I am not the biggest fan of coffee. I’ve tried, many times, to get into it. Really. Coffee with milk, coffee with creamer, coffee with milk and creamer, coffee with syrup, black coffee, all of it. Not all of us can enjoy a macchiato or cappuccino on the daily. It’s just not for me, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. For those of us out there who don’t like coffee, I know it’s hard finding a drink at cafes. The only non-coffee drinks you’ll ever usually find are mediocre matcha and chai; you probably don’t want a bottle of Naked Juice at a cafe. So, why can’t there be more variety? Here are some non-coffee drinks that I think should be at all cafes:
- Strawberry Milk
No, not like the boxed strawberry milk with the straw you used to teethe on. Over the summer, I went to my first Korean cafe and had my first non-instant strawberry milk. They called it a strawberry milk latte, but it had no coffee. Diced strawberry with a dash of sugar, filled to the brim with ice and cold milk, this drink was absolutely heaven for a non-coffee gal like me. All I could think about downing it was: why can’t all cafes have this? Making it is as easy as it gets, too!
- Teas
How are these not already staples at U.S. cafes? Green tea, grain tea, black tea, chrysanthemum tea, barley tea, teas with milk… the list is never ending, and this variety of tea is infinitely appealing. What’s better than a light hot cup of tea at a cafe on a rainy, cloudy day? Very arguably nothing.
- Fruit Smoothies
Why can’t all cafes have these? I can’t imagine they’re hard to make, and I’m sure the general population can be split into fruit-enthusiasts and non fruit-enthusiasts. Surely, there would be some kind of profit for businesses?
- Ades
I can’t lie. I’m not the biggest fan of carbonated drinks. But, that’s just me! Lemonades, limeades, blue-raspberry ades, grapeades. You can literally -ade any fruit. These drinks are the best combination of sweet and fruity, and they’re so refreshing and easy to make. If juices are too elementary for cafes, I don’t see why ades can’t be a substitute.
- Hot Chocolate
Maybe not hot chocolate necessarily, but some chocolate-based drink would definitely be a great add-on to all cafe menus. Easy to make and warming, they’re the perfect drink for someone to sip on while walking through the fall/winter streets anywhere.
Now, I’m not saying that these drinks are universally enjoyed. My point is that too many cafes in the U.S. sell only coffee. As a non-coffee drinker, I hate that when I enter one to study or enjoy the atmosphere, I’m forced to get a watered down, less-than-mediocre matcha latte because there are no other coffee. It wouldn’t hurt for some of these cafes to venture a little out of their comfort zones and expand their menus.