Bad Acid Trip

One of the most frustrating and challenging aspects of making hard candy that's both delicious and beautiful is when those goals are actually in conflict. It doesn't happen very often, thank goodness.

A compliment we enjoy is being told that our lollipops don't seem as sweet as a kid's lollipop. We work to make unusual flavor combinations that cut down the perceived sweetness. Sometimes that happens naturally, as in Hazelnut Coffee, where both flavors have a natural slight bitterness to them. Using sel de mer gives our Salted Caramel lollipops a wonderful salty flavor and texture that balances the sweetness.

In most of our fruit-based flavors, we add acids that naturally occur in fruits to heighten the fruitiness and reduce the perceived sweetness. Where we run into complications is in the coloring. In our experience, colors in the blue and purple range get their butts kicked by the acid, which turns them into unwanted hues. Check it out: I mixed up 3 bowls with a little sugar water and added a few different colors.

BEFORE: Electric Purple, Regal Purple and Violet gel paste colors from Americolor

Same three colors AFTER adding acid
They've turned sickly gray or become more blue

This even happened to me a long time ago with a peachy color. It's why I always test colors and flavors together, and why sometimes certain combinations just don't work out. Life can be hard in the lollipop mines!