Creating a Flavorful Spirit

 Creating a Flavorful Spirit
November 1997 -- Applications

By: Scott L. Hegenbart
Contributing Editor

  Alcoholic beverages have grown in number thanks to an ever-expanding range of flavors. Flavoring an alcohol-containing beverage, however, requires much more than sensory profiling to determine the correct use level. (No matter how much fun such extensive sensory testing may seem.) Naturally, alcohol's strong effect on a beverage's flavor profile is a major concern, but product designers also must address many challenges that differ greatly from typical product development concerns. In fact, creating, selecting and using a flavor in an alcohol-containing beverage requires product designers to delicately balance technical issues, legal issues and consumer issues.

Flavor essentials

  Unlike many food products, added flavors often are the sole source of distinguishing flavor in an alcoholic beverage. In the last decade or so, the importance of added flavor has increased tremendously as consumers have demanded unique products, such as flavored beers, that aren't possible to achieve through typical processing/brewing.

  According to David Dafoe, president, Pro-Liquitech, Louisville, KY, this all started with the wine-cooler craze. Previously, the alcoholic beverage market consisted simply of spirits, wine, beer, cordials and so on. Suddenly, wine coolers came on the scene, making wine more mainstream and taking market share away from beer.

  "That was all achieved by using flavors," Dafoe says. "They just diluted the wine to a lower proof, added sugar and flavors, and they could make wine taste like anything they wanted it to."

  Within each cooler company, the same wine base is used for pretty much every product in the line. The only major difference between a citrus cooler or a berry one is the flavor.

  "Now the same thing is happening with malt-based beverages," Dafoe adds. "Processors simply take the malt base and use flavors to make a strawberry, or whatever."

  Using a malt base and wine base presents the further flavor challenge of compensating for the flavor contribution of the base itself. Why not just use more neutral-tasting spirits? The main reason is ingredient costs. More specifically, the tax rate of the alcohol-containing ingredients.

  "Grain neutral spirits are taxed at $13.50 per proof gallon. The alcohol itself is around $1 to $1.25, depending on the quality," Dafoe says. "A proof gallon is actually a wine gallon at 100 proof. Grain spirits at 190 proof would almost be double that, so you're talking about $26 on top of the $1."

  For example, a prepared cocktail may have originally been formulated with rum taxed at about $13.50 a proof gallon. Switching to wine base allows product formulators to achieve a beverage with the same proof, but with an alcohol-containing ingredient taxed at less than $2 a proof gallon. Malt base is taxed at a still lower rate per proof gallon, making it even less expensive to use. The time and expense of masking the flavor of the base with added flavors is usually insignificant compared with the ongoing tax savings once the product is in production.

Taxing legal issues

  Although many formulation challenges present themselves when flavoring an alcoholic beverage, it's the legal requirements for alcohol-containing products that put the real pressure on.

  Unlike juices and other nonalcoholic drinks, which are either self-regulated or regulated through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, all alcoholic beverages are monitored by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF). The BATF not only must approve a product's formula, but it must approve and assign an BATF number to any flavor ingredients used therein.

  If such hurdles weren't enough, consumers' tastes change very rapidly in the alcoholic-beverage category. This is true not only for flavor varieties, but in the types of beverages they desire. Meeting consumer demands on a timely basis, while covering all of the legal bases, requires careful planning and working closely with flavor suppliers and the BATF.

  The first step in getting a flavor approved involves sending an 8-oz. sample along with an information sheet to the BATF. This sheet doesn't have to disclose all of the ingredients, so it retains the flavor's proprietary nature. However, certain restricted ingredients must be listed, including: vanillin, ethyl vanillin, synthetic maltol, ethyl maltol, ester gum, brominated vegetable oil, sodium benzoate, gum arabic, propylene glycol, BHA and acetic acid.

  The BATF disclosure sheet must include the specific ppm of these ingredients. The reason for this is that the BATF sets maximum finished product use levels of these ingredients, and will use the information provided to set a maximum use rate for the flavor when it is approved.

  Approval or disapproval is largely determined on whether the flavor is potable. A flavor ingredient can't be a beverage on its own, so someone at the BATF actually drinks a sample of the flavor as the official test. If the flavor turns out to be potable, it's rejected.

How long is does this approval take?

  "It depends on the activity at BATF," says Bruce Roberts, manager, beverage business development, McCormick Flavor Division, Akron, OH. "It can take as long as a month."

  New procedures, however, have slimmed the process down. Flavors may be submitted for approval and be linked with the finished-product formula supplied by the beverage processor.

  "Now, because BATF prioritizes (approvals) based on an active product being worked on, it'll say 'here's a flavor going into a product' and speed (the process) up," Roberts says. "If there really is time pressure involved, approval can even be as fast as a day."

