Black Rock Coffee Bar Sets Fall Drink Menu
Black Rock Coffee Bar, a national boutique coffee chain, will celebrate the season with its new lineup of fall drinks that will be available from Sept. 1-Oct. 31 in all its more than 100 Black Rock Coffee Bar stores across seven states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
Stealing the spotlight on the autumn menu are irresistible Pumpkin and Kettle Corn flavors. Among them, the much-loved Pumpkin Blondie stands as a cherished favorite at Black Rock Coffee Bar. Adding to the excitement is a new and fresh addition to the lineup – the delectable Kettle Corn flavor.
Rounding out the fall 2023 drink menu is the Berry Scary Fuel drink from the brand’s popular Fuel energy drink brand. With this menu, the fast-growing coffee chain aims to provide its customers with a variety of flavorful drinks to choose from.
Pumpkin Flavored Drinks
- Pumpkin Blondie – To get into the spirit of the season, the Pumpkin Blondie is a twist to Black Rock’s all-time favorite drink, the Caramel Blondie. The Pumpkin Blondie is made with hints of caramel, white chocolate and pumpkin. For a finishing touch, it is topped with cinnamon + nutmeg. The Pumpkin Blondie can be served hot, iced or blended. The Pumpkin Blondie can also be prepared as a shake without the coffee.
- Pumpkin Spice Latte – Spice up a traditional latte with hints of warm pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Kettle Corn Flavored Drinks
- Kettle Corn Shaken Espresso – Black Rock Coffee Bar is bringing the flavor of yummy kettle corn to its Fall drink lineup with the Kettle Corn Shaken Espresso – a rich full-bodied espresso shaken and mellowed by notes of salty, sweet and freshly popped corn.
- Kettle Corn Cold Brew – The Kettle Corn Cold Brew is Black Rock’s signature cold brew with notes of salty, sweet and freshly popped corn.
*Create a customized fall drink utilizing Black Rock’s new Kettle Corn flavor. Suggested drink options include lattes, breves and shakes.
Fuel Featured Energy Drink
- Berry Scary Fuel – The Berry Scary Fuel features Black Rock’s popular energy drink brand, Fuel. It is made with Organic fuel mixed with coconut, strawberry and raspberry and is garnished with a gummy eyeball.*
*Gummy garnishes will be available for a limited time at participating Black Rock Coffee Bar locations and is subject to availability. Request for extra gummies will be dependent on availability and cost an additional fee.
Each drink price will vary depending on modifications to the original receipt including alternative milks, additional flavors or additional shots.
Guided by its three principles – coffee, community and connection, the popular coffee chain was founded in Oregon and is known for its premium roasted coffees, teas, smoothies and flavorful Fuel energy drinks. Its mission is to be a positive force in the communities it serves. The boutique coffee chain was named the Fastest Growing Private Company in Oregon and SW Washington in 2021 by the Portland Business Journal. Most recently, Inc. Magazine ranked Black Rock Coffee Bar No. 1179th on its 2023 Inc. 5000 Annual List, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America.
Founded as a family owned and operated business in Oregon in 2008, Black Rock Coffee Bar has grown to more than 115 retail locations in seven states. The Black Rock culture prides itself on not only being a positive force for the communities it serves, but also the team members that fuel their locations day in and day out. An important aspect of their team mission is to recognize those that go above and beyond by displaying the 4Gs of Black Rock – grit, growth, gratitude, and grace.
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Honest Tea Founders Return With Just Ice Tea
Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff, co-founders of Honest Tea, have returned to the bottled tea business alongside celebrity Chef Spike Mendelsohn with the launch of Just Ice Tea, a ready-to-drink organic iced tea brand focused on sourcing simple ingredients and Fair Trade Certified teas and sweeteners. The organic tea line will hit shelves nationwide beginning September 2022 and is the latest addition to Eat the Change, the planet-friendly snack (and now beverage) company founded by Goldman and Mendelsohn in 2020.
The news for Eat the Change’s expansion into the bottle tea space follows Coca-Cola’s May 2022 announcement that it would discontinue Honest Tea this fall. Goldman and Nalebuff founded Honest Tea in Bethesda, Md., in 1998.
