One of the things we love about our job is creating new drinks.  Not only is it fun to create a drink that tastes awesome, it’s also great to create a drink that looks as good as the events we get to serve coffee to!

The summers in Oklahoma can be rough - this one especially.  We have found ourselves diving in to the world of cold coffee drinks.  As a specialty coffee catering company, we have opted out of serving frozen “coffee” drinks and fruit smoothies and to stick with what we are good at - coffee.  That being said, there is a whole wide world of iced coffee options that never see the light of day in most people’s worlds. 

So, this week, we sat down to create a perfect summer drink - coffee based of course - that would be good to anyone’s palette! 

What we came up with we now call our Cold Brew Float and like in all good floats, ice cream is a good portion!  Let’s get in to it!

1. We started with our iced brewed coffee - for this, we used a Bolivian Micro Lot roasted in Oklahoma City by Elemental Coffee Roasters.  Cold brew is easy and should be in every coffee drinker’s fridge during the warm summer months.  (Quick Recipe: Take 1 pound of coarsely ground coffee (like for a french press) to 1 gallon of ICE water.  Let it sit on the counter (in a bucket of course) for 12-16 hours.  Filter well and store for up to 3 weeks!)

2. We then selected the ice cream we thought would be best.  This took some serious taste testing!  We went with our favorite brand of the cold stuff - Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.  (A quick side note, have you had this stuff?  We love it!  We get it locally from our friends at Forward Foods.  If you haven’t had it yet, go grab some!)  We landed on the Ugandan Vanilla Bean which gave the drink hints of jasmine, vanilla, leather and honey!

3. Next, we wanted to create a rim for the cup - something that would balance the coffee and cream.  We came up with one that we think sets the drink off!  A mix of natural cocoa, sugar and salt!  We also decided to use a simple syrup as the agent to keep the rim mixture attached to the rim.

4. We picked up some fresh mint for a garnish.  

5. The final part was picking out a glass - an aspect just as important as the flavor combinations as far as we are concerned.  We used a tall flute to give it sophistication and party look.

We put it all together and this is what we got!

The drink layered perfectly!  We serve it with a spoon - at first - and then sip the remains.  With layers of coffee, then sweet cream and then the cocoa/salt/sugar rim - perfect.

Enjoy and if you have questions, comment below!

Sip sweet and watch out for brain freezes.

…deserves a signature beverage!  We want your event to be special. That is why we do what we do.  While your decision to provide your guests with something special at your event through specialty coffee catering takes care of most of it, adding a signature beverage can go the extra mile!

The above drinks are three that we had a blast creating.  The first we called “Machiatto Amora” .  The drink fit right in with the table scape Gibson Events created for last years Brides of Oklahoma magazine spread:  Not only with color but also style.

The other two drinks were designed for Fall and Winter beverage options for the same Brides of Oklahoma Magazine.  We took the apple cider angle for the fall drink and a peppermint based chocolate drink for the winter.

No matter what time of year your event is happening, adding a signature drink is the perfect way to blend in the coffee bar.  There are tons of options - ranging from cold brewed coffee or espresso based drinks to the warm cocktail options that we can team up with your liquor bar for and lots in between.  

Make your coffee bar personal by added the special touch a signature drink!