Yogurt - Coffee Flavored

[Cheese Head]

My wife (OK and I) love coffee flavored yogurt, see pictures below which lists coffee ingredients as "Natural Coffee Flavor (Including Coffee Extract)".

Found in this thread on sour yogurt where brewed coffee and sugar was added to the milk, presumably cooled and after heat treating and cooling the milk to denature it.

It would seem to me that this would add only a light coffee flavor, anyone have any thoughts or tried other methods such as adding cooled espresso or freeze dried instant coffee powder?

Assume decaffeinated wouldn't make a difference.

OK like most "cheese" making these cups are only USD0.40 each here in Houston Texas so there is no saving money in this but I'd still like to try!

[KosherBaker]

It would seem to me that this would add only a light coffee flavor, anyone have any thoughts or tried other methods such as adding cooled espresso or freeze dried instant coffee powder?

I assume you mean adding those 2 to an already finished yogurt. A cooled espresso will make it more of a drink. Think espresso dough. :) But instant coffee powder should work as the yogurt will remain at the same thickness it was before coffee/espresso powder was added. If you want to use sugar it can be added right after the make is finished and before the yogurt goes into the fridge. Or instead of sugar you can add something sweet at the time of consumption. I like bananas, or most dried fruits like dates, apricots etc etc. Then there's granola and a fruit jam/preserves.

OK like most "cheese" making these cups are only USD0.40 each here in Houston Texas so there is no saving money in this but I'd still like to try!

There would be money saving if you used Organic milk.:)

[Tomer1]

You can make an espresso-sugar reduction to avoid textur\consistancy change.
Another cool option is emulating thos two layer yogurts where you have fruit jelly on top and yogurt at the bottom and you mix the two in which case you add gelatine to the reduction mixture.

[Sailor Con Queso]

If you're not a purist, I would add instant to get flavor without adding additional fluids.

[smilingcalico]

Though usually not a fan of instant coffee, it has made some strides. My wife made a cheese cake recently with instant coffee, and the flavor came through quite well. I think in order to keep the consistency, instant is the way to go, though Tomer's idea might give the best flavor with only a slight change in texture.

[george]

Okay, I don't think this really will be helpful, but since I DO live in Rhode Island again, I simply must post this:   ;D

[susanky]

Thanks for posting.  I had never heard of that so I had to look it up.  It is some kind of a concentrated coffee extract?  Have you ever used it?  Sounds lke it is sweetened.
Susan

[george]

Yeah, I think it is.  They don't post the ingredients on the website, but I have to hit the grocery store sometime in the next few days, so I'll take a look and see what's in it.

I even worked at Autocrat for a while, back in the Stone Ages.  So couldn't resist.  Hee hee.

[Cheese Head]

BTW, on the ingredients listing of the Dannon yogurt one is called "Natural Flavor" . . . . what is that?

[linuxboy]

John, per the CFR, it's http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2002/aprqtr/21cfr101.22.htm

(3) The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential
oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate,
or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the
flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice,
vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf
or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products,
or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is
flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors include the natural
essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in Secs. 182.10,
182.20, 182.40, and 182.50 and part 184 of this chapter, and the
substances listed in Sec. 172.510 of this chapter.


meaning flavor derived from non-synthetic sources

[Tomer1]

Essentially its recomposition but instead of using "pure" chemicals extracted\distilled from various matirials (sometimes even from crude oil refinment byproducts) to build or simulate the natural recipe as you would get from Gas Chromotography examination.
They reconstruct using complex (naturally accuring-meaning that nature already synthesized them in plant matirial) building blocks.
This extraction may also involve various chemical process which you may not find "natural".

You may look at it this way
Artificial 1+1+1+1+1+1=6
Natural 3+3=6

[Cheese Head]

linuxboy & Tomer, much thanks both for the info. OK so "Natural Flavour" is an additive to provide presumably yogurt flavour that is made from natural sources, albeit maybe not extracted in a natural way.

Regardless of how natural that additive is, it doesn't need to be/shouldn't be there in the first place!

The more I understand manufactured food ingredients the less I want to put them in my body, which should be a Temple!

[KosherBaker]

linuxboy & Tomer, much thanks both for the info. OK so "Natural Flavour" is an additive to provide presumably yogurt flavour ....

I don't think it is there to provide yogurt flavor. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. For example you'll never see this "Natural Flavor" in plain yogurt. Only in flavored yogurts. And the "Natural Flavor" is of whatever the flavor of that yogurt is.
Of course, plain yogurts have gums and starches in them ....  >:( :o
So all the more reason to make it at home. :)

[Tomer1]

Yeah the natural flavour is from the culturing\fermentation, There is only a point to put something in when it saves money or extends shelf life.
In flavoured yogurt's case, using fruit flavoring instead of fruit saves money.

Various E number texture modifiers are there to give low\non fat the texture of high fat content.
They also help keep liquid from seperating and forming on top and by doing so extending shelf life.

They arent bad per say,they are usually various plant and yeast\microbe extracts which are there to give us a decent product at low price and that can keep for a month in the fridge looking and tasting the same way it did when it left the factory.

[george]

The more I understand manufactured food ingredients the less I want to put them in my body, which should be a Temple!

S'okay, John, I embarrassed myself in the grocery store on Friday when I remembered to go check the ingredients on the Autocrat coffee syrup.  I busted out laughing when I saw the first ingredient is high fructose corn syrup.  Can't remember the second, but pretty sure it was another sweetener of some sort.  "Coffee extract" was third or fourth on the list, I think, followed by a bunch of other weird stuff.

Tomer, I like your math analogy.