Monday, September 23, 2002


coffee as candy

there's no doubt that specialty coffee drinks -- the mocha foie gras double hazelnut lattes with creme fraiche over ice -- have caught on in a big way all across the united states and canada. but there are regional differences: on the west coast, there is a strong movement afoot to return to a more "pure" form of coffee, to demand higher quality beverages that are more authentic to the italian experience. those who haven't yet chosen this "traditional" route tend to ask for soy milk in their coffees.

in the midwest, the beverages are super-super-sized with extra whipped cream and no soy in sight. here in the east my personal observation is that people are drinking the super-sweet caramel lattes, but they are asking for the smaller sizes and almost always take skim milk. soy milk is only slowly catching on here.

now i learn that there's a north-south difference as well: many of these drinks contain some chocolate or cocoa. in the north, this is always bittersweet chocolate and dutch-type cocoa. but in the south, the chocolate appears to be predominately sweetened hershey's-type chocolate, and the cocoa is also slightly sweet.

further, our friends in dixie appear to prefer complex specialty drinks with strong candy flavors based on popular treats such as the milky way and almond joy. i think this style of coffee-drink-as-liquid-candy may be unique to the south right now.

posted by fortune | 6:34 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments