I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve spent more time than I should on my Facebook feed, watching videos of people making or trying trendy food. It can be so relaxing (and sometimes funny) seeing people I don’t know react to different food trends, be they sushi burritos or some random concoction created by a café or bakery attempting to make something new and different to attract new customers. I’m always curious about these things, so whenever I get the chance to try something unusual or seemingly “hipster,” I tend to try it.
For this installment of “Foodie Friday,” I’ll share my experience at the famous Brooklyn Roasting Company in New York. After visiting DUMBO in Brooklyn, my New Yorker friend and I decided to grab some coffee, so we stepped into Brooklyn Roasting Company. I was planning on getting a mocha or a cappuccino, but a sign on the counter caught my eye: an advertisement for The Nutty Cuckoo. This drink’s description read, “The Nutty Cuckoo features Iris Espresso, Valrhona Hot Chocolate and organic peanut butter. Created as part of the 3rd Annual Valrhona Hot Chocolate Festival, the Nutty Cuckoo is served in an 8oz cup and priced at $5.” A drink with coffee, chocolate, and peanut butter, designed specifically for a festival, and given a bizarre name? Sounds hipster. I decided to try it.
It looked like a latte, and it even had a fun foam design, which I highly appreciated. The first few sips were delicious; chocolate-y with a coffee flavor mixed in and a hint of peanut butter to finish it off. The peanut butter added a nice creaminess to the texture of the drink, and it worked well with the chocolate flavor.
However, once I was around halfway done with the drink, it felt a bit too sweet. This could be because the novelty of it wore off, but there was a bit of a sugar overload on my tongue. While I appreciate a good sugar-filled drink, something about the Nutty Cuckoo was a little overwhelming, although that might’ve been due to me drinking it way too quickly since it was cold outside and I needed to warm up my insides. By the time I finished the drink, there were hunks of peanut butter at the bottom that didn’t fully mix into the drink, so I snagged a spoon and scooped those up—leave no waste, right?
All in all, I enjoyed the drink but would only recommend to people who have a massive sweet tooth. If you’re going to Brooklyn Roasting Company for a caffeine hit and you want your coffee to taste more like coffee than chocolate and peanut butter, maybe try something else.