Flavors, descriptions and tasting notes
Flavor Essence offers a small tight list of about 30 basic but gourmet-quality flavor concentrates. Treat these like building blocks or crayons where you can use the flavors alone, or to create your own blends. And like the crayon rules, you don’t always have to “stay inside the lines”, you can experiment any way you want and have your own kind of tasty fun.
Gain maximum control and daily variety with these gourmet-level flavorings. You can create and add finesse to the flavor of your recipes, drinks and food. Or, a bit of these will easily modify and improve upon the big name brand beverages and foods that everyone buys in the stores. Make your own versions of water, bubbly waters, coffee, teas, and bar drinks! And in baking, go to the next level beyond mere use of vanilla and almond extracts ✓✓
Quicky List Of All Flavors
Honeycrisp Apple, Banana Foster, Black Cherry, Blueberry, Peach, Raspberry (jam stye), Strawberry (jam style), Key Lime, Mango, Dragonfruit, Tangerine, Pineapple, Coconut, Ginger (Jamaican spice style), Meyer Lemon, Cinnamon, Graham Cracker, Toasted Almonds, Pistachio Nut, Maple, French Vanilla Crème, Custard Crème, Toasted Marshmallow (with char), Cafe Latte (medium roast), Black Coffee (darker roast), Caramel Crème Brulee, Butterscotch, Chocolate (Milk Chocolate), Rich Dark Chocolate, Min, Pumpkin Spice
All are available for purchase in our FLAVOR STORE
Tasting Notes:
Honeycrisp Apple True to its name, this friendly flavor not only has fresh-sliced apple aromas that are very crisp and “sweet”-clean, its crunchy and fresh taste also shows off a very fresh, dual-personality of both sweet and tart apple. Of all our flavors, this one is probably the most refreshing and liveliest. (For each of our flavors, and especially because there are so many varieties of apple, we seek to capture the nuances of characteristics and “personality” that represent the best aromas and best tastes of this particularly great fruit).
Blueberry Lively / clean aromas and flavor of true-to-form blueberry — showing off ripe fresh blueberry flavor only. The berry, in its perfume and flavor, has a dainty but ripened personality. It is our best effort to giving you “the right blueberry flavor”, nothing else. Beyond its use in hot/iced coffees & teas, this does very well in seltzers and smoothies as well as high-end vodka martinis. (Sometime- drop a few fresh blueberries into plain yogurt and stir a squeeze of this in -:)
Black Cherry (Plump-Ripe Style) After a year of trials, taste testings and revisions, we finally have a true-to-form natural dark cherry that has plump-ripe perfumes and soft/chubby cherry flavors. The goal was to give you something more real than ever, and to let you forget about syrups and candies. It’s about tasting the fruit you see once a year on the tree or in a good jar of preserves! In order to retain max natural color and flavor for this, you may notice some unfiltered sediment, and ought to shake this one before uses.
Peach (Late Harvest Style) Sweet ripe perfumes of plump soft peaches –dainty and laid back in character. The big attempt here was to capture that juicy style of peach that’s ready to fall off the tree… you know, when if you grab it too hard the sweet juicy peach bruises in your grip! (And no, there are no sweeteners in this one either).
Raspberry (Jam Style) Ripened raspberry with darker aromas & tastes of warm jam –it has the kind of perfumes and flavor of the berries when they are about to fall from the vine. Compared to the pre-flavored raspberry that you’ve had before, this doesn’t have that “ribbon candy” or “sweety-pie character” that artificial raspberry flavoring often exhibits.
Strawberry (Jam Style) Nice bouncy strawberry perfumes with the juicy taste of jammy strawberry. Its “boisterous” personality ought to remind you of real, vine-softened, strawberries that stain your fingers from a local Pick-Your-Own farm (–not the store-bought strawberries that are huge, look nice, but are shelf-ripened and almost tasteless). This tasty Strawberry even has a small hint of some fresh earthiness from the little seeds.
