A Natural Rainbow of Flavoured Malt Beverages

Sensient’s Value of Colour research revealed that vibrantly coloured beverages are able to positively influence purchase intent.

In addition, brighter colours are often associated with a superior taste profile—an essential factor since flavour is a key driver of purchase decisions in this category. By emphasizing vivid, enticing colours, brands can effectively communicate the flavour experience to consumers before they even open the can or bottle. For Product Developers and Brand Managers crafting seltzers, beer-type mix drinks, mocktails, or cocktail-inspired beverages, investing in vibrant colours is an excellent strategy to enhance shelf appeal and resonate with flavour-driven consumers.

Given the health halo around these flavoured malt beverages, natural colours or colouring foods is the obvious selection for refreshing better-for-you alcoholic offerings.

There are four key items to consider when formulating with colours from botanical sources in malt beverage systems…

A toast to delighting consumers with mother nature’s rainbow!

colorful malt beverages

Reds

Anthocyanins, like black carrot, can provide deep red shades in low pH malt beverages. Sensient’s Agronomy team has made great strides on black carrot color solutions, and our red or magenta black carrots are an extremely cost-effective option thanks to their dedicated work on pigment optimization.

Grape skin extract is another option in the red family, exhibiting more of a rose hue in these beverage systems, lending itself to Rosé and floral flavour profiles. At our Italy facility, Sensient partners with grape growers and winemakers to upcycle unused grape skins from the wine production process for natural colour extraction, which lends itself to a positive environmental responsibility story from a colour ingredient.

If you’re looking for an eye-catching bright pink shade, colour from purple sweet potatoes delight beverages with a stunning hot neon pink, perfect for sweet cocktails, flamingos, and unicorns.

Yellows

Sensient offers a variety of yellow hue options for malt beverages. Yellow beta-carotenes are available and, although they are naturally oil-soluble, they can be effectively used in water-based malt beverage systems with emulsification. Sensient’s Advanced Emulsion Technology (AET™) reduces particle size, ensuring the stability of these oil-soluble natural colours.

Carthamus is another excellent option, providing a highly stable, bright yellow with transparent colouring properties, making it ideal for long-lasting colour stability in beverages. For bright yellow hues, Turmeric is also an option for bright yellow if the beverage package is opaque like cans, but due to light sensitivity, our expert color technologists do not typically recommend it for bottled beverages, as the bright yellow food colouring will fade over time when exposed to light.

A Natural Rainbow of Flavoured Malt Beverages

As the hard seltzer, tea, and beer-type mix categories gain traction in Europe, standing out in a crowded marketplace becomes increasingly challenging.

There are four key items to consider when formulating with colours from botanical sources in malt beverage systems…

A toast to delighting consumers with mother nature’s rainbow!

No matter what shade you want to create to enhance your taste profile, our beverage application experts are here to help!

If you see a shade you love above, feel to request a sample.

Related Articles

A Natural Rainbow of Flavoured Malt Beverages

As the hard seltzer, tea, and beer-type mix categories gain traction in Europe, standing out in a crowded marketplace becomes increasingly challenging.

There are four key items to consider when formulating with colours from botanical sources in malt beverage systems…

A toast to delighting consumers with mother nature’s rainbow!

No matter what shade you want to create to enhance your taste profile, our beverage application experts are here to help!

If you see a shade you love above, feel to request a sample.

Related Articles

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