Coffee Flavor Update (May 2023)

We've been testing many versions of coffee flavor that Flavors Gourmet has created, different dilutions with different flavor concentrate brands, and we've really struggled to get one that has enough flavor and is also a reasonable cost. I thought we had one version that was good to go and we could approve, that was the right amount of flavor and good taste, but then they came back with the cost of it and it's very expensive, so then they started testing other options. So.... we don't have a solution yet from Flavors Gourmet. 

What we have determined at this point is to do what Doug in his Florida stores is doing; use a  powder instant espresso and add it directly to the cream. The disadvantage of this method is that it requires the employees to go to a separate place for a coffee flavor than just the pumps in the flavor rail, which breaks up the flow of the line. However, when presenting this method to my employees, I was surprised by their willingness to do it because, as one employee said, “Then we won’t have customers come back and say the coffee flavor was too weak.” This must happen often enough for her to consider that conclusion and the advantage of this method. It will certainly have more coffee flavor, and can be customized for different customers on how strong they’d like their coffee ice cream. By using a dry espresso mix, we also will not have the concern of preservation for a true coffee flavor that we’ve had in the past. 

Doug gets all excellent comments with this method. He keeps a whisk in his first dipper well to quickly incorporate into the cream. (We tried this at our store and it is really good, and I didn't find the whisk was needed; the flavor was still mixed throughout it after it was frozen.) 

See Doug’s picture below that he sent of his setup - the dosing label is using a teaspoon not a mix-in spoon and he thinks it flavors the 3 sizes well. 

We've been working on this for months now and we're frustrated that we didn't find a better solution. We're going to keep trying with Flavors Gourmet, but for now this is what we are suggesting and implementing in our stores. 

Coffee Flavor using instant espresso coffee grounds

Brand: Cafe Bustelo

Doses by size:

Small: ½ tsp

Regular: 1 tsp

Large: 1 ½ tsp

Pint: 2 tsp

To make it most simple for employees, we have considered just using a ½ tsp scoop, and just providing the number to put in. In that case, this would be the dose:

Number of ½ tsp. scoops per size: 

Small: 1

Regular: 2

Large: 3

Pint: 4