Mango (Ripe-Juicy Style) This Mango finally captures the deep, almost heady and fruity/floral perfumes of mango when it has entered its very ripe, sweet and soft stage. For folks that like Mango, this style is an ambrosia. When blended with chunks of mango in smoothies, it will nicely smooth off the natural tartness that is present. Yes- like all of our other flavors, it has no sweeteners of any kind; but you’d swear there must be with its lush aromas and taste. This nicely presents a truly authentic class of Mango flavor.
Tangerine (Juicy Style) This is what an orange tries to do but can’t…show off a set of very dainty, sweet & juicy perfumes, and then follow through with its very fresh flavor personality that is not only ripe orange, but also has the appearance of also being juicy and sweet, and even a bit creamy. [Note –Especially for new-comers to our flavors– even though the aromas and tastes will suggest to you a “sweetness”, the Tangerine clocks in with 0 sugars, carbs, fat or sodium. (And nothing like Stevia is ever added into our natural flavor recipe. That or other sweeteners are up to you to add). This is not a “pretty” liquid flavoring –with its slightly pale & opaque color; but in its natural form, the aromas and tastes will show off a style of fresh juiciness that common orange flavorings tend to oversimplify]
Banana Foster Soft, very ripened-banana with complex aroma & taste nuances of buttery brown sugar and a touch of rum/vanilla without any type of sweetener. In this special flavor recipe, we’ve finally pulled together the friendly, sweet, soft, ripe, perfumes and flavors you experience when a banana goes past the “green stage” and its skin peels off so easily and tastes so plump and fruit-laden. (The owner is a banana lover, and this recipe went through the most work, re-work and tweaking until the aromas and taste could only be beaten by aging and peeling a banana).
Pineapple (Fresh-Sliced Style) This Pineapple’s personality shows off an aroma mix of ripened fresh-cut pineapple along with a dainty layer of tart-sweet perfumes. The flavor style has a lively bite, yet the fruity taste of softened pineapple is right there too –>we’re trying for the best outer first inch of the fruit when you skin and slice a ripe-softened sweet & sour pineapple yourself. The personality of this is a bit more boisterous than the other flavor concentrations, so go a bit easier on amounts you use. This was designed to match up and blend in really well with our Coconut (Fresh-Shaved Style).
Coconut (Fresh-Shaved Style) Perfumes of fresh-shaved coconut, and ripe-clean tasting, almost “meaty coconut” flavor. As opposed to being sweet, creamy or oily, our style of Coconut focusses on just the simple tropically fresh coconut meat as its primary personality trait, and then a second characteristic that gives you a piece of soft nuttiness in the finish. [To get gourmet level unsweetened Coconut into drinks is otherwise almost impossible and in food/baking this Coconut will prove to be very practical. This Coconut might end up being one of the most versatile of all flavors –you can easily blend this into our other flavors, or “as-is” into a huge range of drinks & enhance your creative baking projects.
Dragonfruit It’s obviously one of our most unusual flavors– Yet it is one of the most daintily sweet perfumed and fruity that we’ve ever offered. Lush fruit and lively –this Dragonfruit exudes twin layers of fresh sliced watermelon and a dripping background of little wild strawberries –the kind you wish you could pick in satisfying quantities. [This is one unusual situation when the flavor is actually even better, even more friendly than the fresh fruit itself. While there are many varieties of Dragonfruit, this alluring flavor is very fruity, easy-to-enjoy and based upon the rarer Peruvian Pitahaya Amarilla –a yellow Dragonfruit].
Key Lime Very nice bright, fresh and lively mix of sweet/tart lime aromas. And the taste is pleasantly focussed on the key lime once it has ripened and entered its “sweeter”/juicier stage. This shows off much more personality than just the bite of lime. The secret charm of this flavor is its pleasant focus on showing off much more tropical flavor than acidity. Whether you use the Key Lime on its own to flavor waters, or blend it with our other fruited flavors like Raspberry, or even bolster your yogurts, shakes or pies, this is probably the cleanest natural Limes that you can add to liven-up your recipes.
