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drinkYangu

Technology

Reading a drink's chemical fingerprint.

drinkYangu uses electrochemistry, the same family of techniques behind glucose meters, to capture a fingerprint of what's in your glass and compare it with the genuine product.

Read the case study

How it works

Three steps, one clear answer

  1. Step 1

    Dip the pen

    A few drops touch the electrodes in the pen tip. The pen runs a tiny voltage sweep and records how the drink responds.

  2. Step 2

    Your phone compares

    The pen sends the reading to the drinkYangu app over Bluetooth. You tell the app which bottle you're checking.

  3. Step 3

    Get a clear answer

    The reading is matched against genuine signatures in our database: match, no match, or can't tell.

The science

Voltammetry, in plain language

The pen applies a slowly changing voltage to electrodes touching the drink. Molecules in the drink react at particular voltages, producing small currents. Plotting current against voltage gives a curve (a voltammogram) whose shape depends on what's in the liquid.

Published research has used this approach to tell wines and whiskies apart, and to detect adulterated whisky, using simple metal electrodes. Our explainer post links to the studies.

Illustrative voltammogramTwo curves of current against voltage. The genuine sample shows two clear peaks; the suspect sample has flatter, shifted peaks.Voltage applied →Current measured →Genuine signatureSuspect sample
Illustrative only. Not measured data.

System

Three parts working together

The pen

Electrodes in a replaceable tip and a miniature potentiostat: the electronics that apply the voltage sweep and measure the current.

The app

Pairs with the pen over Bluetooth, lets you pick the product you're checking, and explains the result in plain language.

The signature database

Fingerprints measured from genuine bottles across several batches, ideally supplied directly by brand owners.

Honest limits

What it can and can't tell you

We'd rather you trust a careful answer than a confident guess.

  • It can only check products that are in the signature database. We're starting with whisky.
  • It compares a drink against the genuine product. It is not a general toxin or methanol test.
  • Very close fakes, such as genuine whisky lightly diluted, will be the hardest cases. Sometimes the honest answer will be "can't tell".
  • Readings depend on electrode condition and calibration. Tips will be replaceable for that reason.

Roadmap

Where we are going

  1. Next

    Lab feasibility

    Benchtop tests with genuine and adulterated whisky samples.

  2. Phase 2

    Signature database

    Reference samples for the first whisky products, with brand partners.

  3. Phase 3

    Pen prototype

    Miniaturised electronics validated against benchtop results.

  4. Phase 4

    Field pilot

    Supervised tests with retailers and bars, including blind samples.

Get involved

Help us make every bottle in Kenya checkable.

Want to test the pen when it's ready?

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