While coffee is a universal beverage, it’s rare to see a beverage as viral as the raspberry Danish latte.
It’s not just that it’s delicious. Little Joy Coffee, the Northfield, Minnesota, originator of the drink, offered the recipe to any cafe that wanted it, per The Guardian.
Here’s what happened
People are reluctant to spend $7-$8 on a latte, but that’s what Little Joy’s specialty drinks — which are often dessert-themed and R&D’d like craft cocktails — cost.
To illustrate why, Little Joy frequently posts videos to its Instagram account as part of a “DIY or buy” series.
- In each, manager Serena Walker breaks down how to make a drink and what it would cost if a customer to made it themselves.
- While some are cheap and simple enough to make at home, others may be too labor-intensive.
“When you really break it down, you see how little profit we’re actually making off of this, because the ingredients, the labor to make it, the labor to have people give it to you, to have the lights on and everything kind of just gets perspective,” owner Cody Larson told The Guardian.
So what about this raspberry Danish latte?
It requires a house-made raspberry syrup painstakingly strained, two shots of espresso, milk, and a cream cheese cold foam, so Little Joy recommended not making it at home.
But because many of its 136k Insta followers live nowhere near, it decided to give the recipe to make it at scale to any cafe that wanted it.
Now, over 400 coffee shops have signed on around the world, some with their own variations (vegan, matcha, etc.). A map of locations has received 2m+ views.
Several participating shop owners told Today that the drink has quickly become their most popular, with one Texas shop pleased with how being on the map has helped new customers find them.
Small businesses uniting over a viral recipe that calls for ingredients made in-house? We love to see it.
And if you’re chill with straining all those raspberry seeds, here’s the at-home version.
