As we are now heading into the colder months my manager is on me to market "fall" beverages. I'm trying to resist as much as possible because I want to keep our coffee shop as pure and coffee-based as possible but being in a corporate office building we are pushed toward the Starbucks end of things.

With this in mind have any of you made hot apple cider using your espresso machine? Is it as simple as using gallons of cider, steaming it, and sending it out the door or does it require some tweaking?

Suggestions please!

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Yes, it can be just that simple.

You should absolutely take this opportunity to review good steamwand practice with your staff. For every pitcher, every barista should:

Purge before steaming.

Remove the wand from the pitcher as soon as steaming is finished.

Wipe the wand after steaming.

Purge after wiping.

Taste several brands of cider before committing - there is a big difference in flavor and sweetness. Watch your pricing carefully too.

If you feel like your customers may be ok with a little more sweetness, you can also infuse simple syrup with mulling spices and add a little of that to the drink.

I will definitely be doing some experimenting in this department and will hopefully find a recipe to calm the powers that be. Appreciate the steam wand tips, too. I don't think there is anything more irritating than a crusty steam wand.

Anyone else have a recipe they use in their shop?

Brady said:

Yes, it can be just that simple.

You should absolutely take this opportunity to review good steamwand practice with your staff. For every pitcher, every barista should:

Purge before steaming.

Remove the wand from the pitcher as soon as steaming is finished.

Wipe the wand after steaming.

Purge after wiping.

Taste several brands of cider before committing - there is a big difference in flavor and sweetness. Watch your pricing carefully too.

If you feel like your customers may be ok with a little more sweetness, you can also infuse simple syrup with mulling spices and add a little of that to the drink.

Cider is fine, but why limit yourself to that? My advice would be to think like a competition barista and create a "signature beverage" based on the flavors of fall. What are the flavors of the fall? Apple, maple, cinnamon, and caramel come to mind. Pumpkin, quince and cranberry too. Roasted nuts? A few of these (such as cinnamon) can pretty easily be incorporated into your beverages. Others (such as quince) might take a bit more creativity to say the least. But it might be more fun, more satisfying, and more attractive to your customers to create your own line of fall drinks rather than just steaming some cider. If you're going to have to do it anyway, then make it something to remember.

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