Is 85C the next coffee craze with their Sea Salt Latte and Squid-ink buns? Here’s NPR’s Morning Edition with the report:
A coffee company from Taiwan hopes to teach Americans to love squid-ink buns and iced sea salt lattes. Stores in the 85C chain also sell cheap, and unusual, pastries. Just as Starbucks brought venti triple lattes to Main Street, U.S.A., 85C hopes that adding a little saltiness to the caffeine is a hit with American consumers. “It’s really unique,” says Stephanie Peng, manager of the company’s flagship U.S. store in Irvine, Calif. “The sea salt’s in the cream, the foam part, so it just brings out more coffee essence.” The lattes sound exotic, but the salt flavor is incredibly subtle — you have to tease it out with your tongue. Sea salt lattes have helped establish 85C as the “Starbucks of Asia.” The chain has more than 300 stores across Taiwan, and it plans to expand its presence across China, Australia and the U.S. over the next few years. – from NPR