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For decades, steamed and frothed milk has been a popular match for coffee, but now the cold version—some made with dairy products, some with dairy substitutes—is scooped on cold drinks, serving as tea and beverages. Coffee adds richness and texture.
Starbucks launched its "cold foam" nationwide for the first time in 2018. This beverage enhancement feature has become popular recently, and Dunkin', Jamba and other brands have launched their versions this year.
According to a Starbucks spokesperson, the Starbucks version is made from aerated skimmed milk and was first launched in 2014 at its Reserve Roastery in Seattle. Then it expanded to other Starbucks Reserve stores and launched nationwide in April 2018.
Since then, it has been modified seasonally, adding pumpkin spice and Irish cream seasoning.
“It’s worth noting that pumpkin cream cold brew has become one of the most popular seasonal cold drinks ever. As of [Q4 of 2020], more than 90 million drinks have been sold in the United States,” the spokesperson said. Added that last year’s sales of cold drinks surpassed pumpkin spice lattes.
The spokesperson said that although this may be surprising, cold drinks actually accounted for 74% of total domestic beverage sales in the most recent quarter—a new record and an increase of 10% in the past two years.
During this pumpkin spice season, Seattle-based Starbucks added pumpkin cream cold foam as an option to its app, and customers responded by adding it to their ice chai latte, ice white chocolate mocha and ice latte .
Although Starbucks is the first chain to launch cold brews nationwide, since 2014, it has been launched in the Taiwanese brewing concept public tea shop in the United States, one of the chain’s main franchisees, Anchar Lamba (Anchal Lamba) stated that he operates 69 stores in New York City, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Texas.
"It's actually my favorite drink and the difference between Gong Cha and other bubble tea brands," Lamba said.
The foam of Gong Cha is made of milk, sugar, a little sea salt and other proprietary ingredients, and is beaten daily with a traditional mixer. It is kept refrigerated and quickly re-whipped for each order.
"This is the perfect combination of sweetness and saltiness," Lamba said.
This salty element illustrates another origin of cold foam. Although it is an obvious descendant of steamed milk, it also originated from cheese tea. This invention may have originated in Taiwan, where iced tea was made from cream cheese. According to S&D Coffee and Tea, in recent years, it has become popular in Chinatowns and Las Vegas across the country, and the company exhibited it at the 2018 National Restaurant Show.
Lamba said that some customers like to mix foam with bubble tea to make a milk tea. Others like to leave the foam on it and sip tea through it. However, she likes to drink bubble tea with a thick straw and treat the foam as a light dessert.
Patrick Main, senior beverage development manager at Peet's Coffee, also regards cold brewing as a relaxing treat.
Peet's version is vegan, made from oat milk, flavored syrup, and a proprietary smoothie base, which Main says is similar to the gum syrup used by bartenders. All of these are put into a whipped cream dispenser filled with nitrous oxide, and then distributed to the Baridi Blend cold brew and ice cubes of the chain store. He said that seasonal changes include the pumpkin oatmeal foam, which is now on the market, "it almost exceeded our sales forecast by an alarming rate."
"I think part of the reason our oatmeal foam is popular is that it is sweet and delicious and feels indulgent, but it doesn't really destroy nutrition," Main said. "Because we distribute it over unsweetened cold brew, our 16-ounce pumpkin oatmeal foam cold brew has only about 60 calories-for this time of year desserts that truly provide the fall flavors that people crave. , That’s not bad. In addition, cold foam is fun. The best way to drink them is to sip cold drinks through the foam without using a straw, so you can get a full range of flavors and textures."
Dutch Bros Coffee also launched a cold foam version called Soft Top, which was launched in March 2020, and the company launched white chocolate lavender cold brew coffee.
"It's fluffy," said Listel Bjork, senior product manager. "It has a very good texture. Slowly penetrates into the drink, and you get this very delicious, almost vanilla-like sweetness. It's like marshmallows are not solidified."
Dunkin' brand marketing director Anh-Dao Kefor has similar views on the brand's cold foam.
"Made of skimmed milk, sugar and cream, the sweet cold foam gradually melts into the cold brew [coffee], adding more flavor, texture and richness to each bite," Kefor said in an email, noting that it is In February of this year. Since then, the brand has introduced a version with cinnamon sugar and a pumpkin spice version.
PJ's Coffee added a sweet version of cold foam in May this year to complement its cold brewed wedding cake with vanilla and almond flavors. It is made of equal amounts of whipped cream and whole milk, and vanilla syrup shaken and dispensed through a whipped cream jar.
Similar to Peet's, Jamba makes vegan foam for its drinks. According to executive chef Mark Gabrovic, it is made from raw oat milk, coconut milk and agave syrup and will be launched this summer with the new coffee and tea line.
"Our guests... like to see how it flows into an iced drink, creating an experience that is both delicious and'Insta worthy'," Gabrovic said in an email.
"We also like how the sweetness and creaminess on top of our sweet cloud whip foam balances the flavors of our cold brew and matcha with the sweet, creamy and airy flavors."
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