This sentence is false Dept: Liqueur IS unlabeled additives

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Capn Jimbo
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This sentence is false Dept: Liqueur IS unlabeled additives

Post by Capn Jimbo »

The Liar's Paradox:


"This sentence is false". If false, this sentence is true, and if true, it is false. Got it? Or not? This post is a reaction to a recent review which praised Bol's Triple Sec, specifically:
Artic Wolf: "Bols Triple Sec is a crystal clear liqueur flavoured with sugar, Curaçao orange peel, and hints of citrus. I have met and talked with Bols Flavour expert, Peter Van’t Zelfde, and learned that all of the Bols Liqueurs are made from naturally produced flavours. These flavours have been extracted and/or distilled from base ingredients like fresh fruits and spices.
Now as we all learned in the recent bizarre thread on "Flavors, artificial and natural", "natural orange flavor" (unlike just "natural flavor") would mean that at least a single component of real oranges was extracted and used.

Now it may well be that the Frozen One may have gotten this right, but having just paid a three hour visit to Total Wine and a couple others surveying the use or abuse of "natural flavors" vs. say "natural orange flavor", it's hard to be sure. To be sure, anotherl trip back was made, this time to just to check out the triple secs.

Almost all the triple secs (and liqueurs for that matter) make NO mention of flavour categories on their labels, and this includes Bols and their Triple Sec. But there was one exception: Gaetano Triple Sec - whose front label loudly proclaimed "...made with Natural Orange Flavor".

This is meaningful, especially knowing that no sane marketer would ever fail to shout out the presence of real fruits, real fruit extracts, or "natural fruit flavor", all using real fruit or their components. Ergo Gaetano's front label claim of using "natural orange flavor".

A hypothesis then occurred to moi...


Hypothesis: "No sane distiller will fail to label real fruits or "natural fruit flavor" derived from them".

But despite Wolfie's claim, and his quote of Bol's "flavor expert", for some reason the Bols Triple Sec makes no mention whatever of real fruit, real fruit extract, or "natural fruit flavor", nor of even "artificial" or "natural flavor" (which do not contain the named fruit in any way). Nor do most of Bol's competitors. Only Gaetano Triple Sec made the claim of "natural orange flavor". Why was this?

Is it because they alone use this real component? If so, good on them.

Based on the hypothesis, I feel that it is fair to doubt Wolfie's claim. But as always to be fair. I responded to Bol's contact form and specifically asked if their Triple Sec contained any or all of the following, in accord with legal definitions for them:

1. artificial flavor
2. natural and artificial flavors
3. natural flavors
4. natural orange flavor
5. real orange extract
6. real oranges

So far, nada. If the hypothesis is right, distillers who use any of the last three will be proud of doing so, will consider their use a marketing/sales point and will make clear that they use them on their labels. Those who don't will not respond, or as in the past will hide behind a copout statement like : "...our products are made in accord with the law."

Stay tuned. My new hypothesis: Bol's won't answer - which is only natural, lol...
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Sat May 18, 2013 11:54 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Capn Jimbo
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Post by Capn Jimbo »

Liqueur defined - and a new theory...


When researching the use of "natural raspberry flavor" (which must contain at least a single compent of a raspberry" vs "natural raspberry flavor and other natural flavors" (includes beaver butt) or just "natural flavor" (beaver butt) I read the labels of a great number of "liqueurs" and wondered why almost all of them had NO flavor statement at all!

How could that be?


Here's why...

"Cordials and Liqueurs" by definition don't have to be labeled with flavorings because the definition makes clear that "liqueur" can be made with any of the following without further clarification:

1. real fruits, flowers, plants or juices

-OR-

2. other natural flavoring materials (think beaver butt)

-OR-

3. extracts of (1) and (2)

-AND/OR-

4. sugar, dextrose and the like.

The total of these must be more than 2-1/2% by weight. Add some neutral distilled spirits - any amount - and you now have created a "liqueur".


Another theory emerges...

Cordials and/or liqueurs - by definition yet - can imply anything, yet don't have to actually specify anything. The main label can say or imply anything they want, eg "Luscious Lovely Raspberry Liqueur", with the usual pictures of dew drops on full, rich, red and plump real strawberries, accompanied by misleading statements like "with the taste of hand picked, vine ripened strawberries" - but contain no real raspberry at all.

This may be why - the hypothesis being correct - that none of the "liqueurs" I looked at listed any flavoring ingredients except for the one that proudly listed "natural orange flavor".

Still and to be fair to Bols, I'd like to know just what's really in there. For now I'm standing on the notion that if real fruit or real fruit components are used the distiller will say so. But there's another theory: if they are not required to do so, perhaps it's more misleading and thus more profitable to sell by solely by implication of real on the label.

Either way, unless a clear statement of flavoring appears on the label, it remains a turkey shoot. You decide...
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