Spring Drink Menu
Spring is rolling in with a forecast of sunshine and longer days and we are very ready for it! From walks through forest preserves, to sitting on the rocks down by the lake, to roller blading on the bike path, there are (almost) endless possibilities. The only thing that will make all these activities just that much better is stopping by Tala and grabbing a drink before you get going!
We’ve made it to the first official day of spring and with it the wait for spring drinks is finally over! As each new season rolls around, Stefan starts brainstorming up ideas to provide a unique lineup of drinks that feature and embody all that the season holds. Spring brings about ideas of midwestern rainstorms, berries beginning to grow and ripen, and the first few days of patio season. The spring drink lineup nods to all the things that remind us of spring. As always, there are a handful of the awaited cult classics back on the menu, a throwback to 2020 and then one newly mixed up creation for you to try. Keep reading to get a look at the menu and Stefan’s process behind creating it.
The ube latte
This is a reigning favorite. It’s our take on the award winning, cult classic Ube Donut from our friends at Gurnee Donuts. Ube is a purple root vegetable that tastes like a classic vanilla wafer cookie. The latte is made with espresso, ube syrup, sweetened condensed milk, coconut cream and milk. We suggest pairing it with its pastry counterpart for maximum color pop!
the spring forager
This vibrant and comforting seasonal drink brings in fresh, cozy spring flavors that pair perfectly with getting back outside and exploring all the newness that nature has unfolded. Made with espresso, milk of your choice, Chaga Chai, almond syrup and cherry bitters.
the dirty horchata
Everyone has their favorite Highwood taqueria, but unlike your loyalty, this drink shows no partiality and pairs well with them all. This delicious iced drink is made with rice milk, brown sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, cinnamon, and cold brew concentrate. So good, you’ll find yourself drinking these all time with or without tacos.
the violet beauregarde
This is our take on a freshly baked blueberry pie in latte form! After one sip of this someone is bound to exclaim “Violet, you’re turning violet!” to you. It is truly the perfect dessert in a cup. It’s created with espresso, blueberry, maple syrup, molasses bitters and a graham cracker crumble to garnish it off! “. . . It happens all the time, they all become blueberries. . .”
Spring Drinks: a behind the scenes with Stefan Tong
What is the process you use when creating seasonal drinks?
“First is thinking about seasonality and trying to make sure syrups, flavors, concepts and ideas match whatever season it is. We want specialties that are mainstays so that we have something that will be here all year round but then creating seasonality always encourages folks to want to come back and try something new and interesting and exciting that also matches with what season we are in.”
How do you decide which drinks get to make a reappearance year after year?
“Popularity, if we really struck a cord with certain drinks then they are going to be on repeat. Th best example is the ube latte, its so popular, it’s so much in demand that it’s not only here as a spring drink its also here as summer drink because people love it so much! And ube really does feel like both spring and summer.” The ube latte has been around since spring of 2019—our first spring at the cafe. This same drink also caused Tala to make it into the Chicago Tribune. Read more here!
How do you come up with drink recipes?
“There’s different streams of inspiration for coming up with drinks, oftentimes it genuinely is what seems to be popular right now. What are flavors and drinks that seem to be popping up throughout the industry? That’s one portion of it. I love mixology, I love cocktails so I think there’s this fun aspect of working with flavors and things that pair well with coffee and just making something that’s interesting that people can get behind. There’s a fine balance between coming up with something that’s creative and fun but also something that’s not going to take you five minutes to make. . . It’s striking the chord between something that has good mixology behind it but also something that can be generated in an appropriate time. And for me personally, being Southeast Asian there’s certain elements and interests I have in different flavor bases, different sugar bases that may not necessarily be the first thing that come to mind from a western perspective which is one of the reasons why ube has rolled out. I’ve played with a flavor called pandan. Anytime there’s different flavors that can creep in from things that I love from Southeast Asia they’ll make a bit of an appearance.”
What is your personal favorite spring drink?
“Of all time? It’s not crazy popular and it’s a little tedious to make but it’s a drink called the Stockholm which is lingonberry jam, sparking water, and espresso. It’s almost like an espresso tonic and then we garnish it with mint leaf. . . It’s everything I want when it’s like 70 degrees outside, the sun is rolling out, it’s just refreshing.”
“And for this menu, oh man, Dirty Horchata, it just hits right. I love horchatas. . . it was completely selfish making it. One of my favorite establishments stopped serving their in-house horchata and I genuinely made it because I needed horchata. It was a very good and easy excuse to come up with my own horchata and then we add our cold brew concentrate into it to make it dirty and it pairs so well. You drink that thing when you’re eating tacos and it’s out of this world! Always stoked on it!”