One of the pioneering tests we have implemented is the signature fingerprinting of beverages. At first glance these seem like just crude fingerprints. But as we probe deeper we find more and more underlying information about the beverages tested.

Here is one quick glimpse at what we play with. How do various components show up in such studies? The are high spike amounts into a neutral alcohol vodka base. Such may not show up in simple tests of beverages but can give us clues as to the presence or absence of components. Such work recently showed us what might be being added to Clase Azul Tequilas. A signature we see in their products and not seen in any other Tequila tested to date. An approach known as principal components analysis (PCA) and chemometrics can reveal much more, and we are working on such methods with others in the industry.

The tests shown below were done a few years ago. Many studies since.