How flavor and color are created in non-alcoholic beverages

Natural or added? What is really behind flavors and colors

Anyone who deals with high-quality beverages will sooner or later find themselves looking at the fine print on the label. That is where it is decided what is really in the glass. The terms on the ingredient list are not marketing fluff—they follow clear legal definitions for food.

Understanding them helps in assessing quality better.

The flavor hierarchy: From nature to the laboratory

Not every flavor gets into a drink in the same way. Worlds lie between a real plant and a lab formula.

• Pure botanicals (extracts/distillates): This is the highest level of refinement. Real plant parts (blossoms, roots, seeds) are macerated or distilled. The ingredient list includes terms like "magnolia blossom extract" or "juniper distillate." One obtains the entire spectrum of the plant, including its essential oils and fine bitter notes.
• Natural [X] flavor: The "X" stands for a specific raw material (e.g., natural blackberry flavor). According to law, this flavor must be derived at least 95% from the stated source. The remaining 5% is usually used for standardization to compensate for harvest fluctuations.
• Natural flavor – of natural origin, but not necessarily from the stated source: Here, the flavor is indeed derived from natural raw materials (plant, animal, or microbiological), but not necessarily from the fruit it tastes like. A "natural flavor" with peach taste can therefore have been obtained with the help of microorganisms or other plants.
• Flavor – pure laboratory development: This term refers to substances developed in a laboratory. They do not have to have an equivalent in nature. Their advantage lies in price and stability, which makes them particularly attractive for mass-market products.

And how does color get into the glass?

There are also significant differences in approach when it comes to coloring. It is a choice between optical permanence and natural vibrancy:

• Coloring foods: Here, the color comes from concentrates of fruit and vegetables (e.g., black carrot, beetroot, or safflower). These extracts are treated as food and often bring a subtle, distinct character of their own.
• Natural colorants: These are obtained through extraction from natural sources but are chemically isolated (e.g., anthocyanins or carotenes). They must be declared with an E-number or their name.
• Artificial colors & effects: Synthetic colors offer an unnatural brightness. Decorative additives such as glitter also fall into this category. They serve purely as a show effect but contribute nothing to the sensory profile.

Why real plants make a difference

Pure plant extracts—that is, real botanicals—are the most elaborate form of flavor extraction. While industrial flavors usually provide an isolated flavor profile, natural extracts convey the entire "signature" of a plant.

And this is exactly where the sensory difference lies:

Natural extracts contain hundreds of accompanying substances that cannot be fully reproduced in a laboratory. They provide body, texture, and a complex mouthfeel. Flavor is thus not just perceptible, but tangible.

This is crucial, especially in fine dining. Real botanicals react more complexly and vividly to temperature, dilution, or combination with food than isolated flavorings.

Naturalness as a philosophy

This philosophy also forms the foundation for LUST & FEAST. In the development of high-quality non-alcoholic aperitifs, the focus is consistently on the power of nature: The flavors and colors are created exclusively through elaborate extraction processes of the plants used.

This also means: there is natural variance. An extract of magnolia blossoms or blackberries can show slight differences in nuance or color intensity depending on the time of harvest.

In the world of high-quality beverages, this is not considered a flaw—but a quality feature. It is a sign that there is no standardized laboratory product in the glass, but a living one.

The conscious decision against artificial uniformity or pure show effects is therefore also an attitude: Quality is not created through perfect reproducibility, but through the purity and depth of the raw materials used.