There was a time when you could judge a coffee shop by the menu.
The best cafés had the simplest drinks, with nothing more baroque on offer than a latte—and even that was treated with some snobby skepticism.
In part, it was a way to underscore the difference between the independent shops that put quality first and the branded franchises that sold syrupy milkshake-like drinks to the masses. The small cafés wanted you to really taste the coffee, which cost more and was quantifiably better than the stuff you found at chain stores, and to really taste the milk, which was “textured” (what you and everybody else calls “steamed”) according to a level of skill usually reserved for restoring the mosaic floors of the great churches of Rome. Adding anything more to that essential combination of coffee and milk was sacrilegious.
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Do Not Feed Alligators Pistachio Latte: Pistachio oat milk with a double shot of espresso.
That was then. Walk into a Dayglow, a coffee shop and roaster from Los Angeles with an airy, skylit location in Bushwick, and you should consider ordering the Totoro, which is easily their most famous drink. It’s distilled coffee, activated charcoal, orange blossom, and black sesame that’s topped with foamy coconut milk and salt, and it’s unspeakably delicious. To be clear, Dayglow is also for purists, and brews single-origin coffees roasted in the bright, zesty style made famous by Nordic roasters. This is a place where you can belly up to the bar and get your coffee nerd on.
But it’s also a place where you can enjoy the full range of maximalist coffees, and order a “signature drink” (to use the industry term) that’s as intricate and complex as a well-made cocktail. Let the mega-chains roll out similar versions every autumn of the gut-busting dairy bomb known as the pumpkin-spiced latte: Dayglow instead served the Fantastic Mr. Fox, a shot of espresso with apple cider, oat milk, and pumpkin cream that had all the flavors of a crisp fall day.
You now see signature drinks at good-quality coffee shops across the city. Do Not Feed Alligators in the West Village always has a pistachio latte and a frappe on the menu. Hometown favorite Joe introduces a new drink every season after holding an in-house competition. Past winners include the Sparkling Cherry Orangeade (espresso, sparkling water, simple syrup, and grenadine on ice topped with the juice of half an orange), and the Bright Tomorrow Iced Coffee (a brewed single-origin from Rwanda shaken over ice with cardamom-rose syrup and lime juice that’s strained into an ice-filled Collins glass). There’s no telling what Joe will introduce this spring and summer, but odds are it’s worth trying.
Are the drinks a bit much? Maybe. Are they pricey? Usually, yes. Are they worth it? Absolutely, provided that the café uses good ingredients and cares about its craft.
Which brings us to the paradox of maximalist coffee: These elaborate drinks are best made by shops that understand coffee on an elemental level. A drink like the Spanish Espresso Tonic at Passionfruit Coffee in Bed-Stuy might be garnished with fresh mint, an orange slice, and a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds, but all that embellishment doesn’t count for much unless you can really taste the espresso.
