Love ’em or hate ’em, there’s no doubt that American coffee giant Starbucks is good at grabbing more than its fair share of the headlines, and now it’s launched possibly its most experimental offering to date – the Espresso Cloud IPA. A mixture of beer and espresso (yes, really!), served cold in a beer glass, and looks like a standard pint with a layered effect at the top.
Created by Justin Burns-Beach, who worked for the company for eight years as a barista before starting with the research and tasting team, the drink took a year for the team to master. The process involves a shot of espresso coffee, shaken with pieces of fresh orange and a hint of sweet vanilla flavouring and ice. The shaking turns the drink into a cloud of ‘microfoam’, with thousands of tiny bubbles. When that’s done, simply fill a beer glass with cold beer and pour in the chilled coffee shot. The head of the beer and the coffee foam combine to create a deep layer of froth. Although Starbucks are serving the two drinks separately in different glasses, they recommend you seize the bull by the horns and mix them together boldly for the full effect. The result – the company’s first and so-far only alcoholic drink, which is available in the evenings only at certain locations – and there’s no news on when it’ll be available in the UK.
Although we’re fans of both beer and coffee, we think we’ll stick to different glasses and different times of day – this is definitely trying to take a good thing too far! If your commercial coffee business prefers to serve more traditional drinks, take a look at our online range of coffee beans, coffee accessories, flavoured coffee syrups and commercial coffee supplies – all available at great wholesale prices.