Flavoured Coffee Syrups - The Next Big Thing?
Coffee syrups have been around for many years but it's only in the recent times that it has caught up interest. Many coffee purists scoff at the idea of adding anything else other than milk to their coffee and some others won't even add milk to it. The good thing about coffee syrups is that they offer a variety of tastes which can be had suiting one's mood. There are a lot of brands in the market which sell syrups. Some of them are Monin, Da Vinci, Torani, Dolce, Stirling, and Senza. There are two major factors which determine the quality of the syrups, the sugar-content and the flavour concentration. A measurement for determining the sugar content is called brix. Some of the most renowned flavoured coffee drinks are Iced Caramel Latte, Belgium Berry Shaker, Spice Berry Cocoa, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie Latte, and Puerto Rumba Steamer. The flavours used in the drinks are generally included in the name itself. The sweetening of these syrups is done by any of the four sources- fruit juice, pure cane sugar, beet and corn sugars. Usually the syrups made by adding fruit juices or cane sugar are sweeter as compared to the syrups made by the beet and corn sugars.
To attain the same level of sweetness a higher content of the sugars are needed. The flavour concentration is simply a matter of opinion but the better quality syrups add more flavor by the addition of a lower quantity. One of the flavours which are fast catching the attention of syrup-lovers is Fox's U-Bet product. It is a chocolate flavour used to give coffees the tinge of hot melted chocolate. It was a great idea to capture a large audience by combining two of the most popular edible things- chocolate and coffee. No article about coffee gets completed without the mention of Starbucks. This was the brain-child of three young friends with a passion for freshly brewed coffee. Their first store opened in 1971. With a passion for coffee and a knack for business, their business bloomed and is now the world's largest chain of coffee-stores. Starbucks serves drip brewed coffee, espresso- and non-espresso-based hot beverages, tea, and ice-blended drinks. Along with coffees it also sells sandwiches, pastries and the lot. It also sells coffee mugs and other paraphernalia, as well as bagged coffee beans. But one factor that comes into mind while making all these delicious brews is whether everyone would be able to have them. Due to the addition of sugar in the flavoured syrups many people were denied the joy of sipping a cup of flavoured coffee. To correct these sugar free syrups were invented. One of the very first companies to offer these was Senza. It uses a chemical which has a taste akin to that of sugar but doesn't have glucose in it. These sugar-free syrups tasted the same as the sugar infused ones but were helpful for those who couldn't have sugar or those who simply preferred not to have it. Though the puritans might ridicule the idea of adding flavours to freshly brewed coffee, the reaction of the world to these coffee syrups gives us the knowledge that these flavours are here to stay. They serve coffee in flavours to suit your every mood. |
