by Cindy Hazen O

Coffee and Tea ExtractsIn a delicate balance of nature and science, coffee and tea extracts are being used to boost the flavor, composition and health benefits

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

Food Product Design • Coffee and Tea Extracts 2 foodprodcutdesign.com

Coffee and Tea Extractsby Cindy Hazen

On 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 BeginningsAfter 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 reflects top notes captured during processing of liquid tea. The variety of these flavor characteristics is virtually unlimited.

Adding essences helps “stabilize the flavor profile over the length of the shelf-life of the product,” said Daniel Machtemes, director of product development, Allen Flavors. “They also add a unique flavor experience such as hay, waxy, woody, herbal, earthy, bergamot, caramel, floral, 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 finished 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.”


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 isn’t 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 ExtractsCoffee extracts have many different attributes. “There are different

types of roasted coffee-type flavors such as light roast, medium and dark roast,” Wilson explained. “They also have their own flavor profile such as hearty and robust, medium bodied, etc. They can also vary in color. Generally, the more roasted flavor, the darker the coffee.”

And it’s 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. It’s important to keep the flavor and color profile 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, flavor 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.


“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 final 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 flavor 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.

That’s where the addition of essences or other extracts can create magic. It’s important to choose the right base extract to build a flavorful 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 flavor profiles that consumers demand.”

Extracts can give different notes to the finished 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 infinitum, the flavor 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 flavor profiles that

CONSUMERS DEMAND


Spray-dried or spray-dried agglomerated coffee powder plates well with sugar, but freeze-dried coffee does not.

Cold-fill applications require tea with a very tight microbiological specification. “Shelf life can be an issue for final 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 filling or aseptic packing). All ingredients can be a source for micro issues in tea beverages, including the water—and of course the GMP [good manufacturing practice] of the bottling equipment itself.”

Tea normally doesn’t 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 flavors.

“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 flock. 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 tea’s 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

6.0NOT the

3.3 and below range

for RTD teas


thanks to the increasing variety of flavors, strengths and sweeteners,” the report stated. “Emphasis on innovation and new product introductions will further stimulate demand in the next five years.”

A report devoted to “Coffee Production in the US,” September 2013, predicted boosts in coffee consumption, stating, “New scientific evidence linking coffee drinking to health benefits 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 flavor 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 benefits on its own, as well as when offered as part of an RTD beverage together with natural flavors, 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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