Lost Spirits Technology - Theo 1 Rum vs. 33 Year Old Rum

Lost Spirits Technology has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the company two key patents governing its revolutionary distilled spirits maturation process.

US patent applications 14/594,944 and 14/795,841 have been issued notices of allowance by USPTO. They describe processes for maturing distilled spirits involving heat driven esterification and photocatalytic polymer degradation of oak barrel staves. Lost Spirits has shown that its patented process creates chemical reactions in distilled spirits similar to those that take place in oak barrels over the course of decades.

Chemically Match a 20 Year Old Rum in 1 Week’s Time

Bryan Davis, the inventor named on both patents, has published data demonstrating that the new technology can nearly identically match the chemical signature of a 20 year old rum in under a week’s time.

Lost Spirits Technology - Theo 1 Rum vs. 33 Year Old Rum
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The awarding of these patents enables Lost Spirits to commercialize, protect and further develop its THEA | One technology. This includes designing and marketing unique matured spirits that are impossible to produce via conventional spirits-making techniques — in effect creating a new spirits growth platform.

You can hear the story of the THEA 1 development in his own words from his TEDx Talk he gave while in Bermuda.





United States Patent Application Publication Abstract


Method for rapid maturation of distilled spirits using light and heat processes.
An improved system and process for rapidly producing distilled spirits having characteristics associated with a much longer maturation process is provided. The method involves contacting wood with an unmatured distilled spirit under heated conditions and contacting the resulting heat-treated spirit with actinic light. The disclosure provides embodiments where a spirit is sequentially processed through heat and actinic light treatment. The disclosure also provides embodiments where a heat-treated spirit is mixed with a spirit that has been separately treated with light to give characteristics of a mature spirit.


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First applied successfully to rum, Lost Spirits’ technology has since been proven effective in other spirits categories. Utilizing its patented process and associated THEA reactor, Lost Spirits Distillery recently released its “Abomination” line of whiskies, a Heavily Peated Malt. Abomination whiskies benefit from combining Islay spirit with charred and toasted oak staves seasoned with California late harvest Riesling.

Lost Spirits is headquartered in the Los Angeles Arts District. Lost Spirits Technology LLC operates as an Intellectual Property licensing company focused on commercializing the firm’s revolutionary Intellectual Property – IP. Though they are operated by the same team, the company is distinct from Lost Spirits Distillery LLC, which is a celebrated boutique distillery principally, engaged in the research, design, and development of new culinary experiences within distilled spirits.

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