A Word From Jack & the Bean
- By Andrea Ramirez,
- May 8th 2024
A new year brings new horizons, which means it’s time for Puremade Toasted Black Sesame to move over for the newest member of Torani’s Flavor of the Year lineup.
Today, we announce 2024’s Pourcast Flavor of the Year: Torani Puremade Galaxy Syrup!
Donning a stellar purple hue and capturing the distinct taste of raspberries complemented by rum aromas, Puremade Galaxy’s bright and fruity GMO free taste makes it a perfect addition for cold brews, matcha, energy drinks, and beyond without any artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.
And while Puremade Galaxy represents our first foray into fantasy flavors, its origin story lies firmly rooted in science.
With the Great North American Total Solar Eclipse in April, and NASA’s Artemis II Moon Mission planned for later in the year, 2024 is going to be a big year for space exploration.
And after finding a study stating that According to the Pew Research Center, 47% of Americans say they’ve done at least one “space-related activity” in the last year, including 26% who say they’ve looked at an image from a space telescope.
This got us wondering—what tastes lie beyond our pale blue dot?
With the backdrop for our fantasy flavor selected, there was just one question remaining: how do we create a true-to-life taste of space?
To find out, the Torani Team researched a 2009 study by two astronomers from Cornell University which uncovered the familiar earthly compound ethyl formate in a Sagittarius B2 dust cloud at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
While the study confirmed ethyl formate’s presence in stardust, it’s more commonly found right here on earth—giving raspberries their unique taste and carrying the sweet aroma of rum.
To ensure the Torani team was on the right track with their early development work, they consulted with astronomer who conducted the molecular study.
Finding the Taste of Space
Bright and juicy sweet raspberries complemented by warm notes of rum… Could space really be that delicious? We were hooked, so we put our heads together to figure out if this was feasible.
What would consumers think? Our research and insights team told us that raspberry has been positively trending in coffee applications over the past four years and that berry flavors were the third most popular flavor category for Make To Order flavor-infused energy drinks.
But what about rum? Turns out, rum is the fifth most consumed alcoholic beverage today, with an astounding 70% of drinkers indulging in the spirit.
The science was solid, and the market was validated. So with our building blocks of rum and raspberry locked in, Torani’s food scientists began working to bring our first fantasy flavor to life.
Normally, our Gold Standard Process would involve sourcing some of the best-tasting products on earth in order to identify which key flavor profiles to include in the final formula for our Flavor of the Year—but since our selected flavor was way out in the middle of the galaxy, we had to let science give way to art.
Our food scientists spent months working to identify exactly what kind of raspberry flavor and which type of rum aromatic to use in the final product, as well as anything else the team thought a taste of space would need.
Introducing Puremade Galaxy
After a long year of research and development, the result is Puremade Galaxy—a rich and full-bodied syrup with a fresh red raspberry taste, balanced with a dark rum mid-note and an unexpected mineral finish.
We can’t wait for you to experience the flavor that’s truly out-of-this-world. So what is Puremade Galaxy great for?
This uniquely complex flavor is perfect for cold concoctions such as energy drinks, lemonades, cold brews, sparkling water, matchas, and beyond. And if you’re looking for more specific applications, here are some recipes the Torani team has been enjoying recently:
Make cold coffee cosmic with this Above the Clouds Cold Brew
Add a delightful twist to tea time with this Outer World Iced Matcha
Launch lemonades into the stratosphere with this refreshing Star Dust Refresher
Elevate your energy drinks with this stimulating Shooting Star
With the 2024 Flavor Of The Year in the books, we’re already setting our sights on 2025. Do you have any ideas or desires for next year’s flavor? Please drop us a line or tag @Torani and #FlavorOfTheYear #ToraniGalaxy on Instagram, or @ToraniFlavor on TikTok.
Link to shop.torani.com / Puremade Galaxy Landing page
A few words from our friends at Jack & The Bean: "Jack & the Bean is a group of cool friends who serve up hot coffee and other great drinks and opportunity for adults with intellectual disabilities in Huntington, West Virginia. Jack & the Bean is named after my son, Jack, the third of our five children. Jack was diagnosed with Autism at the age of two and half and ever since we have worked to bring out his precious personality and develop skills to help him succeed. From ABA therapy to brushing protocols, speech, light therapy and dietary changes Jack has grown from saying his first word at three years old to the funny, gentle giant he is today! Jack attended public school with the support of an aide through eleventh grade. His senior year he went to school and class independently while staying in the special needs classroom. Jack walked with his class in their graduation ceremony of 2022 and returned to Spring Valley to continue to work on his skills. Now public school is coming to an end. His "what's next" is Jack & the Bean!
Our business started as a trial run opening a concession stand for a local play. Jack really enjoyed meeting new people and he LOVES having a schedule. My precious friend Beth and my husband helped to develop the name and logo. We filed for our business license in the spring of 2022. We were fortunate enough that a business, WestEdge Factory, kept asking us to come back to serve drinks for their events. Through their encouragement and support, Jack & the Bean, grew and branched out to visit other local businesses with our coffee cart and mobile set up of more than 30 flavorings (Torani of course!!!) . We met friends at big and small jobs from serving hot chocolate and coffee to an office of 6, treating teachers for Teacher Appreciation week, and selling drinks at sporting events. Through social media posts, the word about Jack & the Bean spread & the support kept coming & Jack & the Bean kept growing. We added more drinks! Hot coffee, decaf, iced coffee, hot chocolate, lemonade, sweat tea on the menu gave our customers the options they loved. And for our bigger events we asked several of Jack's high school classmates to join us as guest baristas. It was great to watch them also enjoy the thrill of learning new skills and meeting and interacting with new people.
Jack & the Bean received its 501c3 status the summer of 2023 with the mission of socialization and employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Our family was blessed by the DATS (Diversified Assessment Therapy Systems) dayhab through their work with Jack for many years. When the dayhab fully opened after COVID, they wanted to refocus on job training skills and Jack & the Bean was thrilled to partner with them! In September of 2023, we worked together to train 5 baristas at their dayhab and we are now open every Wednesday from 6 am - 10 am at 1404 Poplar Street in Kenova, West Virginia. We provide our unique experience serving coffee, hot chocolate, iced coffee and teas to all that visit us on Wednesdays and continue working at special events in the community. Torani loved Jack & the Bean's story and awarded us a grant that will enable us help us to break into the smoothie market. You can be expecting us to serve up delicious, icy cold drinks this spring and summer!
To all those who have believed in and helped Jack & the Bean, coffee has been about community. Watching Jack and his barista friends beam with pride as they engage with customers will bring tears to your eyes. Not only are our baristas building their communication skills and becoming independent as they create special coffees, but the growth in their confidence, and pure joy of making new friends is palatable.
Jack has been such a blessing to our family, and with the addition of his barista friends our family has truly grown! To all of those who have loved and supported Jack and our mission, thank you from the bottom of our hearts (and coffee cups)! I can’t wait to see what 2024 is going to bring."