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“The Kick” from Lulu Carpenter’s at the Octagon

16 Apr

“The Kick”was the brainchild of a few guys at Lulus who wanted to do something special with peppers. “The Kick” as it is today is the result of many hours of trial and error. Rather than resorting to prepackaged or processed ingredients, Sam wanted to rely on real, wholesome, fresh ingredients. Sam cooks a lot and is definitely a foodie, in my personal opinion. So, it seemed natural that he was given the job of creating the recipe.

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Sam is a master barista, whether or not he is willing to admit it. He is also a chef of the coffee world in some ways. One afternoon, he plopped down a bag of peppers from the Farmer’s Market, stating, “I’m experimenting.” He had talked about something with chili and spices in a chocolate drink before, and finally he was going to do it. Every few mornings or so, I would come into Lulus and he would be in the back cooking up different varieties testing them out. A few weeks later he came up with his now famous local concoction: the Kick. It is essentially a mixture of peppers and spices combined with chocolate to make an amazing ganache. The result is a deliciously sweet and slightly spicy rich chocolate sauce that can be used in Cacao, Mochas, or chocolate milk.

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Sam has told me he had another motive for creating “The Kick.” He believes in utilizing coffee as a variable ingredient in drinks and cooking rather than taking a “purist ” standpoint and leaving the coffee untouched. Rather than avoid the of distinction of doing “food+coffee,”  he wanted to showcase a high level of culinary skill to demonstrate that there is room in the industry for versatility and growth. Coffee can be a micro-cosim within the cooking world rather than something separate. I really applaud him for his passion and stance on coffee; not only is it a wise way to interpret coffee, something everyone can meditate upon, he also succeeded in creating a great beverage. Bringing coffee and culinary art together was always his intention with “The Kick,” and I think he is just getting started.

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As it stands, “The Kick” is a unique drink that everyone should try. It is dynamic, delicious, and different. There are many ways to prepare it and personally, I like it with cold milk and a dollop of whip. The level of quality and creativity with this drink hints at potential new directions for certain enclaves of the industry and the places Lulus and Sam may take coffee in the future. Or, maybe not. In any case, congratulations on a great invention.

Red Velvet Latte from Bitter+Sweet Cafe

28 Mar

This is the first in a series of articles featuring the specialty drinks of certain shops; original creations that demonstrate the imagination of baristas pushing the culinary art of coffee towards new directions.

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When I first walk into a shop, I usually notice the shop specialty. Generally, this is just curiosity. In all honesty, I pretty reticent to try these kinds of drinks for a number of reasons.

I originally heard about Bitter+sweet, my new favorite spot in Cupertino via Yelp. While reading the reviews, I continuously came across nods to the Red Velvet Latte served by their very own Dan Vu. After visiting this shop a few times, I finally spoke to him about his creation. I ordered one and was pretty impressed with the drink; flavorful, sweet but not overpowering, interesting, creative, and generally pretty enticing, not to mention beautiful. It was actually this drink that inspired me to start this series.

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Today, I went back to give the drink a proper review. I went in during the rush, ordered another Red Velvet Latte, and was impressed for a second time. It was smooth, very velvety both in texture and its red velvet flavor, it was not overly flavorful so that one forgets they are drinking coffee, a great temp, a good size for something you expect to be hearty and sweet, and an overall hit with customers. My one tiny gripe is that for an espresso drink, you cannot really taste the espresso, but it is the perfect “sweet” coffee drink.

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Daniel was kind enough to sit down and give us the low down. Ever the humble man, one day, Dan decided to play around with what was already in the store. He recognized the current cupcake craze in the South Bay and figured that something sweet would go over well with the clientele.

After some experimentation, he used some red velvet mix he found in the store and created his masterpiece. He showed Janice, then some customers, and before they knew it, the RVL was selling like hot cakes. It has definitely been a hit, girls are definitely, “all up on” the RVL.

The drink isn’t patented, though Daniel and B+S can lay claim to being the originators in the South Bay. Dan has huge plans for the drink… I mean HUGE. Just kidding; keeping step with his original goals, Daniel personally plans for it remain a custom drink fit only for the store and his customers. Of course, others will pick up on the trend and likely mimic what they have accomplished (rumor has it, some other SJ shops are already serving a similar drink).

From those of us here and those future customers of B+S, we thank you guys for such a terrific drink and congratulate you on a job well done. Keep servin up creative ideas and you can be sure we will all come back, “all up on” whatever else you guys create from your kitchen.

*To address those who expressed interest in this article. First of all, thank you for taking the time to read the blog and this article! The people at Bitter+Sweet would really appreciate it. To directly address concerns.

  • what’s in it?
I thought it seemed self explanatory but essentially it is Red Velvet mixed in with espresso and milk to create a latte. If you want specifics you will have to contact the shop directly since I, as the author, was asked not to go into specifics of the process or exact ingredients for business reasons. This article was meant to reflect the creative processes more than the drink itself. I am not in the business of giving away secrets or recipes :) .
  • what’s it taste like?
Part of why I left the taste part out was I want people to go try it for themselves! It’s great, very smooth and not too sweet. It has very present red velvet flavor, so much so that I thought it almost dominates the espresso. I would almost dare to say it is like a dessert in some respects because it is rather heavy on the pallet… and the stomach.
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