Bols Yoghurt liqueur created for Chinese

Dutch spirits company Lucas Bols has launched the world’s first natural yoghurt liqueur onto the market in response to demand from Chinese consumers.

“The Chinese market told us they wanted a milk-based spirit, which we evolved into a natural yoghurt liqueur so it could be used in cocktails,” Bols commercial director Guenael Fily told the drinks business at the UK launch in Amsterdam on Tuesday.

“We didn’t want to do a cream liqueur, as it doesn’t mix well with other spirits.

“It took a lot of experimentation to get the blend exactly right so it doesn’t curdle or go flakey when you mix it – we were more inspired by the sour end of the flavour spectrum than the sweet,” Fily added.

Bols has collaborated with a large Dutch dairy company on the project, which is supplying the yoghurt made with milk from Dutch cows.

“Being yoghurt-based rather than cream based, it’s much lower in fat than cream liqueurs, but we’d never want to be seen to be promoting its health benefits,” Fily said.

While helping to emphasise the contents inside the bottle, the coated white bottle was conceived to protect the yoghurt liqueur from exposure to UV light.

Fily insists there is no shelf life issue with the liqueur, despite it being made from natural yoghurt, but admitted that it would taste best “within the first year of its life.”

“It has a vanilla-like sweetness but also natural acidity, so it’s not heavy or cloying. There’s no spirit it won’t mix with, but it works spectacularly well with rum,” said Bols UK brand manager John Clay.

On the subject of flavoured spirits, Lucas Bols CEO Huub van Doorne believes a number of spirits companies are risking their reputations, and that the market is becoming saturated.

“We’re seeing too many flavoured spirits on the market now – I understand the idea of stretching a brand, but some are stretching their brands too far,” he told db in reference to two recently released honey-flavoured whiskies, including Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey.

“Moving into flavoured spirits is a risk, you have to be believable or you’re in danger of diluting the strength of your brand. We hope we’re one of the companies that stands out as an example of how to do flavoured spirits and liqueurs well,” van Doorne added.

The company is launching Bols Natural Yoghurt Liqueur through UK distributor Maxxium in both the on-trade, and the off-trade at £10.95 for a 500ml bottle, as it thinks it has “legs” in both arenas.

“We’ve introduced a new category – a yoghurt-based liqueur. Being only 15% abv, it can be drunk alone, with mixers like orange juice, or in cocktails,” said Maxxium UK marketing director Peter Sandstrom, who revealed Maxxium is investing heavily in the UK market this year, despite the current economic turmoil in Britain.

The liqueur has already been launched in China, Russia, Ireland and Bulgaria.