In the Cafe: Spring Drink Specials

This spring, as part of our BRC Japan x BRC New York campaign, we launched a lineup of seasonal drinks in the cafés.

The campaign started with a simple question: how do we push ourselves? A lot of the coffees we work with already carry beautiful floral notes, a classic theme for spring drinks, but we wanted to go beyond that. After a few conversations with our team in Japan, it clicked. While they were preparing for cherry blossom season, so could we.

That said, cherry blossom flavored drinks aren’t exactly where we like to stop. We are always looking to push things further. Around here, it is often joked that our headquarters feels more like Willy Wonka’s lab than a traditional office; we are constantly cupping, testing new brew methods, and experimenting with how coffee can show up in the cup.

So instead of leaning on flavored syrups, we focused on rethinking the espresso itself.

One of the biggest issues with an iced latte is that it starts warming up the moment it’s served. As the ice melts, the milk loses its texture, the drink gets diluted, and suddenly you are rushing to finish it before it falls apart.

This brings us to the idea: iced espresso.

Traditionally, espresso is made by forcing hot water through finely ground coffee, which is why it is served hot. We wanted to find a way to keep the strength, caffeine, and flavor of espresso without inevitably diluting iced drinks.

We explored a few options.

First, pulling cold espresso to order. It’s a beautiful process, but not practical for a busy café. Cold pulling requires a longer saturation time, manual pressure, and an even finer grind, which means extra equipment and significantly more prep. During a morning rush, it just doesn’t hold up, and we’ve got to get you to work on time.

Second, pulling espresso ahead of time and chilling it. The issue here is quality. As espresso sits, it loses its aroma and structure, often turning bitter and flat. Think iced latte, but worse.

Third, substituting cold brew. While cold brew is strong in its own way, it does not match espresso’s concentration. Espresso typically lands around 8 to 12 percent TDS (Total Dissolved Solids, which measures the concentration of coffee particles dissolved in water, i.e. how strong the brew is), while cold brew sits closer to 2 to 6 percent. The result is a drink that still feels too thin.

So we kept pushing.

That is what led us to our cold brew concentrate.

Our cold brew concentrate is made using the Hive Brew system, a variation of the Kyoto-style drip method. It is a controlled, active process where cold water passes through the grounds at a precise rate. This method, called Accelerated Cold Extraction, allows us to fine-tune the extraction and consistently produce a strong, flavorful brew.

Compared to standard cold brew, the concentrate lands much closer to espresso strength. We consistently see it around 7.5 percent TDS, making it a near-perfect substitute for espresso in iced drinks.

Even better, we have been making it with our Japan Blend as part of the campaign.

The Japan Blend was developed to celebrate our partnership with our Japanese locations. We serve it as drip in the cafés, but as we know, espresso grinders are finicky, and we rarely take the risk of swapping out the Iris that you’re used to drinking in the morning. This cold extraction method gave us the chance to showcase how rich and expressive the Japan can be in a new format, not dissimilar to espresso.

We used the concentrate in two of our three spring drinks.

The Sakura Shaken Latte takes inspiration from cherry blossom season, using a specialty cherry blossom syrup alongside a double espresso’s worth of cold brew concentrate, milk, and ice. It is shaken to bring everything together. This is a technique we are continuing to explore, so stay tuned for more on shaken drinks this summer.

We also featured the concentrate in our Cherry Blossom Cold Brew Tonic, a twist on the classic espresso tonic. It is cold, lightly sweet, a little floral, with a deep, rich backbone from the Japan Blend. It quickly became a standout this season.

The third drink in the lineup was a limited edition matcha, created in collaboration with an old friend.

We worked with Shokuya to offer a matcha that could stand on its own. It is served either straight or as a latte, with no added syrups or flavorings. After tasting it with founder Henry and learning more about the process, it was clear that we needed to let the tea speak for itself.

Jim and Henry go way back, and it was a pleasure to collaborate in a way that aligned so naturally with this campaign. You can expect to see more collaborations like this in the future, and if you want to learn more about the matcha or about Shokuya and Henry, we’ve included the links here.

Getting to use the Japan Blend in drinks that highlight both our partnership and the spirit of cherry blossom season gave this lineup a real sense of purpose. We are grateful to have such a strong community here in Brooklyn, and in Japan as well. Some of you have even visited all of our locations, which is pretty incredible.

These drinks will be available in cafés through May 1, or while supplies last. Like cherry blossoms, they are not here forever.

Thanks for taking the time to go behind the scenes with us. If you are interested in learning more about our cold brew process, we have more coming soon. It’s something we have been so excited to finally talk about, and something we hope to eventually bring into your home as well (wink wink).

Enjoy the last of the cherry blossom season, and make sure to swing by the cafes while the drinks are still here!