Beverage Flavours
Beverage flavours are a popular way to add a unique flavour to your beverage. They can be used as a stand-alone flavour or combined with other flavours to create a more complex taste profile.
As consumers continue to shift away from sugary drinks, they are looking for more balanced, wholesome and naturally sourced options. This is resulting in the rise of botanical and healthy beverages.
Sour & spicy flavours
When it comes to beverages, sour flavours can offer a unique balance of sweet and tart. Many sour flavoured cocktails feature ingredients like lemon, lime or other fruits for a fresh tanginess.
With consumers increasingly concerned about sugar consumption and the health effects of soda, sour flavours are gaining popularity as a safer choice. Sour beer is also a popular choice, and its high levels of acidity can be refreshing and satisfying.
The sour taste of fruits, like citrus, cranberries, and tamarind, pairs well with many other foods and beverages. For example, watermelon pairs well with salt and fresh herbs or apples with cinnamon.
Other fruity flavors, such as mango and pineapple, can stand strong on their own when combined with spicy flavors, too. Spices, such as chile-citrus salts, work particularly well with these types of fruit.
Spicy snacks, such as guacamole and salsa, are also finding their way into beverage flavours. ICEEa, for example, has partnered with Warheads for a series of sour-and-spicy frozen beverages, including watermelon, lava lime, piping hot pineapple and molten mango.
Food and drink makers are also taking advantage of sour flavours in international cuisines, according to Flavorchem’s 2022 Trend Forecast report. For example, sour sauces such as tamarind are becoming popular as they can be used to complement foods from all over the world.
A sour flavour is also very popular in fermented drinks, especially kombucha. This is because it has a low alcohol content and offers health claims to improve the immune system and help prevent conditions such as diabetes.
In a recent survey, 79% of consumers reported positive feelings for sour flavoured beverages. This is a very important trend as it shows that consumers are looking for ways to improve their health and wellness.
The sour taste of fermented beers, such as lambics and flanders reds, has also become popular with beer enthusiasts. These beers are made by fermenting beer with specific microorganisms and bacteria, which produces a very complex and unique flavour.
Sour beers are great to drink with food as they offer a light, flavor concentrates for beverages refreshing taste that complements most dishes. They also go well with many fatty and salty foods, such as steak or cured meats.
Intense & nostalgic flavours
One way to give a drink an intense flavour is through bitters. Traditionally, bitters are alcoholic preparations infused with botanical ingredients such as cascarilla, Chinese cinnamon, gentian and orange peel.
Bitters are a common ingredient in alcoholic drinks and they can also be used to flavor non-alcoholic beverages, especially soda. Adding just a drop of bitters to soda can change the taste completely. For example, orange bitters can be added to cranberry and rhubarb soda, or ginger ale with a hint of tangy orange.
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted consumers to turn to familiar flavors as a form of comfort. According to iWSR, consumers have been particularly drawn to beverages with nostalgic flavours like chocolate chip cookies and fresh-squeezed lemonade.
This is due to the fact that these flavours trigger pleasant memories and can often be mood-boosting. It is therefore no surprise that these tastes are gaining traction across beverage categories.
Some popular retro and sweet flavors have been making a comeback in recent years, including coffee, vanilla, cherry, chocolate and strawberry. These are all classic favourites and have a longstanding appeal with consumers.
These flavours are also a great opportunity for brands to offer consumers something new and innovative. They can be a good way to stimulate interest, and can help attract a younger demographic.
In addition, they can be a good way to build brand loyalty and increase sales in a category. For instance, Mountain Dew’s VooDew flavor from last year was inspired by Halloween candy corn. This gave the drink a very strong orange flavour that drove engagement and excitement.
Other examples of intense & nostalgic flavours in beverage development include mystery flavors that invite consumers to guess what they are. These are a great way to get consumers involved in the development process and encourage them to buy the product.
Similarly, limited-edition and seasonal flavors are becoming increasingly popular. These are a good way to get consumers interested in your products and to make them feel like they are missing out if they don’t try it. They also help to boost social media buzz and encourage purchase.
Earthy flavours
Earthy flavours are on the rise, particularly those associated with a rich mineral content. They are also often a good indicator of poor quality ingredients, which is why we have a dedicated team of specialists in this field who are able to identify the best possible ingredients to suit your specific needs and taste profile.
The biggest problem with earthy flavours is the fact that they are prone to tainting any liquid containing them, including beverage flavours. This is where our GMP-compliant flavour standard comes in, which helps train professional tasters to recognise and scale up this taint in a safe and predictable manner.
The newest entrant to the world of beverage flavours is the Dirt Soda, which is an effervescent drink whose moxy consists of a surprisingly earthy flavor (no actual dirt), encased in artesian spring water. It is not only a fun and unique way to introduce an earthy touch into your next premium beverage, it also stands out in a sea of sugary colas and fizzy watered down lemonades. It is a worthy addition to any drink or cocktail enthusiasts cabinet and should be given the requisite tidbit of a nod by all stakeholders, from ad agencies to sommeliers and mixologists alike.
Functional flavours
Functional beverage flavours are a growing area of the market, and they’re also becoming more accessible for brands. These beverages offer nutritional benefits based on vitamins, minerals, dietary fibres and probiotics. They include energy drinks, sports drinks and dairy-based beverages.
With many consumers pursuing healthier lifestyles, health-conscious companies are looking for ways to make their products more appealing to those customers. Flavours are key to helping companies create new and innovative products that can support the health goals of their consumers.
When creating these beverages, formulators must find a balance between taste and functionality. For example, some functional ingredients can be unpleasant, while others have a strong, distinct flavor that may overpower other flavors in a beverage.
Fortunately, there are solutions to this problem. Flavorists use masking agents to help balance out the bitter taste of some functional ingredients. In addition, many ingredient suppliers have created cleaner-tasting base ingredients and forms to work with.
Another way to create a healthy beverage with superior taste is by using ingredients that have anti-microbial properties, which can also boost the immune system of those who consume them. Examples of such ingredients include tea tree, clove, garlic, peppermint and cinnamon.
The combination of antioxidant properties and fresh citrus fruit tastes will continue to be a popular trend for functional beverages in 2023. This is due to the fact that citrus fruits have long been associated with health, and they provide a fresh, clean taste that complements the benefits of the other ingredients in functional beverages.
This trend has helped beverage manufacturers create more palatable and nutritious drinks that will appeal to a wide range of consumers. It is also a great way to increase the shelf life of functional beverages, which can be particularly important for those that are high in water or sugar.
There are several different types of functional beverages, including probiotic-containing drinks, energy drinks, sports and nutraceutical-based beverages, dairy-based beverages and juices. These categories are all aimed at providing nutritional benefits and can be marketed as part of a broader wellness strategy, according to KICR.