  As with many things with alcoholic beverages, the potability issue is a matter of taxes. Alcohol in a beverage is taxed. That which is used as an industrial chemical, such as a solvent in flavor ingredients, is not. If a flavor contains 50% alcohol, for instance, the flavor supplier pays taxes on that alcohol first. When they sell a flavor, they file a form with the government and eventually get reimbursed for the tax. The approval process is part of the system that allows the BATF to track and monitor the taxable vs. non-taxable alcohol.

  "The BATF rules are very sketchy," Dafoe says. "The same flavor could be approved one day and rejected another."

  With some of the new changes, waiting for flavor approval may not seem like such a hurdle. But keep in mind that it is only the first of three approvals necessary for a beverage product. The next two are BATF approvals for the beverage formula itself and for the label. (The approval procedure for beverages and labels is detailed in "Getting the Spirit In: Creating Alcoholic Beverages," December 1995 Food Product Design.)

  To make the approval more efficient, flavor houses strive to develop close working relationships with the BATF. Many companies also offer entire lines of flavors already formulated for alcoholic beverages that are approved and ready-to-use. These off-the-shelf flavors don't take into account variations in the formula and the potential effects of different ingredients. They also aren't suitable for a company looking for something unique. Consequently, a custom flavor still may be necessary, and product designers must plan for the extra time in the development timetable. Designers can, however, make flavor development easier by understanding how a flavor might interact with key alcoholic beverage ingredients.

Behavior modification

  One reason flavor development is so critical to alcoholic beverages is the effect that alcohol itself has on flavor ingredients. Alcohol is a strong base with which to work. First, the alcohol will contribute a burning sensation upon consumption that must be masked with higher flavor levels. Next, it will misbalance the flavor perception of the product.

  "Alcohol does indeed change the way flavors are delivered," says Dafoe. "Essentially, it brings out the esters, and tends to hide some notes that would ordinary be in the background."

  Let's say, for instance, a designer takes the flavor from a successful apple-flavored soft drink and uses it in a 70-proof apple cordial. Although it may have worked perfectly in the soft drink, all of the flavor's subtle nuances -- the middle and the back notes -- will be lost. On the other hand, the esters in the flavor will be highly accentuated giving an unusually strong fruity taste and aroma. The consumer would taste the burn of the alcohol and fruitiness, but not be able to identify it as apple.

  "It changes the whole balance," Dafoe says. "You taste 'fruity,' but may not be sure what fruit it is, because you lose all of the notes that identify that flavor as an apple flavor."

  The challenge for the flavor company is to take that flavor and rebalance it. All of the missing middle and back notes may need to be doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in order for them to be perceived correctly in the finished flavor.

  Things can become even more complex when using a malt or wine base instead of grain neutral spirits. Here, not only does the alcohol affect the flavor profile, the inherent flavor of the base can interfere, too. Even a highly processed wine base will have some flavor of its own.

  "It may have a lot of esters that must then be reduced even further in the flavor to re-balance the profile," Dafoe says. "In malt base, you have all those yeasty notes that must either be covered up or used in the flavor profile somehow."

  Dafoe adds that working the residual flavors of malt base into the flavor profile is very challenging. Most designers will probably choose to cover these flavors with higher sugar levels, higher acid levels, higher flavor levels or some combination of the three.

  "If a consumer tastes those yeasty, hoppy flavors in a cooler, their expectations will be disappointed," says Dafoe. "The industry makes a great effort to mask or minimize the effects of any flavors in the base."

  In spite of the best efforts of product designers and flavorists, some flavors just can't be done with a malt base. Tropical flavors work well because they have sulphury notes that blend in well with the malt. Citrus flavors and raspberry or strawberry, however, never seem to be able to overcome it.

  "That's why you see strawberry-kiwi or raspberry-passionfruit," Dafoe says. "The combination gets around it."

Cooperative efforts

  Besides customizing the flavor for a proper profile in the finished product, custom flavors also give product designers better creativity in the volatile beverage market. Some beverage companies tend to use the same flavors over and over. They already are approved, have a proven shelf-life history and avoid the hassles of adding a new ingredient to the purchasing system. This practice, however, has a major downside.

  "Over time, all the products a company makes can seem a bit similar," says Dafoe. "Sometimes, you can tell when a certain person is developing a product because they tend to be recognizable."

  Take care not to get too accustomed to working with the same flavors. Strive not only to be a little different from the last product created, but different from recent entries by competitors as well.

  Custom development is well worth the time and effort. With a little knowledge about what might happen to a flavor in an alcohol-containing beverage, designers can better coordinate the development of a flavor ingredient and its BATF approval with the formulation and BATF approval of the product itself. In this way, products will be more unique, but still be on the market in a reasonable amount of time.

  When working on a custom flavor, try to describe as much as possible what the project objectives are. Most flavor companies have staff members who specialize in testing flavors in various bases to see what will work and what won't. Take advantage of this experience.

