Abstract

Hard (alcoholic) ciders have grown rapidly since the early 2000s, but unlike beer and wine, there is limited scholarly research on their sensory attributes. The purpose of this study was to categorize and describe sensory and visual packaging and label attributes of ciders made in Virginia, United States using a labeled, free sorting task (a rapid sensory analysis method) with untrained panelists. In Study 1, $N_1=49$ panelists tasted and sorted $K=18$ ciders into groups and labeled their groups. Then visually for Study 2, a second group of panelists $(N_2=61)$ sorted “photo sheets” of packaging and labels for the same $K=18\mathrm{}$ ciders by two separate tasks: According to how they expected the cider to taste; and What occasion they would be most inclined to consume the cider at. Classical text analysis was used to analyze descriptors from both the sensory and visual free sorting tasks, and the terms were projected onto their respective compromise similarity maps that were produced using DISTATIS. Subjects identified and described distinct sensory styles and attributes among the evaluated ciders; however, descriptions provided by producers on their labels did not align well with panelist experienced sensory attributes. Consistent sorting patterns from the photo sheets emerged—providing a first look into how ciders might be valued based on packaging and labels alone. The results of this research will help cider producers develop favorable products that will satisfy consumer expectations and encourage repeat purchase.

摘要

自2000年代初期以来，坚硬（含酒精）的苹果酒迅速发展，但与啤酒和葡萄酒不同，关于其感官特性的学术研究有限。这项研究的目的是使用未经培训的专门小组成员使用带标签的自由分类任务（一种快速的感官分析方法）对美国弗吉尼亚州生产的苹果酒的感官和视觉包装以及标签属性进行分类和描述。在研究1中，${ñ}_{\mathrm{1个}}=49$ 小组成员品尝并整理 $ķ=\mathrm{18岁}$将苹果酒分组，并标记他们的分组。然后从视觉上观察研究2，第二小组成员$（{ñ}_2=61）$ 将包装的“照片纸”和标签分类 $ķ=\mathrm{18岁}\mathrm{}$苹果酒有两个不同的任务：根据他们对苹果酒口味的期望；在什么情况下他们最有可能在。使用经典文本分析来分析来自感官和视觉自由排序任务的描述符，并将这些术语投影到使用DISTATIS生成的它们各自的折衷相似度图上。受试者在评估的苹果酒中确定并描述了不同的感官风格和属性；然而，生产者在其标签上提供的描述与小组成员经验丰富的感官属性并不一致。照片上出现了一致的分类模式，这使人们对仅根据包装和标签对苹果酒的价值进行了初步了解。这项研究的结果将帮助苹果酒生产商开发出满足消费者期望并鼓励重复购买的有利产品。