Real-time monitoring and optimization of spirit colouring from natural products

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

While spirits for cocktails continue to be mass produced by large distilleries, small businesses throughoutCanadian towns and cities are increasingly recognized for their ability to bring innovative new tastes and ideasto market. Victoria Distillers is in the process of developing a gin that is coloured from natural substances inthe form of flower petals. In addition to appealing to consumers based on the colour alone, they are seeking anovel effect in the form of a reversible colour change when the spirit is incorporated in a variety of cocktails.There are challenges in achieving the initial product due to the seasonal and batch variation of the flowers.Furthermore, the conditions over which the colour change occurs puts additional demands on the tolerances ofthe process. This proposed collaboration with the Hore group at the University of Victoria will enable thedevelopment of real-time monitoring protocols, including diagnostic and control software, that will beimplemented in the distillery. In addition to enabling a new product to be brought to market, this projectprovides opportunity for training students, and interaction between researchers and local industry.