Tarhun (drink)

A bottle of Tarhun (right)

Tarkhuna (Georgian: ტარხუნა) is a Georgian[1] carbonated soft drink that is flavoured with tarragon or woodruff and traditionally dyed green. It was invented in 1887 by a Georgian pharmacist Mitrofan Lagidze, who started adding carbonated water to his tarragon syrup mixes.[2] It went into mass production in the Soviet Union in 1981 and gained exceptional popularity. The drink's name comes from a popular name for tarragon in Georgian, Armenian and Persian, as well as numerous other languages like Arabic, Turkish, and several languages spoken in the Caucasus and Balkans.

Trademark status

In a trademark dispute between OÜ Acerra and AS Tallinna Karastusjoogid, the Estonian Ministry of Economy and Communications determined that the word Tarhun is a descriptive term for the drink and is thus not trademarkable under laws of the Republic of Estonia.[3] In Estonia, it's possible to find both the Estonian-made and Russian-made Tarhun drinks from the same soft drinks aisle, as the soft drink is distilled and bottled in both countries, though by different companies and with different recipes. In 2014 Ryan Wood bought the patent for using the Tarhun trademark in USA.[4]

References

  1. ↑ The Georgian Feast by Darra Goldstein p.43, University of California Press, 1999
  2. ↑ Lagidze Waters
  3. ↑ "ruling 808-o" (PDF). Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeeriumi Tööstusomandi Apellatsioonikomisjon. Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium. 28 April 2006.
  4. ↑ სახსრებისა და წელის ტკივილს ტარხუნა მოგიხსნით, 2014