{"id":17492,"date":"2022-10-04T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freshcup.com\/?p=17492"},"modified":"2022-09-22T21:22:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T02:22:00","slug":"make-it-sparkle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/make-it-sparkle\/","title":{"rendered":"Everyone Likes Bubbles: How To Incorporate Carbonated and Sparkling Drinks On Your Menu"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Seattle\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Ghost Note Coffee<\/span><\/a>, 90 percent of the photos customers share online feature signature drinks with sparkling or tonic water. \u201cWe weren\u2019t expecting our signature drinks to take off and define us as much as they do,\u201d says Christos Andrews, co-owner and coffee\/beverage director at Ghost Note. \u201cOur signature drinks became, \u2018Oh, this is the coffee shop that makes those crazy cocktail drinks.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sparkling, fizzy, and bubbly drinks\u2014be they beverages made with actual sparkling water or carbonated with a keg or nitro system\u2014are incredibly popular, but they\u2019re not always simple to make. Special equipment and ingredients are often needed, as well as an understanding of the processes behind creating sparkling drinks, whether at the foundational level of recipe creation or at a more niche level of cleaning kegerator equipment. But when planned well and incorporated into a cafe menu, sparkling drinks can capture the attention of potential customers no matter the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sparkling Ahead Of The Crowd<\/span><\/h1>\n

For some shops, the complexity of sparkling drinks is part of the allure. \u201cIt\u2019s that fun challenge of creating something that hasn\u2019t been done before,\u201d says Jeremy Behne, director of coffee at\u00a0<\/span>42 & Lawrence<\/span><\/a>, a coffee lab created by\u00a0<\/span>Larry\u2019s Coffee<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in Raleigh, North Carolina.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Behne loves using sparkling water to complement the flavors in coffee. \u201cWe have all these great tasting notes in these great coffees, so how can you complement them without milk? The second you get a group of baristas excited about creating something like that, you\u2019ll get things coming out of your shop that you would\u2019ve never thought of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Often, rising to that creative challenge requires commitment. Ghost Note\u2019s Andrews spent four months perfecting a drink called the Sun Ship, made with espresso, smoked grapefruit rosemary syrup, coconut water, sparkling water, and lime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But his persistence paid off\u2014fizzy drinks are what set Ghost Note apart from other cafes in the neighborhood. \u201cCustomers can find a good mocha or cappuccino at a million different coffee shops, but there\u2019s only one place they can get a Sun Ship,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sparkling Persistence<\/span><\/h1>\n

Erica Swanson, CEO and founder of\u00a0<\/span>Tea Bar<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in Portland, Oregon, is tenacious. It took her more than two years to perfect a chai recipe that became the base of her sparkling cardamom chai, made with fresh green cardamom, cloves, whole peppercorns, cinnamon, raw turbinado sugar, and organic black tea. The chai is slow-brewed for 24 hours, chilled, then combined with sparkling water.<\/span><\/p>\n