This is the flavor of the year for 2025

Pantone recently released its color of the year for 2025 – Mocha Mousse (which a few people relabeled as ‘Poop’, but that’s the internet for you) – and the 2025 flavor of the year has something in common with it. Apparently next year will be the year of ‘brown’, because according to the Food and Beverage Trends Report published by T. Hasegawa, the flavor of the year for 2025 is brown sugar. Expect to see it appearing more often on menus and in a variety of foods and drinks, says T. Hasegawa.

This is no obscure ingredient, rather it has been a culinary workhorse for centuries. The caramel-y notes and depth of flavor that brown sugar possesses has made it popular among baristas, bartenders, bakers, and chefs alike. The EYB Library has nearly 1,000 online recipes with brown sugar in the title. Although the majority of them are sweet treats like cakes, cookies, and desserts, there are plenty of savory recipes that utilize as well. It’s a popular glaze for roasts and an ingredient in many grilling rubs. Brown sugar has become increasingly popular in beverages, with coffee drinks like Tieghan Gerard’s Iced brown sugar latte with shaken espresso and cocktails such as A sidecar named desire both taking advantage of the rich flavor with subtle notes of bitterness.

Brown sugar varies in intensity depending on how much molasses is retained in or added back to the sugar. Light brown sugar has the lightest flavor while dark muscovado sugar is the most intense, with a higher mineral content due to the fact that is only partially refined and retains the molasses instead of having it added back in after the sugar has been fully refined to a white, granulated state. Years ago I became obsessed with a Butterscotch pudding that Top Chef contestant Tiffany Faison served to the judges in Season 1 that used muscovado sugar. The only online recipe I could find for it says to use dark brown sugar but trust me, muscovado is the way to go. What’s your favorite use for brown sugar?