A Primer on the Colors We Use - Spoiler: It's not butterfly pea

We've seen this all over Instagram and in our favorite specialty foods shops. There are a tons of option out there for naturally coloring our favorite snacks all kinds of shades. At Viridescence Candy Co., many of the hues in our candies come from plant-based sources. However, this is sugar art. Our medium is a delicate blend of sugars, with complex and nuanced flavor, tempered meticulously to provide that clarity, snap, and shelf stability. So why can't we use these same natural colorings in all candies? The laws of chemistry, really.

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All of the natural plant colors we use in our candy also double as our favorite flavors.

Here are a few of our most popular:

Saffron: golden color with a buttery deep-floral scent

Sumac: oily with a rusty tone and tart berry flavor

Citrus, chili, specialty gingers: contain oil-soluble antioxidants like carotenes and lycopene.

Other colors we don’t use include butterfly pea flower and other vegetable-based dyes. These are not heat stable, pH-compatible, nor are the pigments soluble in micro-crystalline sugar.

With each collection, We offer both dye-free and brightly colored products. This is consistent with our commitment to creating one-of-a-kind pieces of sugar art, and fulfilling our most popular customer requests.