Black Moth vodka gets truffle flavour boost

Food and drink research company Campden BRI has developed a method for luxury vodka brand Black Moth to boost its truffle flavour.

European Périgord truffles are the key ingredient in the vodka. Due to their elusive nature and delicious flavour, truffles are among the world’s most prized culinary delicacies. Black Moth vodka is flavoured using the most expensive winter truffles and the brand wanted to increase the flavour intensity, so turned to Campden BRI for help.

Geoff Taylor, Campden BRI’s wines and spirits expert, drew on his 30 years’ experience of supporting the alcoholic drinks sector through analysis, production and quality assessment, to develop an innovative and highly effective method. The all-natural characteristic is a key part of Black Moth’s brand identity and, therefore, using an artificial truffle flavour, which would have altered the distinctive taste that had made it so popular among vodka aficionados, was absolutely out of the question.

Taylor, explains: “We assessed various methods to maximise the amount of flavour extracted from the truffles. While the method we chose is top secret, our laboratory and sensory analyses confirmed that it quadruples the truffle flavour.”

Paul Amin, owner of Black Moth comments: “Campden BRI discovered an ingenious and cost effective solution for us to make the most of an extremely precious raw material. It completely avoids the use of artificial flavourings by maximising the effect of the natural flavours in the truffle. And because of the amount of truffle we have to use - and its price - the solution is extremely cost-effective, providing a significant return on the investment in the research and innovation. It’s an absolute win-win. The method not only enhanced the flavour of our flagship product, it has also massively increased the use and efficiency of our most expensive raw material. This wouldn’t have happened without the expertise and technical support of Geoff and his team at Campden BRI.”

Campden BRI provides technical, legislative and scientific support and research to the food and drinks industry worldwide – with a comprehensive “farm to fork” range of services covering agri-food production, analysis and testing, processing and manufacturing, safety, training and technical information services. Members and clients benefit from industry-leading facilities for analysis, product and process development, and sensory and consumer studies, which include a specialist brewing and wine division.

17 March 2014 - Felicity Murray The Drinks Report, editor