When Coffee gets Bakery Touch – Innovation is an Inspiration

If a Unicorn Latte – a spectacularly colorful drink – doesn’t tickle your soul, you might be dead inside.

Strangely, there isn’t actually any coffee in this latte – apparently it is made from coconut milk with ginger, honey, lemon, and blue-green algae.

Magical unicorn lore has it that it was born at The End Brooklyn Café’s Plant Alchemy Bar, which looks like it’s a beverage bar for eccentric, healthy types.

This is one of those beverages that is both Instagram-worthy and good for you.

You haven’t lived until you’ve ridden the Unicorn by drinking this bluey-green, creamy beverage. (Although we vote they add a shot of espresso to it).

Sometimes you just need to throw yourself onto a rainbow. This rainbow latte, which comes courtesy of the Good Sort Café in New York, is a celebration of springtime – and it will make you want to dance in a field of flowers.

Each shade comes from magical combinations of blue algae, beetroot, turmeric, coconut sugar, black pepper, vanilla bean and agave – along with espresso and three types of milk: almond, coconut and oat.

This drink tastes like happiness and espresso (which is also happiness).

While you can drink a strawberry latte hot or cold, there is something about the surprise of the strawberry taste in a hot beverage. Lots of recipes call for strawberry syrup for this drink, but you could also use strawberry ice cream or blend up some fresh strawberries, too.

If you’re a purist – and who isn’t? – you’ll want real strawberries in your drink. So wait until they start showing up in gardens, grocery stores and farmers markets if you are going to try this berry, berry good latte.

Seriously, there are places in the world that are serving lattes in avocados. Apparently the Avolatte is a thing. People are buying them. Now, there is still some discussion on whether there should be avocado in the latte or if it’s just served in a scooped-out avocado shell.

Whatever your decision, it seems like chasing the green monster is the moment when hipsters collectively jumped the shark. Although, perhaps it’s delicious and there’s no shark in sight.

There are definitely people out there who are the absolute opposite of sunshine and rainbows – and the Goth latte has them covered.

It hasn’t really caught on anywhere except a few places in Australia, the UK and, of course, Instagram. It’s apparently made by adding active charcoal to a regular latte.

If this intrigues you, it might be good to know that active charcoal tastes terrible – like soggy cement. Except to show off on social media, the value of this drink has yet to be determined.

For those who are even darker than Goth – you know, the people of the night – this matte black latte should be the beverage of choice.

Invented in New York City’s Round K coffee shop – this latte might look nasty, but in fact a lot of thought appears to have gone into it. It’s made from cacao powder, almond milk and espresso. And organic coconut ash is where the blacker-than-night color comes from.

Vegans can do a happy dance since it’s dairy free – but if you drink this, you should definitely carry a toothbrush.

Sometimes you need a lift – and the Chai Turmeric Latte does just that.

It might not be the most dramatic non-traditional coffee beverage on our list, but it is pretty with a nice yellow-orange hue. It’s also a very delicious choice. And, if you have a cold or the flu – it will make you feel better – just like a hug from your mom. It includes turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla.

In fact, healthy coffee like this is a thing. A real thing and people are finding all sorts of ways to create coffee that helps, heals and nourishes.

This is another drink that we think should include an espresso shot – but we’re biased.

Espresso and sparkling water doesn’t exactly sound like the best drink combination in the world, but add some vanilla and the Metro becomes a bright and refreshing drink.

It looks a bit muddy, but that’s okay – a take on the Americano (sort of), the Metro is a trip into coffee nirvana that you might want to take.

ooking like someone stole a splash of the tranquil, azure sea, this drink really is right out of the blue. The Butterfly Pea Latte is a thing of beauty. It uses butterfly pea liquid with milk – and it is as tasty as it is pretty.

There isn’t any coffee in this drink – which is a fluttering shame. The rich brown syrup of a great espresso at the bottom of the glass would make this even prettier.

The End Café in Brooklyn (doesn’t it seem like all the cool coffee shops are in Brooklyn?) is a different kind of place, and it’s bonfire cider latte (an Ayurvedic blend of carrot, apple, cayenne, turmeric ginger, and raw honey) is the bees knees.

According to the café’s owners, their healing lattes bridge the gap between juice and coffee – what more could you want?