“Just Ice Tea is picking up where Honest Tea left off, but we are tripling down on our commitments to our core values – Fair Trade Certified, organic and just sweet enough,” said Goldman “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to once again serve, and hopefully expand, the community of tea growers and retailers we assembled who were abandoned by the discontinuation of Honest Tea.”
The brand is named Just Ice Tea because “Just Ice” refers to the set of working standards and environmental principles the team aims to support through Fair Trade premiums and working standards. The brand is also committed to supporting our planet through organic certification, which uses a third-party verified approach to avoid the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers. Honest Tea was the first bottled tea brand to offer organic (1999) and Fair Trade certified varieties (2003).
“We didn’t want to leave our loyal customers high and dry, either,” Nalebuff said. “Challenging the line from F. Scott Fitzgerald, he predicted ‘We think act two will be even better’.”
Honest Tea fans will recognize new renditions of crowd favorites with Just Ice Tea. While similar, some key differentiators to note are: no cane sugar (Fair Trade Certified Organic agave and/or honey are used for sweeteners), glass bottles only, a bit less sweet and chef-crafted by Mendelsohn, who leads innovation at Eat the Change.
“Teaming up with mission-driven leaders and innovators, like Seth and Barry, to launch the next generation of bottled tea is truly a milestone moment for me,” Mendelsohn said. “Innovation is my favorite part of being a chef, and we’re excited to introduce this new line of chef-crafted teas made with responsibly sourced ingredients from our trusted partners.”
Just Ice Tea will launch with six SKUs with a SRP of $2.69-$2.89. Flavor names and varieties include:
● Berry Hibiscus Herbal Tea: Organic herbal hibiscus and blackberry leaves are brewed and blended with blackberry juice for a fruity caffeine-free blend.
● Honey Green Tea: Real-brewed green tea leaves and a “just sweet enough” taste of agave and honey offers a classic taste of this popular blend.
● Moroccan Mint Tea: Blend of real brewed green tea and mint makes for a refreshing taste with a hint of honey at only 35 calories for the whole bottle.
● Original Green Tea: Smooth, unsweetened green tea is as simple as it
gets. No flavoring (except from real-brewed tea leaves) and no sweetener – just the clean taste of real brewed green tea.
● Peach Oolong Tea: Real-brewed oolong and black tea leaves blend with the flavor of fragrant sweet peaches at just 60 calories per bottle.
● ½ Tea ½ Lemonade: Real-brewed black tea leaves blend with the sweet, citrus taste of classic lemonade. Two favorites, one bottle.
Just Ice Tea will be distributed nationwide and begins to hit shelves September 2022. Just Ice Tea is available first at Sprouts Farmers Market nationally and PLNT Burger locations in New York City. Other retailers set to carry Just Ice Tea include, but are not limited to: Whole Foods Markets, Hy-vee, Town & Country, Central Market, New Seasons Market, Erewhon, MOM’s, Roots, Yes! Natural Markets, Giant Foods, PCC, Dawson’s, Market of Choice, ION Group, Oliver’s, Rainbow Grocery, The Food Bin, Ellwood Thompson’s and The Common Market.
Gourmet News featured news about Just Ice Tea in our August issue. Subscribe now so you don’t miss anything!
Meet the Next Generation Honest Tea: Just Ice Tea
Honest Tea co-founder Seth Goldman has named the successor to the bottled organic tea line that Coca-Cola has discontinued: Just Ice Tea. Goldman made the announcement on his company’s website and in an interview with Gourmet News.
“The name builds on our Fair Trade commitment, the working conditions and wages paid, and it also looks at the environment, we’re choosing organic over chemicals, pesticides to maintain pristine ecosystems,” Goldman told Gourmet News. “And it also speaks to the taste. It’s just sweet enough.
“We use recognizable and minimal ingredients in every recipe,” Goldman wrote on the website, “and of course nothing artificial. You will taste the essence of the tea, and not much more.”
Coca-Cola acquired Honest Tea in 2011.
Coca-Cola’s announcement in May that it was discontinuing Honest Tea was “a gut punch to all the sweat, tears and incredible passion that went into building our beloved brand,” Goldman said in a post on his LinkedIn account.
“But we bounced back well!” Goldman told Gourmet News.
Goldman expects Just Ice Tea to be on shelves this fall.
Read more about Goldman’s new ice tea, created with Chef Spike Mendelsohn, in the August issue of Gourmet News. Subscribe now so you don’t miss anything!