Caramel Color Used to Enhance Coffee Flavor

Most caramel colors manufactured in the 20th century were used for coloring purposes, with only a very small percentage used for flavor enhancement. Caramel Color has been used to impart color in Coffee Extenders for a long time to reduce the cost when coffee prices are high. Although the flavor attributes were known to be similar, they had never been studied in detail. D.D. Williamson began researching the use of Caramel Color in an instant coffee and found that it not only added color but also enhanced the flavor.The result of this research was that flavor similarities did exist and were more prevalent in our Caramel Color 624 powder. The next step was to get more detailed information. D.D. Williamson commissioned the services of a private laboratory to do qualitative analyses that we were unable to do ourselves. The result was the identification of two major components of coffee flavor found in this type of caramel color.

The two components were furfural (2-Oxy-2 methylfuran) and furfural alcohol (2-Hydroxymethyl furan). Furfural is described in Perfume and Flavor Chemicals by: Steffan Arctander as “…an extremely interesting flavor material, not only in itself, but it serves as starting material for the manufacture of a great number of important perfume and flavor materials…”. Furfural alcohol is described by the same source as “…a natural component (about 50%) of the volatile oil from coffee bean meal (of roasted coffee)”. Further studies on the part of D.D. Williamson have produced data confirming that a small amount of caramel color (5%) added to an instant coffee significantly increases these two components in the finished product. In the instant coffees which we studied, one experienced a 100% increase in these flavors and the other had a 250%.

These initial studies are satisfying and will hopefully lead to further research. At the time of this report there is one company using the material and two other companies that have gone beyond the lab scale testing and are moving to production level testing. In addition to utilizing powdered Caramel Color for instant coffees, the use of Liquid Caramel Colors for coffee drinks is being investigated.

For more information contact Owen Parker, Vice President of Food Technology Laboratory.