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Forbes Lifestyle Dining Outset Coffee Brings Innovative, Asian-Inspired Beverages To The Mission District Chelsea Davis Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover food, drink & travel—in other words, all the fun stuff! Following Aug 21, 2023, 04:16pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Toasted Banana Latte Outset Coffee If you're bored of traditional cafes, but still crave that caffeine bump, Outset Coffee in the Mission District has you covered. This cafe isn't your typical espresso slinging coffee spot, in fact, it couldn't be further from that. Outset Coffee specializes in innovative, Asian-inspired beverages that range from fruit lattes and neo americanos to coffee mocktails and coffee-less refreshers. Of course, they also serve classic coffee drinks, as well as croissants and mini dessert boxes from Hanabi. If you don't know what fruit lattes are, a few of their specialties include the Avocado Latte made with fresh avocado puree and the Durian Latte made with Thai durian puree. From neo americano drinks like the Sunset Americano made with grapefruit and orange juice and the Yuja Americano made with house made Korean pomelo juice to coffee mocktails like the Day & Night made with house brewed oolong and a sweet cheese cloud, the inventive beverage options are ever-changing. Outset Coffee Owner, Heng Qiu Outset Coffee We chatted with Outset Coffee Owner, Heng Qiu, on Outset Coffee's opening, the menu inspiration and more. Here's what he had to say. Talk about how Outset Coffee came about? Where does the inspiration for the innovative drinks come from? It took around 13 months for Outset Coffee to come about. A majority of that time was dedicated to R&D of our menu and painstakingly looking for the right location. Many of our coffees were inspired by unique drinks around the globe, such as the Durian Latte from Thailand or the Black Sesame Mudslide from South Korea. At the end of the day, our goal is to explore an entirely new genre of creative coffee that people love! How did you come up with drinks like the avocado latte or the torched banana latte? I traveled the world to discover great coffee brands and tried so many awesome creative products from all over the place and got inspiration. Fruit latte is a trendy, new category we observed in Asia. And we all know avocado has a special place in California, so naturally we started testing avocado latte. Banana, on the other hand, is so common, it's almost underrated. But when a banana is perfectly ripe, it goes so well with a creamy, nutty latte. And the caramelized banana stick on top represents our focus on not just the quality of the coffee, but the overall customer experience! Ocean Breeze Latte Outset Coffee MORE FOR YOU Crypto Now Braced For A $15.5 Trillion September Wall Street Earthquake After Shock Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP And Crypto Price Crash Tropical Storm Hilary Crosses Into Southern California As Los Angeles Braces For Flooding Today’s ‘Connections’ Answers And Hints For Monday, August 21 What are some of the best sellers so far? Will you be adding to the menu? The drinks that people really love and definitely must try are the Toasted Banana Latte, Ocean Breeze Latte, Outset Orange Americano, and Osmanthus Latte. Other drinks that stand out are Black Sesame Mudslide, Avocado Latte and Day & Night. We have new products launching every month, and are constantly testing new recipes that intrigue us. Our next new launch is affogato latte which is our iconic Ocean Breeze coconut latte with Oreo ice cream on top, we are very excited about it! How have the drinks been received so far? Whenever we can, we always try to get feedback from our customers. So far, people seem to really love the drinks, and we're getting more and more regulars from the neighborhood. What is your relationship to Hanabi cakes? Talk about the pastries and cakes you offer at Outset. We are under the same company umbrella. The classic coffee and croissant combination is a must for many people, so we thought Hanabi cakes and bakeries are perfect additions to our coffee drinks. Moreover, they have such a unique product offerings and it really matches our concept, especially the exotic flavored croissants. Customers really love Hanabi’s Korean garlic bread, so we also offer that on our menu. It is the best selling savory bread here at Outset, we highly recommend it. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website or some of my other work here . Chelsea Davis Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions
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