Does anyone have any suggestions?? My drink is a caramel butter rum white chocolate latte

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I'll be nice and not make a suggestion...
Keep it simple and exercise restraint. Focus on a simple, clear flavor for each drink - more than two syrups in the same drink is excessive. And minimize the total amount of syrup in the drink to keep the overall sweetness in check. Try to offer as few options as possible... too many bottles on the counter are a bad idea. And stick to flavors that compliment espresso - vanilla, caramel, chocolate, hazelnut, and cinnamon give you as many options as you'll need. Maybe a seasonal option that is around for a few weeks and then replaced.

Don't skimp on the amount or quality of your espresso either, you need to build the drink on great shots. You may not get the subtler notes of the espresso in the finished drink, but you should definitely still get good coffee flavor through.

I know that your customers equate these dessert-like drinks with specialty coffee... so you'll also want to work to encourage a better understanding of what specialty coffee really means - great, naturally occurring flavors that come from good, well prepared coffee. You can convert them gradually (especially as waistlines and budgets start to suffer from expensive and sugary excess) so keep working at it.
miKe mcKoffee aka Mike McGinness said:
I'll be nice and not make a suggestion...
What do u mean by the "Not" why wouldn't you?
I agree, Coffee is the focus here. I have judged many competitions within the last number of years and some advice I can offer would be.....

Hallmark the espresso. Honestly a single origin of harrar served with berry aromatics on the side would probably have a higher score when compared to a drink that has several modifiers in it that just mask the espresso.

Remember this, syrups and chocolate in the cafe have insainly high concentrations of sugar, this is mainly to increase shelf life, but this sugar coats the crema bubbles that would be giving your drinker the "after taste", so steer away from things that make it more difficult for your customer/ "judge" to actually taste the coffee. I'd say if your tasting the sig drink, at least 75% of that taste better be straight on coffee, the rest should compliment the taste as a whole.

Word...

also do some research, look at USBC champions and see what they served for their sig drinks, its public anyway
Matt Higgins said:
I agree, Coffee is the focus here. I have judged many competitions within the last number of years and some advice I can offer would be.....
Hallmark the espresso. Honestly a single origin of harrar served with berry aromatics on the side would probably have a higher score when compared to a drink that has several modifiers in it that just mask the espresso.

Remember this, syrups and chocolate in the cafe have insainly high concentrations of sugar, this is mainly to increase shelf life, but this sugar coats the crema bubbles that would be giving your drinker the "after taste", so steer away from things that make it more difficult for your customer/ "judge" to actually taste the coffee. I'd say if your tasting the sig drink, at least 75% of that taste better be straight on coffee, the rest should compliment the taste as a whole.

Word...

also do some research, look at USBC champions and see what they served for their sig drinks, its public anyway
Word dude sounds cool. I will try something, but my customers really want something new. The drink i had listed above is my top seller at my shop. Its called carabutter latte
I know it can be hard to stem away from what your customers are currently lovin,

Do some online research about signature drinks, see what works and doesn't, honestly though any drink with that much syurp probably will not score very well.

Have you downloaded the score sheets from SCAA? You can see what your criteria will be.

Also, regards to my recent roaster picture, ... its my new baby!! 2001 IR3, I'm in the process of moding it out before firing it up. Keep you posted.

If you have any questions with the judging process please feel free to ask.
Later
Mainly because I didn't want to comment on what appeared to me to be possibly good ingredients for a pie or puddding or moose (sp?) but not an espresso based beverage. I also thought you meant it was "your" drink of choice and didn't want to comment on that beverage of choice for a serious coffee professional.

No way would that type of beverage be on my menu. IF a customer asked for it, I'd make it or something close, but NO WAY on the menu. The coffees are the stars at my shop. FWIW our most popular flavored latte we call an African latte. Simply a latte with a bit of raw deep and rich Muscovado sugar which compliments not over shadows the espresso.

Corey said:
miKe mcKoffee aka Mike McGinness said:
I'll be nice and not make a suggestion...
What do u mean by the "Not" why wouldn't you?
Hi Corey,
Everyone has a signature drink and everyone has those customers who are latte experts, most likely in their own minds. Brady is correct is saying to keep it simple. Your menu board, is just like a menu in a restaurant; no one likes to ponder the choices too much. I would suggest visiting the Torani website. The have a lot of great recipes there and will encourage you to use them and add your own title to them. Also, do not hesitate to contact your local Rep and ask for suggestions and marketing materials. I believe we are all busy in perfecting our craft so why re-invent the wheel.
I too remind you to not only look at the amount of espresso you are putting in a drink, but also re-visit the kind of espresso blend you are using. Typically, they are made primarily of Brazillian beans and can give you a mild non-bitter taste. If you are drinking a single shot of espresso, this may be fine for the bulk of your customers, but the question is, will that shot of espresso hold up to 8 oz of milk and a syrup? If the answer is no, then further investigation should be done on your part to make sure that your customers are getting the best possible drink you can make them.
As always, remember what real specialty coffee is and work hard to educate yourself, your staff and your customers and let me know if you need anymore help.
Matt Higgins said:
also do some research, look at USBC champions and see what they served for their sig drinks, its public anyway

I would like to point out here that Corey was asking about specialty drinks for a retail store, NOT sig drinks for competition.
I find that my customers like it when I stay away from the syrups and come up with naturally flavored drinks.
On my menu is the Honey Bee Latte, it is a latte lightly sweetened with a local honey. I chose this honey for the light flavors. I have tried stronger honey, but it over powered the espresso rather than complementing it. I use a broken cinnamon stick to also add flavor and nuance to the drink. The broken pieces of cinnamon are in the cup that I pull the espresso into so the cinnamon adds warmth to the drink rather than an over powering spice.

After I have stretched the milk I strain the cinnamon out of the espresso and mix the espresso with the honey, then pour the milk and top with a touch of fresh ground cinnamon.

I have several other naturally flavored drinks, but this is the easiest one to recreate. It will never taste the same made in other places because of the differences of honey and espresso.
Hey,

Knew to this site, but I'll keep it simple to the reply--

I second what everyone here is saying-- Like the reply, keep it simple. Accent the coffee. I work in a cafe that is model arounded the Cafe au Lait and our focus is accenting that, not always the latte-- although when I get to it's beautiful cause we use a great espresso blend, but anyway-- out main signature is called the Dr. John, described as "Dark and Bluesy, like the Night Tripper himself." and we use the whole steamed milk with chicory coffee, ghirdelli cocoa and blackberry syrup. The most syrup we use is in our Professor-- but they're all light syrups-- vanilla, cinnamon and caramel and only at most 2.5oz in a 20oz and it's really subtle.

I do a lot of signature mochas at my other cafe that I work at. Monin has some unusual syrups, like Toasted Marshmellow. I did a "Campfire Mocha" with ghiridelli cocoa, toasted marshmellow. A coworker was urging me to spash in some gingerbread or cinnamon but sometimes you just have to restrain from putting ALL the flavors in or I think the tastebuds would be overwhelmed.

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