FLAVOR LOG // 017

How Peanut Brittle Became Sticky Situation

 

There isn't actually any brittle in Sticky Situation.

No crunch or shards of caramelized sugar to get stuck in your teeth. Just coffee.

So why did we call it Peanut Brittle Caramel Ice Cream?

We knew caramel ice cream was going to be part of the flavor, but a straightforward peanut caramel felt a little too obvious. We wanted a more developed peanut profile, so we added a layer of toffee on top of the caramel. The toffee gave the peanut more depth and pushed it toward that rich, toasted sweetness you associate with peanut brittle.

So while it's almost impossible to truly recreate peanut brittle in a cup of coffee because so much is happening from the texture, the flavor profile was exactly what we were after. Peanut, caramel and that extra toffee character gave us something that felt much more like the flavor of peanut brittle than a basic peanut caramel coffee would have.

And then there was the name.

"Peanut Toffee Caramel Ice Cream" would have told you exactly what was in the flavor, but it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Peanut Brittle Caramel had more personality, and it fit perfectly with the name we had already landed on:

Sticky Situation.

The flavor name isn't a literal ingredient list. It's a mental shortcut to the experience you're supposed to have when you taste it. That's one of the fun parts of developing flavors. Sometimes you're not trying to recreate something literally. You're trying to figure out which parts of it people recognize and love, then translate those parts into coffee.

The brittle isn't in the cup. The idea of it is.

 

The Development Notes

  • We wanted a more developed peanut profile than a straightforward peanut caramel.
  • Adding a toffee layer gave the peanut more depth and pushed the flavor toward the profile of peanut brittle.
  • "Brittle" describes the flavor we were chasing, building the flavor that makes you think of it.
  • The name Sticky Situation fit the flavor better than simply calling it Peanut Toffee Caramel.

 

MISSION STATUS: Building Flavors
Flavors Released: 10 / 52
Throwbacks Season 1: Complete
Mondays Missed: 0
World Record Status: On Track

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