How much does this inspire these kinds of mocktails away from the competition format? Madcap has fielded many barista competitors over the years, which means plenty of signature drink courses. Honestly, it feels a bit indelicate to over-steep one of Peter Luong’s teas, but the dryness and bitterness is delightfully reminiscent of certain fortified wines. But, moreover, tea showcased our relationship with Song Tea & Ceramics, whose product we revere.

Tea allowed us to achieve a strong visual distinction, hinting at one of our favorite Negroni variations, the Negroni Blanco. First of all, drinks of this type of drink tends to suffer a bit in the visual department-no matter what the ingredients they mostly look cloudy and brown. The tea was Trevor’s idea, and it resonated with us for a couple of reasons. First I want to ask you: why use tea for one of your coffee cocktails? Hey Colin Whitcomb! Thanks for chatting with us about the above delicious drinks. Stir over ice, strain into a chilled coupe glass, and serve with an expressed lemon peel – add 150 grams (5.25oz) of water heated to around 205F – start with 40 grams (1.5oz) of finely ground coffee in the aeropress – Aeropress coffee (recommend Madcap Coffee Luis Reinoso, Lucas Melo or San Sebastian) – Tonic Syrup: 1 part Jack Rudy Tonic Syrup, 1 part water

Strain into rocks glass and serve with an expressed orange peel. – Add 1 part cascara for every 2 parts chilled espresso Steep 15g cascara with 10g lemon peel and 10g orange peel in 10oz water for 10 minutes on a low simmer. – 2 shots (approx 2oz) espresso (Recommend Madcap’s Third Coast Espresso) – 15 grams (15ml) Cascara (dried coffee cherry skins) Tè & Caffè Amaro (A Coffee & Cascara Mocktail): Stir over ice, strain into a chilled coupe glass, and serve with an expressed orange peel

Strain over 4.4oz ice until completely dissolved. 5g cardamom in 5.6oz 210 water for 4 minutes. Steep 4g Huang Meigui, 6g crushed juniper berry, 4g ornage peel, 1.5g cinnamon stick. – 4 grams (4ml) Huang Meigui white tea from Song Tea After we check out the recipes, we’ll chat with Whitcomb on the inspiration behind these beauties. These recipes might not contain Campari, but they do contain fascinating ingredients like delicious coffee, cascara, tea from San Francisco’s noted Song Tea, and y’know, juniper berries, if you have any of those sitting around. Let’s meet the drinks! These recipes were prepared by Trevor Corlett, Madcap co-founder and seasoned American barista competition competitor, along with Jonathan Miller, Madcap’s Grand Rapids cafe educator and Colin Whitcomb, head of training & quality control at Madcap’s DC branch. While mostly happening in the bar world, the occasional cocktail-minded coffee bar gets in on the action, and that’s where our partners at Madcap Coffee come in: they’ve crafted a thrilling threesome of booze-free cocktails for service June 6th-12th at their Grand Rapids cocktail bar, with $1 per drink donated to charity. ‘Tis nigh Negroni Week, the annual charitable co-branding event from Campari and Imbibe Magazine.

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