The countdown to the Muddler launch is back up and running

Firstly, I don't understand the title of Henry's last post... he does try to be a bit of a ponce about these things!

As Henry said, Friday was a day of highs and lows! My sole focus now is on getting our filled bottles sleeved (or labelled in non-trade language) and finishing off that great look. Yesterday we managed to make some great strides in getting this done quickly and to a high quality.

Praise must go to our sleeve printer (Lancastrian Labels/ Tipografic Print Group) who have worked hard every time there has been an issue. This time they have run around and found the right piece of equipment (a cylinder) of the right size to re-print the labels on. They are now aiming to hammer through this work over the next couple of days. This will mean that we can do the sleeving next week and aim to have the product in London by the middle/ end of next week.

Henry's quest for perfection has not ended at just getting the drink out, he is looking to tweak the labels. Now we have a set of empty bottles with labels applied we have a true test of how everything looks shrunk onto the bottle (everything up until now has just been representations of how the plastic sleeve would respond to be heated up).

So Henry is now testing the bottle with an equivalent Muddler liquid in it and without (the liquid darkens the label) and just tweaking a couple of items (our BBE is on the cap rather than on the neck as we had previously stated on the label). This is all to make sure that it is looking the best it can.

So here is how the bottles look (with the sleeve a few millimetres too tall):


The photo is taken by me (so is rubbish) I should also take this opportunity to to show you my workspace.... some of the features:

• The phone - I spend most of the day on this arguing with Henry and working out the cost of freight! (In fact I've spent 10 minutes this morning trying to work out why it wasn't working and then realising that it was unplugged)
• The golf balls - used on Friday afternoons
• The poker chips - well everything's a gamble isn't it? I'm supposed to be playing poker against Henry and some other guys on Saturday night... maybe I can win complete control of Muddler Drinks Ltd
• The window - my source of natural light. Henry uses his all day for staring into the sky!
• The rum sample - for when things get a bit too much
  
• A copy of the Publican - because occasionally all the market research I do in pubs and bars is not enough and I have to pretend to know what is going on in the trade press
• The notebook - the jotting place for all my thoughts... for example suggested recipes for the NEXT Muddler in the range.
  
• The paperwork - most of this is currently some attempts at me writing Terms and Conditions, because apparently some people may try to avoid paying for the great taste of Muddlers.

This is the desk relatively clean at the moment... you don't want to see it on a bad day!

Anyway, here is a close up of the bottle:


The other exciting news is that great progress is being made on the website itself. The designer (Alex) and a Flash Developer (Alessandro) hammered away at it late into the night last night. BTW Flash is a technical term, not a reference to Alessandro! The work they are showing us is looking great.

However, the main main question is now... can we finish the product in time for Henry to take some cases to Glastonbury (on Thursday 21st June)? Its going to be close, my current prediction is having the product on the Wednesday or Thursday of next week. He's going to be looking for that photo of Kate Moss drinking it... fingers crossed.