Lemon (Meyer Lemon Style) Fresh-squeezed lemon and fresh aromas of lemon zest. Using a smaller amount of this in beverages will bring out it’s “forward” personality of refreshing lemon, citrus, the bite of shaved lemon zest and to some people a smidge of background orange. You can also use a bit to enliven other fruit flavorings. In baking and frostings this will add fresh lemon zest. [This was the most difficult of all flavors to “get right”]. Be Careful: This is more potent than all our other flavors and it can “overload” very easily.
Ginger (Jamaican Style) Long ago people started asking for ginger to make their own ginger ale, to spice up their iced teas, to add some zip to their marinades and salad dressings. We resisted it, until we could finally get it together with an aromatic and spicier version that could even satisfy the tropical ginger beer folks too.
This Ginger took a couple years of stop and go testing, and finally it has evolved –with a fresh-grated ginger personality, that is clean and spicy, aromatic and pleasantly zippy, but not overbearing. Yeah! Finally!
Cinnamon (Fresh-ground Style) Deliciously sweet and heady aromas of fresh cinnamon, and just a smidge of clove & allspice. This is the type of almost “buttery” cinnamon that you’ll want to use in great coffees, rum blender drinks, or to permeate your dough in cookies, cinnamon bread or batter in coffee cake muffins. Pancake batters, shakes and yogurt come more alive with a bit of this Cinnamon in the background too. (This also blends well creatively with several of our other flavors. For example, a 2 to 1 Cinnamon ratio)
Mint Cool fresh peppermint perfumes and refreshing zippy flavor. This is also “Crème” because beyond its minty-ness, you will enjoy a layer of creamy vanilla in the background to soften the blow of just pure cold mint. [This flavor shows off very well when blended with chocolate, as well as some of the fruited flavors].
French Vanilla Crème Very clean fresh vanilla with a sweet aroma and soft texture that brings about a creamy custard backdrop onto your palette. This is different than ordinary vanilla because of its dainty perfumes and flavors that will accent your coffees/teas with some finesse. (Another positive side-effect, is that this flavor and all of the others will smooth off the bite or acidity of coffees/teas and alcohol-based drinks. In all applications, this will provide a soft rich background flavor). You can use this in the same proportions as Vanilla Extract, in cookie mixes, French toast batters, bread doughs and cake mixes. Yet the key difference from a normal extract is that the French Vanilla Crème is simultaneously more dainty and more mellow, while enriching the primary flavors of your recipe as a subtle and elegant backdrop.
Custard Crème (Pastry Cream Style) This is our first flavor that almost deserves the term “voluptuous” and it “creamifies” any other of our flavors that you blend this into. Sweet creamy perfumes, rich-soft flavors of marshmallowy/creamy filling found in warm Flan and fresh Cannoli filling. It has a complex set of perfumes of freshly beaten brown sugar, vanilla bean, eggs and rich cream. Custard Crème shows off a taste that is kind of like the spoonful of cookie dough that you sniff and steal from the bowl when baking. Even while this creamy flavor belongs in the same “family” as a good vanilla, this actually picks up where simple vanilla ends—adding a richness and complexity that is not tasted in mere vanilla. [This is our most versatile flavor and a great secret ingredient].
Chocolate (Milk Chocolate Style) With this newest recipe, we have finally bottled up a really clean classical milk chocolate. Stirred into a glass of milk itself, it will create images and sensations of Nestle’s. Even though it is unsweetened, it has gourmet-quality melted and frothy aromas, plus the right frothy/melty chocolate in the body of the flavor that a lot of people crave but “need to avoid”. And it has no odd after-tastes, just chocolate. We finally “did it”. [This chocolate sets up a very nice contrast to its “big brother” flavor –the Rich Dark Chocolate].
Rich Dark Chocolate Noticeable aromas of a warm deep chocolate bar. Unlike dark cocoa or chocolate, this has the pleasantly deeper darker melted chocolate flavor without any bitterness. (Also for sensitive folks, like the other flavors this contains no sugars & does not have allergens). This dark chocolate plays well when blended with the Toasted Almonds and Banana Foster. This Rich Dark Chocolate is the perfect background flavoring when you want to add a clean-tasting darker chocolate background dimension to your beverages and your creative food recipes.
