By Curtis Vreeland
As anyone who has recently visited the liquor store can tell you, the flavored vodka section has grown by the yard. But how about adding confectionery flavors to vodka to extend the drinking opportunity into the dessert course? Godivaand Diageo, two icons in their respective industries, have combined their talents to create a line ofGodivaChocolate Infused Vodka.
At a special launch party hosted byGodivaduring the west coast Fancy Food Show, I had the opportunity to sample the vodkas and talk with a member of the R&D team responsible for recipe development and innovation.GodivaChef Chocolatier Patrick Peeters described the challenges of creating liquor that captures the essential flavor and bouquet ofGodiva’spremium cocoa beans. “We use Ghanaian beans noted for their red fruit, brown spice and big brownie notes. All these special flavor characteristics are recognizable in this vodka.” The intensity of these flavors comes straight through the ultra-premium vodka, which has been distilled five-times.
Godiva Chocolate's Patrick Peeters demonstrates the pleasures of pairing vodka and chocolate together.
Godiva Chocolate Infused Vodka includes two flavors: Chocolate and Chocolate Raspberry. They will be available in fine spirits stores nationwide this summer at a suggested retail price of $29.99.
Indulgent innovation
(Editor’s note: The following is an edited excerpt from Beverage Industry’s December 2010 cover story on Diageo, written by Jennifer Zegler.)
Godiva Chocolate wasn’t a stranger to Diageo when the spirits manufacturer approached them about partnering to produce a chocolate-infused vodka. The two had previously worked together in producingGodiva’schocolate liqueur line.
Thus, when the company’s recent consumer research indicated that growth in the vodka category would be driven by new and novel flavors, a chocolate-infused vodka didn’t seem to be a far-fetched idea.
During the innovation process, Diageo’s team worked withGodivachocolatiers to identify how to best channel the company’s chocolate into a clear spirit, explains Olivia McNeal, innovation liquid director for the company.
Together, the teams identified some integral components, she says.
“Aroma is really critical to the experience,” McNeal says. “So we had to make sure that we have this amazing aroma when you open the bottle to get the real authentic, true chocolate notes coming through.”
Diageo also had to capture the essence ofGodivachocolate in the vodka, McNeal says.
“We looked at different types of chocolate and then we looked at Godiva and we said ‘What makesGodivastand apart from the others?’” she says. “It really is about this complexity and a mouthfeel experience, so what we tried to do with theGodivavodkas is bring that in with real cocoa extracts and real chocolate.”
TheGodivaChocolate Infused Vodka platform also includes a Chocolate Raspberry flavor, which was inspired byGodiva’sNo. 1 selling truffle variety. For the fruity flavor, the development team also delved intoGodiva’sunique process, McNeal says.
“We had a lot of chocolate raspberry truffles in the laboratory,” she says. “We took it right down to the chocolate truffles to understand how they process the raspberry, where they get their raspberries from, how do they create them into a concentrate and then put them into the truffle? We brought all of that together to really match it as close as we possibly could and I think we really brought the experience to life.”
Also aligning with theGodivabrand is the packaging, which features a vertical gold label McNeal says reminds her of aGodivachocolate bar.
