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Convenience stores, restaurants and beverage bottlers are all familiar with the syrups that are diluted to make a finished beverage product. The syrups are made from a combination of sweeteners, water, acidulates and, most importantly, flavor (in some cases juices, vitamins and minerals may also be added). But lets dig deeper into exactly what gives the syrup its final beverage taste, the flavor.

Convenience stores, restaurants and beverage bottlers are all familiar with the syrups that are diluted to make a finished beverage product. The syrups are made from a combination of sweeteners, water, acidulates and, most importantly, flavor (in some cases juices, vitamins and minerals may also be added). But lets dig deeper into exactly what gives the syrup its final beverage taste, the flavor.

Emulsion or Extract, Whats the Difference?

Flavor comes in two forms, extracts and emulsions. Both types of flavor are derived from processes designed to solve the problem of mixing the oils that come from plants and chemicals that contain the flavor with the water necessary to make a liquid that can be turned into a beverage. To understand the problem a little better, lets use a citrus fruit like a lemon for our example. If you take the peel of a lemon and squeeze or twist it, little beads of liquid will appear on the skin. These liquids, which contain the flavor of the lemon in a highly concentrated form, are little droplets of oil. We can use these oils to add flavor to any product, but to do so we usually need to mix it with water to create the finished product. Since oil is insoluble in water, we need to find a way to disperse the flavoring oils. These dispersions are called extracts or emulsions.

Extracts are made by combining the oil containing the flavor with a fifty percent ethyl alcohol solution. Flavoring oils are best made soluble with the use of ethyl alcohol. The flavoring oil and ethyl alcohol solution is left to stand for approximately one week. During this waiting period the soluble parts and the insoluble parts start to separate. As soon as the solutions separation process is completed the insoluble parts are filtered and discarded. The soluble part of the solution, which is quite clear in appearance, becomes the flavoring extract. Extracts, due to their stability have a long shelf life.

Emulsions are a different approach to creating a flavor that is dispersible. Emulsions use the process of homogenization to force the flavoring oils to disperse onto an emulsifying agent, usually vegetable gum. By homogenizing the flavoring oil, vegetable gum and water an emulsion is formed. An emulsion is a suspension of oil on a water soluble medium which helps to minimize the separation that normally occurs when oil and water are mixed together. Emulsions tend to be heavier than extracts and are cloudy in appearance. Emulsions generally have a shorter shelf life than extracts.

Which Flavor Dispersion Should You Use

So now that you know the difference between emulsions and extracts which one should you use? The one factor you need to consider when deciding is your beverages appearance. For clear beverages like lime soda, an extract should be the choice. If you are making a cola then the emulsion is the appropriate dispersion. Regardless if its clear or cloudy, emulsions and extracts are the foundation of syrups and are essential in producing excellent tasting beverages.