A Season of Flavor, Rooted in Inspiration

This journal explores the inspiration behind our latest seasonal and signature drinks. Created by Rhianna Bennie and shaped by ideas from our cafe team. Each beverage brings together the flavors of fall, our coffee offerings, and the creativity of the people behind the cup.

With each new season, we receive a new set of opportunities to showcase relationships and coffees we have worked hard to share. Moving through the last two seasons, we have focused on Honduras and Colombia. With fall bringing our Kenyan coffee offerings, we have an opportunity to highlight a country of origin brimming with striking terroir and distinct flavors. Coffees grown and processed in Kenya often have rich acidity, syrupy sweetness, and a juicy, rounded body.

Because of this clear and vibrant flavor profile, coffee professionals and newcomers alike can enjoy Kenyan coffees. They tend to pack a punch of flavor while maintaining a light, easy-drinking body.

After contemplating how to showcase the experience encapsulated in these coffees, we combined flavors of blackberry, tomato, and lemon with red tea. To mimic the silky body and give the drink a sparkling appearance, we clarified the mixture using a milk clarification process. This removes the solids from the milk, leaving behind a smooth texture without the remaining dairy solids. The result is the final version of our signature drink, The Nightshade.

It may seem odd to include tomato in a sweet drink, but in coffees sourced from Kenya, baristas have been known to experience tomato and bright red fruits as some of their more easily identified flavor characteristics. We wanted to capture this classic Kenyan coffee experience in a signature drink.

Tea was selected over coffee to balance the flavors for a few reasons. First, the people of Kenya tend to consume more tea than coffee. While the country produces both at a high level of quality, tea holds a strong tradition within Kenya. Choosing tea is a nod to the country's drinking practices, but it also brings together the flavors we selected more naturally than brewed coffee or espresso would.

To finish, we top The Nightshade with an herb oil made from fresh sage and olive oil, adding an herbaceous, soft finish. Together, these elements create a balanced and delicious snapshot of the flavors we often find in Kenyan coffees.

Alongside celebrating the flavors of the fall coffee harvest, we also want to celebrate the Michigan fall season we are experiencing. So many seasonal flavors surround us, and we found great joy in choosing from such abundance.



The Kettle on the Cob was inspired by an idea from our very own Fulton St. barista, Christy, and her favorites this season. With so many variations on the flavor of corn throughout fall, we chose to focus on creamed corn and its sweeter presentation for our seasonal drinks.

Creamed corn as a dish originated with Native Americans and has maintained its status as a staple seasonal dish during this time of year. The Kettle on the Cob brings together ingredients like sweet corn, sweetened condensed milk, and light brown sugar to translate the experience of this traditional dish into something we can enjoy as a latte with espresso or matcha.

Smooth, lightly sweet, and corn-forward, this latte is the perfect pairing for family dinner plans and crisp fall air, whether you're a fan of espresso or matcha.

Finally, we've brought back a popular drink, The S’morelette. This chocolate-graham-cracker-inspired latte features our premium vanilla bean caviar scrapings, cinnamon chips, honey, and cocoa powder. Topped with a marshmallow-inspired foam, this decadent and smooth latte is finally back on our menu!

Whether we're inspired by the coffee harvest or the season itself, our signature and seasonal programs are defined by sharing what we're passionate about and telling the stories behind what shapes our focus. In this season and all those to come, we're excited to convey our intentions through our beverages and cafe service.

Experience the flavors of the season at any Madcap cafe. Our seasonal and signature drinks are available at all locations, whether you join us in person or order ahead online.

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