Cofee and Tea Extracts

In a delicate balance of nature and science, coffee and tea extracts

are being used to boost the avor, composition and health benets
of products ranging from beverages to ice cream.
by Cindy Hazen
S P E C I A L R E P O R T
May 2014 US$39.00
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Cofee and Tea Extracts
by Cindy Hazen
O
n the popular TV show, Big Bang Theory, Sheldon hands Leonard a
cup of tea saying, When people are upset, the cultural convention is
to bring them hot beverages. That may be true, but traditional hot
beverages are morphing into new forms. Sheldon might easily offer a chilled
organic ready-to-drink (RTD) black tea seasoned with Madagascar vanilla or a
Brazilian coffee laced with caramel. Or in the interest of simplicity, perhaps a
coffee-flavored water. But whatever the choice, beverage development begins
with brewing raw tea leaves or green coffee beans.
Flavorful Beginnings
After brewing, solids are extracted and converted to a soluble powder. Either
may be spray-dried or agglomerated and spray dried. Coffee may be freeze-dried, a
process that retains more of the compounds that contribute to aroma.
For tea and coffee, the terms powder or extract can be used interchangeably,
said John Wilson, marketing manager, Allen Flavors, Edison, New Jersey.
A tea essence is a different product entirely. It reects top notes captured during
processing of liquid tea. The variety of these avor characteristics is virtually unlimited.
Adding essences helps stabilize the avor prole over the length of the shelf-life
of the product, said Daniel Machtemes, director of product development, Allen
Flavors. They also add a unique avor experience such as hay, waxy, woody, herbal,
earthy, bergamot, caramel, oral, leafy, citrus, nutty, fresh brewed and on and on,
that cannot be achieved using extracts alone.
When working with extracts, concentrations are usually stated in terms of percent
solids. For liquid coffee or tea extracts, developers want to know the brix (solid
content), he said, with 50 Brix being typical. Dried extracts are generally expressed
as 100 percent pure tea or coffee or a ratio of tea to maltodextrin.
Tony Rini, senior account manager, Allen Flavors, said sometimes tea is blended
with maltodextrin prior to spray drying. These blends are usually called malto
teas. Typically they are used in applications where the nished beverage displays a
slight haze or cloud. The advantage of malto teas is improved solubility and lower
cost as sometimes they can replace 100 percent pure extracts at a cost savings,
he explained. Malto teas are also commonly used in sugar-free iced tea formulas
because they blend well with non-nutritive sweeteners.
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Tea extracts are commonly differentiated by descriptors based on performance in
beverages. Rather than simply relying on strength as part of the description, taste
and color are often the differentiators that will help the developer determine which
product to take to the bench. Teas are also available in the industry as standardized
extracts for certain characteristics such as polyphenol content, epigallocatechin
gallate (EGCG) content and caffeine content.
There isnt a measure of concentration for tea essences. Use of these ingredients
varies tremendously and there is no industry standard due to there being several
different ways to produce essence, plus the tea essence does not contain any
solids, stated Gary G. Vorsheim, vice president, extract sales, Martin Bauer Inc.,
Secaucus, New Jersey.
For coffee, Caroline Vogel, director of quality/R&D, Autocrat LLC,
Lincoln, Rhode Island, pointed out the importance of the ratio of
ground roasted beans to water. Our unique process allows us to
extract ground coffee at higher solids by just increasing the ground-
coffee-to-water ratio and making a more concentrated cup of coffee.
We call this either a concentrate or extract. We sell this concentrate
to our customers as an ingredient for their use in an RTD with milk or
with water to taste similar to a freshly brewed cup of coffee.
Building on Extracts
Coffee extracts have many different attributes. There are different
types of roasted coffee-type avors such as light roast, medium and
dark roast, Wilson explained. They also have their own avor prole
such as hearty and robust, medium bodied, etc. They can also vary in
color. Generally, the more roasted avor, the darker the coffee.
And its not uncommon for coffee extracts to be named by the type
of bean or country of origin.
Variations also abound in tea extracts. Vorsheim said the range of tea extracts
is usually based on the type of leaf tea used to make the extracts, such as white,
green, black, oolong, Puerh, yellow, etc. Coincidentally, many of the types of leaves
are descriptive of color.
Tea extract colors can range from light yellowish brown to reddish brown to brown.
Its important to keep the avor and color prole of each extract in mind when
developing tea beverages. Since some tea extracts are darker than others, Machtemes
recommended starting dosages at low levels and working up to higher levels.
No matter the color, avor or leaf used, when working with teas, it boils down to
two basic types of tea extract: hot water soluble (HWS) and cold water soluble (CWS).
These terms relate to the way the extract is processed after the leaf is extracted.
No matter the color,
flavor or leaf used,
when working with
teas, it boils down to
two basic types of
tea extract: hot water
soluble and cold
water soluble.
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HWS means that the extract powder will only dissolve in warm to hot water,
since much of the naturally occurring hot water soluble solids in the extract have
not been removed from the extract, therefore they need hot water to dissolve,
Vorsheim explained. This is also true for leaf tea, which is why hot water is necessary
to brew tea.
Similar to brewed tea, these HWS extracts contain the highest level of tea taste.
They are used for food service, 3-in-1 mixes and in products where haziness of the
product does not matter. This type of extract will not dissolve completely in cold
water and is not suitable for cold beverage applications since it will cream-out and
develop haziness and a large amount of sedimentation, he said.
CWS extracts are processed in a way that removes or breaks
down the HWS solids in the extract so the remaining material
is soluble in cold water. The nal extract will tend to be clear
in appearance and not develop sedimentation of RTD beverages.
