Our product team has brought us some pretty out-there flavors over the years, but Pink Lemonade is the peak expression of their creativity and willingness to push the boundaries of oatmeal. Yes, that’s a sentence I just wrote.
During its run in the in-development program, it was known as “Hibiscus Lemonade.” However, subscriber feedback commonly expressed confusion over the name and uncertainty about what what to expect from the flavor profile. “Does it taste like a flower?” was a common question. So, we settled on “Pink Lemonade” for a more familiar, accessible name.
But, the name isn’t the only thing we changed based on feedback from subscribers:
Because Pink Lemonade uses a whey/milk protein blend, it’s generally a bit thinner, so we slightly increased the amount of oats for a thicker, heartier finished product.
Subscribers felt it was a little light and wanted more flavor, so we increased the lemon juice powder for a more pronounced tartness.
Despite the name, hibiscus remained in the ingredients to give a nice floral balance to the acidity and sharpness of the lemon profile.
Maple sugar was increased slightly to help assist with this balance
We also kept dragon fruit in the ingredients for a unique, delicious flavor profile informed by real ingredients. However, this isn’t the case with traditional pink lemonade (the drink). Lauren, one of our senior food scientists, spent part of her career working with pink lemonade, and shared some interesting findings from her past job:
“We used the exact same flavor formulation for both our Regular Lemonade as we did our Pink Lemonade. Same flavor, same sugar content, same acidity. The only difference with the Pink Lemonade is that we added (flavorless) color.
We internally polled our employees (probably a group of 50 or so) and the majority identified a flavor difference, despite there being none.
We also had consumers say that they had a preference of one vs. the other, when technically speaking, there was no flavor difference.
Just goes to show, a large part of the sensory experience is reliant on the visual appearance of a product.”
We thought this was pretty crazy, so we wanted to share this with you too! If you’re a subscriber or thinking about becoming a subscriber, understanding how your palate works in conjunction with your mind is crucial to the Oats Overnight development process.
Our Pink Lemonade is pink for a reason, and the hibiscus and dragon fruit that make it that way also play a major role in the flavor profile. It drops on Saturday, October 22nd, and we can’t wait to see what you think.
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