The Cold Foam-ification Of Fun Coffee Drinks – CoffeeTalk

Einspänner, a Viennese drink named after a horse-drawn carriage, has seen its highest search interest in the past two years, with most of that growth occurring since late 2023. This trend is largely due to South Korea’s influence on the coffee culture in the country, which has also influenced beverage trends worldwide. In Seoul, einspänner drinks are not limited to coffee but also include iced coffees and matcha lattes with fluffy, flavored cream.

The cream tops these drinks are not whipped cream in the way one typically envisions whipped cream on coffee, as in snowy-peaked peppermint mochas. Instead, it is an airy swirl that is shot through the tip of a canister, making the cream softer, denser, and usually spooned or poured onto a drink. The textural goal is not peaks that hold, nor is it the liquidy microfoam of a latte, which is made with heat. Instead, it is whipped just until it hits the consistency of “melted ice cream: silky, light and pourable.”

Cream-top drinks now make up most of the specialty menu at Dayglow’s coffee shops in Los Angeles and New York, with the Totoro being the most popular drink. The topping adds body and offers a layer on which salt or other garnishes can sit. It also balances the high sweetness of the liquid because it comes through the less-sweet fat. Drinks like this are best sipped, not stirred or sucked.

Larry’s Cà Phê in Brooklyn offers a unique frothed drink called Larry’s Ice-Green, which is a cup of iced coconut water topped with a non-dairy frothed matcha foam, then sprinkled with shreds of dried coconut. The foam gives the drinks a dessert-like vibe. When drinks do double-duty as video and photoshoot stars, these fluffy toppings also contribute to their visual appeal.

Part of the interest in the einspänner and other similar drinks has to do with Starbucks, which made “cold foam” a certified thing. First joining the menu on a temporary basis in 2014, cold foam in its many flavors is now an in-demand part of the permanent menu. Cold foam is a crucial element of what the New York Times’s Priya Krishna has identified as a growing culture of hyper-customized beverages; through modifications and additions, a drink becomes the orderer’s own as opposed to a boring, common option.

The einspänner is a popular and unique beverage that has gained popularity globally. It is a blend of whipped cream, ice, and other ingredients that have become a staple in the coffee industry.

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