While your researchers may be cooking up ever more inventive flavourings with monopropylene glycol in the lab, there’s a certain subset of consumers who are still ‘afraid’ to experiment and be adventurous when it comes to the flavours they choose.
A survey, carried out by One Poll on behalf of Russian Standard Vodka, looked into consumer’s choices when it came to cocktails and, much more than in the food they ate, their choices were dictated by a fear over certain flavours they weren’t familiar with.
According to the study, reported by Harpers, 24 per cent said they’d like to experiment more when it comes to cocktails, 60 per cent they felt they lacked understanding of flavour matching for both choosing and creating new tipples.
Take for example, 18 per cent of respondents had never tried a drink with a herbal ingredient, compared to just six per cent who avoid food with herbs in.
Rebecca Heathcote, head of international marketing for Roust, producer of Russian Standard Vodka, said: “The research has proven that consumers need that extra bit of encouragement to experiment for themselves with their cocktail making.
If you are planning a new cocktail product, then it may be interesting to discover that Edinburgh is the most receptive city to interesting flavours, while Birmingham is the most resistant, with a quarter never having had a cocktail with rosemary, mint or lavender as an ingredient.
The 25-to-24 year old demographic is the most adventurous, with 32 per cent having tried a lavender cocktail, a figure that falls to 11 per cent in over 55s.
