One of the more recent trends in beverages is botanical infused drinks. One of my favorites is gin, which is alcohol that is often infused with flavors like juniper and citrus. I much prefer it to vodka, the most popular spirit, because to me a great, plain vodka has no flavor. But gin has a lot of complexity due to the flavors that are instilled.
Outside of bars, the same situation is occurring with non-alcoholic beverages. Customers are asking us to create unusually flavored syrups to add to traditional drinks like iced tea and lemonade. Recently, we worked with one customer, developing fruit and botanical combinations like strawberry basil and coconut rosemary.
These simple syrup combinations enhanced the base tea and helped bring forth flavor and complexity in the finished iced drink. Too often, iced tea is like vodka—popular, but uninspired. I hope that these new flavors will allow new drinks that are more interesting and taste different. Like gin.
Have you noticed the rise of Botanicals, as well? What's been your favorite combination to date?
Mass customization has become the mantra for cafés and quick-serve restaurants that allow their customers to order highly customized yet quickly producible beverages. Starbucks boasts that customers can order 87,000 different drink combinations. Although this has been a hallmark of specialty coffee operators for years, it is now working its way into more traditional food service operations.
When we first met them years ago they had a handful of stores selling tea and related merchandise. Now they have dozens of retail locations across the United States. They sell tea as a beverage and not the beverage itself.