  Flavor companies that are accustomed to dealing with alcoholic beverages will at least want to know the sugar level, the alcohol proof and if it's to be carbonated. Initially, they may send something off the shelf to start bench-testing. These results will help guide the supplier's flavorists when they adjust the flavor to the product.

  An experienced product developer might even give the flavorist instructions as to which flavor components need to be raised or lowered, or describe the effect they want. Any such information can greatly help the flavorist determine how to reformulate.

Processing (non)issues

  With most food products, the processing method can cause significant flavor changes. This is mainly due to flash-off and off-flavor development during cooking or pasteurization. Although flavors designed for alcoholic beverages are no different in their sensitivity to such changes, they tend not to be exposed to much heat.

  "Generally, in processing, there is very little heat, because you don't want to flash the alcohol off," Dafoe says. "Unlike juices, etc., that are pasteurized, alcoholic beverages don't have to share this concern."

  Yes, brewing and distillation do require heat. However, most flavors are typically added after the brewing or distillation process is completed, so they don't receive the exposure. Pasteurization is rarely, if ever, done, because alcohol is a natural preservative.

  "Anything over 20 proof is naturally preserved and doesn't require pasteurization nor a preservative," Dafoe says. "Some of the low-proof cocktails just use preservatives instead of pasteurization, so heat is not an issue."

  Although they may avoid heat exposure in the plant, flavors in alcoholic beverages still must be protected from light, excess heat and excess cold that can change flavors over time during distribution. Even minor changes in a flavor can have a dramatic effect on alcohol beverages because they contain anywhere from five to 10 times more flavor ingredients than other nonalcoholic beverages. It's not uncommon to use 2.5% to 4.0%. This is especially true in cordials, where a strong flavor impact is desired, and in higher-proof beverages that have more alcohol flavor to mask. At such high use levels, the whole product can change dramatically with only slight changes in the flavor.

  For the most part, special packaging -- such as colored bottles, or tall multipack cartons combined with low neck wraps -- help conceal the product from light. Temperature variations, however, are not so easily overcome. One of the main problems in storage is the heat encountered in many warehouses, even in the winter months.

  In the past, most alcoholic beverage distributors only carried spirits. Wine wasn't that popular and beer is distributed by a different system. In a hot warehouse, ordinary spirits are unaffected. Some, like bourbon, actually improve. With the flood of new products with different alcohol bases in the last 20 to 25 years, these same warehouses now carry heat-sensitive products.

  "I know of warehouses in parts of the south that reach 140°F every day for months," says Dafoe. "At a minimum, product developers should do elevated-temperature shelf-life studies."

  Malt base is the most delicate of bases, as it generally has a short shelf life similar to that of beer. The flavor of malt base is likely to change as much as, if not more than, that of any added flavors. Consequently, the product may end up tasting "skunky," even though the flavor itself hasn't changed. Wine bases present a similar sort of problem, but they tend to be more stable than malt bases.

  Flavors do have the tendency to marry and fade over time. In addition, keep in mind that these flavors are delicately balanced to deliver a desired profile in the presence of alcohol. Testing and sensory work must confirm that certain components of the flavor ingredient aren't fading or being accentuated over time to destroy this delicate balance.

  "Say you have a product in which the esters are fading," Dafoe says. "You may be left with none of those fruity notes."

  In such cases, it may be best not to adjust the overpowering fruitiness of the esters in the flavor ingredient. The product may not taste quite right when it's first made, but after three weeks -- the time it takes to go through the distribution system -- it will be fine. The only way to determine this will be through shelf-life testing.

  Balancing technical, legal and consumer issues is definitely the key to flavoring an alcoholic beverage. In addition to all of the typical product development concerns, BATF approvals, special shelf-life evaluations and distribution studies can make such projects seem frustratingly challenging. By taking the time to understand what happens to flavor in alcoholic beverages, product designers can take advantage of suppliers' flavoring experience. That way, they can give consumers the variety of new beverages they want within a timetable that gets it to them when they want it.

Unnaturally Natural

  Unlike other product categories, certain alcoholic beverage flavors can be called "natural" even though they may contain artificial ingredients. This category is called "BATF Natural." BATF Natural flavors may contain up to a certain ppm of specifically restricted flavor ingredients in the finished product. (See examples below).

  Examples of BATF Limitations for Artificial Ingredients:

  Furthermore, a BATF Natural flavor may contain up to 0.1% of any nonrestricted artificial flavor ingredient. Why is this rule in place? Flavoring alcoholic beverages is difficult. It requires very high levels of flavor to overcome the burn of the alcohol. In some cases, the only thing that will overcome this is artificial flavor ingredients.

  An added benefit of this rule is that it can help control flavor costs, an important point considering the high use levels in alcoholic beverages. For example, a certain flavor component may be very expensive. The flavor supplier can use an artificial version for up to the 0.1% allowed. Since most artificial counterparts are less expensive, this can help lower the cost of the flavor.

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