

[021] In the detailed description, an embodiment of method of preparation of mahua based Gin is described in detail with reference to the accompanying figure. In the figure, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawing to refer various features of the present subject matter.

[022] Figure 1 illustrates the schematic manufacturing process of the Mahua based Gin of the present invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[023] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[024] Various modifications to the embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments of mahua based Gin, and method of preparation thereof. However, one with ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the disclosure for the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments described, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.

[025] The present invention discloses mahua based Gin and method of manufacturing mahua based Gin.
[026] The present invention discloses a method of manufacturing a mahua based gin comprising the steps of (1) fermenting mahua flowers with water and yeast to form fermented mahua liquid (2) distilling fermented mahua liquid to produce mahua spirit using distillation process (3)passing the vapors during the distillation process through a porous device containing juniper berries and botanicals (4) condensing the vapours to form the final distilled alcoholic liquid and (5) filtering and diluting the final distilled alcoholic liquid with water to produce the mahua based gin.

[027] In one embodiment the mahua spirit is distilled 1-4 times.

[028] In one embodiment the distillation is done in a pot-still at a temperature between 25° -100° Celsius.

[029] In one embodiment the condensate has an alcoholic strength between 37.5 % ABV and 70% ABV.

[030] In one embodiment the mahua based gin comprises of a mahua flower, water, yeast, juniper berries and botanicals.

[031] In one embodiment 1000 parts by weight of the mahua flower is combined with 3000 parts to 6000 parts by weight, of water, and 2 to 10 parts of yeast.

[032] In one embodiment the water is one of reverse osmosis, ion exchange or distilled water.

[033] In one embodiment the ratio of juniper berries to final alcoholic liquid is between 0.01 and 0.1 by weight.

[034] In one embodiment the botanicals are herb based, spice based, flower based, root based or fruit based.

[035] One embodiment of the method of manufacturing Mahua based Gin discloses distilling a ferment, one or more times, made from the natural sugars of the Mahua flower, either in entirety, or as a major contributor to the total sugars. This embodiment further involves redistilling it, in a pot still, at least once.

[036] In one embodiment the redistillation is done by a hybrid still.

[037] In one embodiment the redistilled spirit is used as in without being combined with any other spirit.

[038] In one embodiment, the redistilled spirit is blended with another spirit.

[039] In one embodiment the other spirit blended with the redistilled spirit is obtained from grain or molasses.

[040] In a preferred embodiment the redistilled spirit (blended or otherwise) is flavoured with botanicals.

[041] In one embodiment, the botanicals are citrus peel, angelica root, orris root, cinnamon etc. used individually or in combination.

[042] In one embodiment, the strength of the spirit blend should be at least 37.5 % alcohol by volume and the resultant distillate should be at least 50 % alcohol by volume.

[043] Another embodiment of the invention discloses a method of production by flavoring mahua spirit with additives such as essences, essential oils, natural botanical ingredients left to infuse in the spirit or spirit blend without redistillation. In this embodiment the strength of the spirit or spirit blend is at least 37.5 % alcohol by volume.

[044] Example: In one example starting with fermented mahua flowers, mahua spirit is distilled from fermented mahua flowers, at least once, in a pot-still starting at a temperature between room temperature (say 25° Centigrade to 35° Centigrade) and going up to 100° Centigrade. The vapours pass through a porous device that primarily contains juniper berries and a variety of select botanicals, (the particular combination of which is a trade secret). The vapours are then condensed to a liquid with an alcohol strength of between 37.5 % ABV (alcohol by volume) and 70% ABV. The condensed liquid is further filtered to remove particulate matter, if any, giving the final distilled alcoholic liquid, which is further diluted, if required, with demineralized water produced by Reverse Osmosis (RO) or ion exchange , or distilled water, to produce potable strength mahua based Gin at between 37.5% ABV and 50% ABV, which is the final product that is bottled and consumed. (see Figure 1)

[045] In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present application discloses mahua based Gin and method of preparation thereof. The preceding description has been presented with reference to various embodiments. Still, it should be understood that the foregoing relates only to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and that numerous changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention

,CLAIMS:We claim:
1. A mahua based gin comprising of
a. mahua flower
b. water
c. yeast
d. juniper berry and
e. botanical.

2. A method of manufacturing the mahua based gin comprising the following steps:
-fermenting mahua flowers with water and yeast to form fermented mahua liquid;
-distilling fermented mahua liquid to produce mahua spirit using distillation process;
-passing the vapors during the distillation process through a porous device containing juniper berries and botanicals;
-condensing the vapours to form the final distilled alcoholic liquid
-filtering and diluting the final distilled alcoholic liquid with water to produce the mahua based gin.

3. The method of manufacturing the mahua based gin according to claim 2 wherein the mahua spirit is distilled 1-4 times.

4. The method of manufacturing the mahua based gin according to claim 2 wherein the distillation is done in a pot-still at a temperature between 25°-100° Celsius.

5. The method of manufacturing mahua based gin according to claim 2 wherein the condensate has an alcoholic strength between 37.5 % ABV and 70% ABV.

6. The mahua based gin according to claims 1 and 2 wherein 1000 parts by weight of the mahua flower is combined with 3000 parts to 6000 parts by weight, of water, and 2 to 10 parts of yeast.

7. The mahua based gin according to claims 1 and 2 wherein the water is one of reverse osmosis, ion exchange or distilled water.

8. The mahua based gin according to claims 1 and 2 wherein the ratio of juniper berries to final alcoholic liquid is between 0.01 and 0.1 by weight.

9. The mahua based gin according to claims 1 and 2 wherein the botanicals are herb based, spice based, flower based, root based or fruit based.

Dated this 13th day of November 2021

Shalini Sitaraman Menezes
Agent for Applicant
IN-PA-1795
Mobile: 8600126625