Spirits and Liquors – Rich Flavours by Ultrasonic Infusion

Infusing alcoholic beverages such as spirits, liquors and cocktails with flavours can be improved significantly by application of power ultrasound. The sonication process transfers flavours and aromas to alcoholic beverages creating a rich and smooth flavour profile.

How does Ultrasonic Infusion of Alcoholic Beverages Work?

Ultrasonic infusion is a process in which ultrasound waves at frequencies of approx. 20 kHz are used to accelerate the infusion of flavours and ingredients into an liquid. As ultrasonic infusion offers several benefits, the process of sonication is used to extract flavours from a variety of ingredients and to infuse alcoholic beverages with additional flavours.
For the infusion process, a probe-type ultrasonicator transmits the sound waves into the liquid. High-intensity, low-frequency ultrasound waves create minute vacuum bubbles in the liquid. These tiny bubbles rapidly grow over several cycles of rarefaction and compression. When the cavities reach a size where they cannot absorb any further energy, they implode violently, creating the phenomenon of acoustic cavitation. The energy created by the collapsing bubbles extracts flavours from botanicals and plants, and subsequently dissolves and incorporate flavours and ingredients into the liquid with superior efficiency in very short time. Thereby, ultrasonication allows to infuse beverages rapidly with a rich flavour profile. The ultrasonic infusion technique is already used in commercial production of beverages, spirits, teas, coffees as well as liquid foods.

Sped-up Whiskey Ageing via Ultrasound

Ageing whiskey and other distilled spirits can be accelerated by agitation of the whiskey. Ultrasound waves provide intense agitation and improved mass transfer between wood barrel and alcoholic beverages. By the purely mechanical treatment using ultrasonication, the chemical reactions, which let mature whiskey naturally and occur very slowly during conventional ageing, are accelerated and intensified. Thereby, within seconds alcoholic beverages can be enhanced offering the same elaborated flavour profile of spirits aged for several year in barrels. As spirits are exposed to ultrasound waves during the infusion process, the beverage gets not only infused with flavours (e.g. herbs, ginger etc.) but acquires at the same time also a more matured original taste.
Read more about ultrasonic maturation of distilled spirits, liquors and wine!

Example: Peanut Butter Whiskey Produced via Ultrasonic Infusion

There are a few ways to infuse alcohol such as whiskey, rum or vodka with peanut butter flavour. One way is to mix peanut butter with a spirit, such as whiskey, and let the mixture sit for a longer period of time to allow the flavours to combine. You can also try adding peanut butter to whiskey or rum and shaking it well to incorporate the flavours. All these conventional methods are time-consuming and highly prone to separation meaning a heavier part falls out and builds a sediment at the bottom even after the removal step of solids.
Ultrasonic mixing is a very effective method to transfer flavours from aromatic substrates (e.g. peanut butter, herbs etc.) to alcohol. When intense ultrasound waves are introduced into liquid (e.g. alcohol), the phenomenon of acoustic cavitation occurs. Cavitation is characterized by very energy-dense conditions including locally occurring high pressures and temperatures, shear forces and liquid streaming. These intense physical forces provide excellent mixing and mass transfer between to phases. For the production of peanut butter whiskey or liquor, this means that the flavours of peanut butter are highly efficiently transferred to the alcoholic base. The result of ultrasonic infusion is an intensely flavoured alcoholic beverage. Additionally, the superior mixing technique provides a high stability against separation.
Another option is to make an ultrasonically infused peanut butter liqueur by combining equal parts peanut butter and sugar with a neutral spirit and sonicate it before straining out any solids and bottling the mixture.
You can adjust the ratio of peanut butter to alcohol and/or sonication time to achieve the desired flavour profile. Ultrasonication is also known to smooth alcoholic beverages giving the are matured and aged flavour profile.

High Performance Ultrasonicators

Hielscher Ultrasonics’ industrial ultrasonic processors can deliver very high amplitudes. Amplitudes of up to 200µm can be easily continuously run in 24/7 operation. For even higher amplitudes, customized ultrasonic sonotrodes are available.
The table below gives you an indication of the approximate processing capacity of our ultrasonicators:

Related Applications of lUtrasonication in Spirits Manufacturing

• Spirits and Liquors – Rich Flavours by Ultrasonic Infusion
• Gin Infusion by Ultrasonically-Intensified Maceration
• Ultrasonically Aged and Matured Spirits and Liquors
• Polyphenol-Rich Wines Produced with Ultrasound
• Ageing and Oaking of Wines with Ultrasound
• Ultrasonic Emulsification and Pasteruization of Eggnog
• How to Ultrasonically Fat-Wash Spirits
• Mixology: Ultrasonic Homogenizers for Cocktail Bars
• Ultrasonic Preparation of Bitters
• Cannabis-Spiked Alcoholic Beverages

Literature / References