Summer is officially here, and so is our summer drink lineup! Now that we have six summer seasons under our belt, we have a lot of favorite drinks to choose from. Customers often ask us earnestly to bring back their favorite drink from previous years, but the problem is everyone has a different favorite. This year we decided to take the guesswork out and get scientific about it with an Instagram poll (nothing screams scientific like social media, right?!). We had a summer drink bracket on our Instagram stories in order to narrow down our menu. For 24 hours we watched the tallies on three different returning drink options go up and down until a winner was determined for each pair.

The Ube Latte

v.

Kopi & Kaya

We pitted the two South East Asian flavors against each other in this decision. The Ube Latte, which for the past few years has been featured on our Spring and Summer menu for its popularity, was up against the Kopi & Kaya, a pandan-coconut jam latte. Both drinks have had quite a cult following. The growing regularity of the ube made us think folks might want to see something new hit the menu in its place.

Butterfly Effect

v.

The Stockholm

These two very different espresso tonic drinks have each had several appearances over the years. While The Stockholm has traditionally been an underdog, it is passionately favored by those who like it. The Butterfly Effect has always performed well, but some people aren’t drawn to the combination of ginger with espresso.

Tala Mai Tai

v.

Orange You Glad

We had many people begging for us to bring back one of our many orange juice drinks from previous years. These two extremely delicious options went toe-to-toe in this battle. Both drinks have had quite a cult following. During our Tiki Summer the Mai Tai became a favorite of many, while the Orange You Glad gained popularity during the orange juice TikTok trend of 2022. Who will win out?

The Ube Latte

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 vanilla wafer cookie. Trust us, it’s delicious! Made with espresso, Ube syrup, sweetened condensed milk, coconut milk, and milk. Oddly enough, it pairs well with its pastry counterpart!

Butterfly Effect

A small idea lead to a chain of events that created this delicious and beautiful looking drink. It’s fizzy, sweet, zingy and made with espresso, juiced ginger, agave syrup, coconut milk, and Butterfly Pea Powder served cold. Maybe by simply drinking one it will lead to a big impact on the future. Who knows?

orange you glad

Warmer weather is all the rage right now, and so is pairing orange juice and coffee together. We’re doing it right with this dreamy drink that is sure to put a smile on your face. A curiously delicious combination of orange juice, cold brew concentrate, cream, vanilla, and old-fashioned bitters, all served over ice. Trust us, you don’t want to sleep on this one.

Some of these results were surprising. We really didn’t think the Ube Latte would be voted to remain since ube is a much more commonplace flavor than it was several years ago. We thought the novelty of a new drink would win out over the popularity. The other two options were hard to predict. Although everyone had their preferences and guesses, there was no scenario in which a disappointing drink would win, so the results were just fun to watch roll in!

In addition to our three delicious returning drinks, we have a brand new invention making its debut this season: The Coffee Cherry Cola. We have wanted to do something with cherry for awhile, and a cherry cola seemed like the perfect thing to ring in the summer season. Cola is one of those flavors that you can spot when you taste it, but might not be able to describe super well. As our first time playing with a cola recipe, we were amazed at everything that goes into it: lemon, lime, and orange juices, ground coriander, cinnamon sticks, and nutmeg—so many flavors together to make such a unique and unified experience! We opted to make this syrup with a brown sugar base for a richer, deeper flavor, and of course, we added cherry, too!

Which drink will you try first?