Monin Ube Syrup Offers a Modern Twist on the Popular Flavor
With a passion for quality and more than 200 flavors available, Monin is the premium brand of choice among baristas, bartenders and chefs worldwide.
Monin 2024 Flavor of the Year, Ube | Photography courtesy of Monin
2024 is the year of ube! The purple yam that has long been a staple of Filipino desserts and cuisine is experiencing a surge in popularity on North American menus. In fact, ube growth is predicted to outperform 88% of all other foods, beverages, and ingredients over the next four years, and projected to grow +48% on U.S. menus through 2027, according to Datassential.
Its bright purple color and nutty taste make it a flavorful accent for an array of beverages and culinary dishes, appearing in everything from lattes and cocktails to ice cream and burger buns. After conducting extensive consumer research, global flavor producer Monin identified ube as their 2024 Flavor of the Year.
Ube with a Twist
Monin Ube Syrup offers a uniquely modern twist on the beloved purple yam, combining its nutty sweetness with notes of Madagascar vanilla, cinnamon, and fig. In line with consumers’ growing interest in global fusion flavors, this blend offers a versatile, well-rounded flavor experience that’s both familiar and refreshingly new.
With its vivid purple color and sophisticated flavor profile, Ube Syrup can be used to craft eye-catching lemonades, sodas, cocktails, iced teas, desserts, and more, offering operators an easy and accessible way to experiment with the popular flavor in beverage and culinary creations. The flavor also lends itself to a variety of hot beverages, adding rich, well-rounded warmth to spiked after-dinner coffees, mochas, steamers, and lattes.
Photography Courtesy of Monin
Aligning with 2024 Flavor Trends
Photography Courtesy of Monin
Each year, Monin undergoes a lengthy process of collecting and analyzing emerging trends, consumer insights, and industry data to determine the flavors that will trend over the coming years. In their 2024 Flavor Trends, Monin found that today’s consumers are looking for authentic, inspired, and indulgent flavors, flavors that lean into the latest social media fads, and also those that meet their wellness and lifestyle needs.
Ube Syrup lives at the intersection of several of these trends, including Monin’s Flavor Journey trend. With its blend of Asian and Mediterranean flavors, as well as premium Madagascar vanilla, the syrup offers a one-of-a-kind flavor that allows consumers to travel the world through taste.
It also plays into the Under the Influenc[er] trend with its captivating purple color and distinctive flavor profile, making it ideal for creating Insta-worthy beverages. According to Datassential, 72% of consumers say they are curious to try new foods, flavors, and dishes they find online to “see what the hype is about.” Operators looking to attract adventurous consumers and delight existing customers can use this Ube Syrup to craft beverages and dishes that look as good as they taste.
Monin Ube Syrup also meets the growing consumer demand for transparency and authenticity in ingredients while still offering exceptional taste. Free from artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, and preservatives, it is crafted with clean label ingredients, ensuring operators can confidently serve high-quality, natural products that appeal to increasingly conscientious consumers.
Versatile Recipes and Applications
For café and restaurant operators, Ube Syrup offers an easy and innovative way to elevate beverage programs. With its well-balanced flavor profile, it shines in a variety of applications, from bubble teas and cocktails to lattes and lemonades. Here are unique ways to incorporate this flavor into different applications:
Ube Lemonade: Combine the syrup with lemonade for an irresistibly refreshing beverage with a vibrant purple hue.
Ube Margarita: Swap agave for Ube Syrup and shake it up with tequila, lime juice, and a splash of orange liqueur for a uniquely flavored margarita that will have customers asking, “what’s that drink?” as they see it pass by.
Ube Bubble Tea: Ube is a classic bubble tea flavor, and the added notes of vanilla, cinnamon, and fig pair well with tapioca bobas.
Ube Gin & Tonic: Ube Syrup’s sweet fig notes pair well with gin’s botanical flavor. Use it to give this classic cocktail a modern upgrade that tastes as good as it looks.
Ube Negroni: Incorporate the syrup into a traditional Negroni recipe, adding a subtle sweetness and a purple flair to the spirit-forward cocktail.
Ube Cold Brew: Infuse cold brew coffee for a sophisticated beverage that combines rich coffee notes with sweet fig and nutty undertones. Ube Syrup can also be used to craft eye-catching cold foam for cold brews, iced lattes, and other iced specialty beverages.