The processing of the tea extract to make it clear with less
sediment in cold water removes the taste notes that are found in
hot tea, he continued. CWS tea extracts tend to be very weak
in tea taste since most of the compounds in tea that provide avor
also contribute to haziness and sedimentation in cold drinks.
Not only will the taste of the extract be decreased, mouthfeel
will be diminished. But in the United States, sedimentation is an
undesirable attribute. Flavor can be built back.
Thats where the addition of essences or other extracts can create
magic. Its important to choose the right base extract to build a
avorful foundation. Rarely do beverage scientists use just one tea
extract, Rini explained. Beverage scientists will often times blend
multiple tea extracts and tea essences to achieve the complex,
well-rounded avor proles that consumers demand.
Extracts can give different notes to the nished beverage, such
as astringent, bitter, caramel, green or metallic. I have noticed
that the organic extracts are not as stable as the non-organic
extracts, Wilson added. By incorporating tea essences in RTD
teas to add notes such as herbal, earthy, leafy, citrus, nutty,
sun-brewed, ad innitum, the avor combinations and emphasis are unlimited.
The granulation of the tea also comes into play. Extracts are available in both
micro-milled and large-particle grind sizes. Micro-milled teas are generally required
for use in dry sugar blends because they more easily plate the sugar crystals,
but they can be used in both RTD and dry blends of all types, Rini said.
Larger-particle teas have less dusting and can sometimes mix better with
maltodextrin and non-nutritive sweeteners.
BEVERAGE
SCIENTISTS
will often times blend
multiple tea extracts
and tea essences to
achieve the complex,
well-rounded favor profles that
CONSUMERS
DEMAND
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Spray-dried or spray-dried agglomerated coffee powder plates well with sugar,
but freeze-dried coffee does not.
Cold-ll applications require tea with a very tight microbiological specication.
Shelf life can be an issue for nal beverages if the micro levels of the original tea
extract are high, Vorsheim advised. Product developers need to be aware of the
micro load of their formulation and the processing techniques that the bottling
plant uses when making and packing the beverages (most commonly the use of
preservatives, hot lling or aseptic packing). All ingredients can be a source for
micro issues in tea beverages, including the waterand of course the GMP [good
manufacturing practice] of the bottling equipment itself.
Tea normally doesnt have many negative interactions with other ingredients,
although Wilson suggested some inclusions such as vitamins or added caffeine can
cause off-notes and require masking avors.
The one basic rule that must always be followed is to add
the tea extract to the batch tank before acid is added, Vorsheim
cautioned. Tea is very sensitive to acid (low pH); it likes the pH to
be closer to 6.0, not the 3.3 and below range for RTD teas. Adding
tea to a low pH environment will potentially cause the tea to be
hazy or to develop ock. Add tea to plain water and then add
other ingredients after. And be sure that the other ingredients
themselves do not develop haziness in low pH beverages.
Using the right proportion of tea solids is critical because,
drinks that are too high in tea solids can cause browning
reactions when used with amino acids and unprocessed sugars,
Rini added.
Tea extracts and tea beverages are also vulnerable to oxygen
and extended heating. Tea will get darker and green tea will
turn brown when stressed by oxygen and heat. Overcooking can
develop a pruney taste-note in the tea, which is not desired,
Vorsheim noted.
Prolonged exposure to high temperatures will also degrade
the antioxidants in tea. These healthful compounds are one of
the reasons for teas appeal.
A Healthy Halo
The tea production industry is beginning to come into its own, wrote IBISWorld
in the industry report Tea Production in the US, January 2014. Changing dietary
patterns and an emphasis on healthy living are shifting beverage choices from
sugary and carbonated drinks. Natural compounds in tea, such as polyphenols
and catechins, are thought to improve health. Tea is also becoming more popular
TEA
is very sensitive
to acid (low pH);
it likes the pH
to be closer to
6.0
NOT the
3.3
and below range
for RTD teas
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thanks to the increasing variety of avors, strengths and sweeteners, the report
stated. Emphasis on innovation and new product introductions will further
stimulate demand in the next ve years.
A report devoted to Coffee Production in the US, September 2013, predicted
boosts in coffee consumption, stating, New scientic evidence linking coffee
drinking to health benets has fostered positive perceptions about its consumption.
The use of extracts widens the range of health-connoting delicious products
offered to consumers. Rini noted tea and coffee extracts are being used across all
food and beverage platforms, including RTD, powdered, liquid concentrate, foods
and dairy forms. Beyond iced tea and iced coffee, extracts also avor dairy drinks,
ice cream and confections.
Machtemes suggested the applications of extracts in beverages are limitless.
Tea and coffee extracts can be used in a wide range of beverages such as dry
powder mixes that are reconstituted by the consumer or RTD beverages for dry and
refrigerated shelf distribution. Coffee and tea extracts are frequently used in a many
RTD applications such as energy teas and coffees, coconut waters, water enhancers
and functional beverages for hydration, weight loss, meal replacement, relaxation,
shot-type applications and many more.
With a focus on health and wellness, Wilson said tea is second to water as the
most consumed beverage in the world. Tea offers numerous health benets on its
own, as well as when offered as part of an RTD beverage together with natural
avors, nutritional supplements and vitamins. Everyone wins, especially the
consumer who gets an outstanding, refreshing beverage that is actually healthy,
he concluded. q
Cindy Hazen is a freelance writer with more than 25 years of experience in the
food and beverage industry.
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