Caramel Crème Brulee Melted caramel and sweet cream custard aromas and flavors without any sugars (add your own). This is a dainty but seductively rich set of flavors. It can nicely add complexity and pleasing background flavors to any coffee, oatmeal, chocolate chip recipe, muffin mix (and even exotic adult beverages/ drinks that contain Baileys, Kahlua or amaretto). The Caramel Crème Brulee natural concentrate is kind of a secret item –because it is not an off-the-shelf flavor and is neither simple to mimic, or nor commonly found as an ingredient. Creative people, chefs and bartenders will find and get new pleasures from this “secret ingredient”.
Butterscotch This rich creamy flavor is the happy “big sister” flavor to our Caramel Crème Brulee. When you compare these two flavors, this one is even richer, more buttery and more nuanced with dark brown sugar tones and a slight hint of molasses in the background. Here we are trying to give you the best perfectly “browned” characteristics of the classic English recipe. It is easily enjoyable, and for those of you who also love toffee, this flavor will be the closest match you can find in a liquid concentrate.
Café Latte Maybe the best way to describe this flavor is to ask a question. Have you ever walked into a kitchen in the morning when someone just finished grinding some fresh coffee beans, or is in the middle of fresh-perking a pot of coffee, and rich roasted vapors just fill the room? This is a serious version of coffee extractions that puts out heady aromas and the taste of strong coffee that has been tempered by the froth and elegance of steamed milk. It has many uses and all creative folks will enjoy the fact that finally you get to have a true coffee flavoring that has reserve-roast quality.
Maple (Grade-A Style) Rich earthy aromas, with very warm-clean maple body of flavor. The overall finish of this Maple is lush, yet elegantly soft. (This recipe like all our other flavors is completely without any sweeteners –add your own). And it is a kind of exciting product for you to use, without that cloying artificial candy-ish taste or after-taste that is so disappointing in artificial products. If you’ve ever visited a sugar shack in New England while Maple sap is being boiled and evaporated, the aromas/perfume of this Maple will remind you of the heady steam that fills the sugar shack on the 1st evaporation runs. This unique product has a flavor “personality” that deliciously tastes like the Grade-A samplings that visitors get to sip while the first vats of concentrated maple liquid are still warm.
Pistachio Nut Pistachios never really stand out for their aromas, yet this flavor smells fairly rich, is nutty and has earthy tones. Taste-wise, this is the easy-to-enjoy flavor you get when you crack open and chew a bunch of pistachios, and savor the creamy butter that you create by holding and savoring them in your mouth. People with advanced palates might perceive a richer very pleasant secondary unami layer. [This also blends well with several other of our flavors –like a touch of our Dark Chocolate. Beyond being a baker’s dream, try this in your next coffee, yogurt, smoothie or ice cream.
Toasted Almonds Fresh nutty and sweet aromas of almonds –without any sugars, and slow-roasted almond in its soft body of flavor. This flavor reveals some great almond nut-laden layers of taste in the middle, and a soft lingering finish. What’s nice here is that it is a bit more forward than some of the other Flavor Essence flavorings, but it still has a clean daintiness with no odd aftertastes. The flavor is nicely amplified when you add your own sweeteners that you desire.
Graham Cracker Alone, real graham crackers just don’t do very much, and that is why their role is usually inside something else or as a pleasant “player” with other tasty substances in pie crusts, crumbles, S’mores, or just dipped in milk. So- as a concentrated flavoring, our Graham Cracker is a wonderful creative tool that you can use to combine with other flavors and other substances. This can be fun & tasty “secret ingredient” for you. It “comes alive” and adds a new enjoyable dimension to flavors like our French Vanilla, Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, or Caramel Crème Brulee. Or for a “crumble effect”, stir some in with our Strawberry, Raspberry or Blueberry. Even make your own S’Mores blend! Combine together the Graham Cracker with a bit of the Custard Crème or Toasted Marshmallow and then a touch of our Chocolate or Dark Chocolate.