Starbucks’ Pistachio Cream Cold Brew

The coffeehouse giant didn’t stop with 2014 invention of cold foam. Its latest version, introduced in January 2023, is pistachio flavored and tops a cold brew coffee sweetened with vanilla syrup. It’s garnished with salted brown butter sprinkles.

Milk Foam Black Tea at Gong Cha

While Starbucks was introducing cold foam at its Seattle Reserve Roastery in 2014, Taiwanese bubble tea concept Gong Cha introduced its own milk foam to New Yorkers that same year. It’s made with milk, sugar, a little salt and other proprietary ingredients and whipped using a conventional mixer each day. It’s stored refrigerated and then rewhipped for each order.

Some customers stir it all together, others sip their tea through the foam, and still others drink the tea through a straw and enjoy the foam as a sort of light dessert.

Venezia-Missouri at Forsythia in New York

The natural crema that tops an espresso makes an ombre drink out of this version of the Espresso Martini. It’s named for Venice, which is believed to be the original port of entry for coffee into Italy, and the state where the vodka in this drink comes from.

For ease of service, sprits director John Ware batches all of the ingredients beforehand, except for the espresso, for which he pulls several shots in advance.

He combines Coca-Cola reduction with Caffè Borghetti espresso liqueur, El Dorado 8-year Demerara rum, and Grainger’s Deluxe Organic Vodka. At service he adds a relatively light espresso from Partners Brooklyn, shakes it vigorously with ice and pours it into a stemmed cocktail glass. He garnishes it with three espresso beans.

La La Land at Laurel in West Lake Hills, Texas

Oat milk forms the head of this cocktail for which beverage manager Lance Posey uses Empress 1908 Gin, a product from Victoria, British Columbia, in Canada that is made with traditional gin botanicals as well as  black tea and butterfly pea flower that gives it a deep indigo color. He shakes that with lavender syrup, lemon juice, and oat milk, and strains it into a chilled coupe glass. He garnishes it with a paper butterfly and edible flower.

Lavender Lemonade at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill
Empress 1908 Gin also has a starring role in this drink, introduced last summer at this casual dining chain. Alex’s Lemonade is mixed with lavender elixir and then the gin is floated on top.

The Human Bean’s Refreshers

This drive-thru chain based in Medford, Ore., offered these drinks last summer, for which Steven Smith Mediterranean Green Tea is mixed with a choice of sparkling water or lemonade and then topped with one of two colorful blends: blood orange, ginger, and blackberry, or guava, dragon fruit, and lychee.

Brown Sugar Jelly at Peet’s Coffee

Brown Sugar Jelly became a new option for customer’s at Peet’s Coffee, placed at the bottom of a cup for a rich and sweet flavor, and also another colorful element for drinks such as the Matcha Oat Latte, cold Brew Pat Latte and Citrus Green Tea  Shaker pictured here.

It’s Cold Gin Time Again at Rock & Brews

The rock band KISS has its own gin, called Cold Gin, which, appropriately enough, is also the name of one of its hit songs. And it’s at the heart of an ombre cocktail that’s part of the band’s 50^th anniversary celebration at Rock & Brews, the chain in which KISS members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons are partners.

The drink combines KISS Cold Gin, Fiorente Elderflower Liqueur, lime juice, simple syrup, soda water and muddled blueberries. It’s poured into a glass rimmed with black sugar and then topped with Blue Curaçao for the ombre effect. It’s garnished with a thyme sprig, cherries, and a KISS guitar pick.

Dude, Where’s My Mudslide at Nat’s on Bleecker in New York City

Multi-colored drinks don’t necessarily have to be layered. Bar manager Meaghan Montagano makes this attractive cocktail by lining a glass with chocolate syrup before pouring in a frozen combination of oat milk, vodka, coffee liqueur, chocolate liqueur and spiced rum.