April’s never been a particularly significant month for me, but in terms of the drink of the month offerings on the UC Davis campus it’s now one of my favorites. I’m not kidding around when I saw that both the CoHo and the CoHo South Café have absolutely knocked it out of the park with their drinks this month around, so if you don’t usually swing by either coffee shop, this is the month to do so.
This April, the CoHo has crafted a sweet and fun iced drink to keep you cool on the warming Spring days while the CoHo South Café has come up with a scrumptiously rich hot drink to warm you up on the windy and rainy days that are lingering around. You’ll be able to find the perfect special drink no matter what the weather’s like this April.
CoHo: Peach Mango Green Tea Sparkler
Coming back to campus for Spring Quarter is rough. I had half a mind just to extend the week off a bit longer and I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one. The April drink of the month from Swirlz Bakery at the CoHo has helped make it a bit more bearable to be back but also much harder since I keep thinking it’s the kind of drink I should be enjoying while laying on the beach instead of on the quad.
This peach mango green tea sparkler is the perfect drink to keep you feeling cool on the upcoming warm and sunny days. Made with iced green tea, peach and mango Torani syrup, and topped with club soda, it’s both sweet and cold to keep you nice and refreshed. The fruitiness of the peach and mango will have you feeling like you’re in a tropical paradise — even if you aren’t. Plus, the green tea not only has some good health benefits but offers an often necessary dose of caffeine to either perk you up in the morning or keep you chugging through the afternoon.
It’s also worth mentioning that I’m personally not a big fan of carbonated drinks, so if you aren’t either and that’s got you feeling apprehensive, don’t worry. The club soda on this didn’t overwhelm the drink and it proved to be well-balanced and incredibly pleasant.
If you’re looking to pair this with a food option from Swirlz Bakery as well, I’d recommend doubling down on the fruit with a CoHome-made acai bowl with some fresh fruit and granola.
If you plan to get any iced or cold drinks on campus this April, you should make the CoHo’s peach mango green tea sparkler your go-to before it disappears at the end of the month. It’s really quite delicious.
#SpoonTip: Bring your own reusable coffee cup or travel mug and you’ll receive a 25 cent discount – sustainability pays off, literally!
CoHo South Café: Hazelnut Hot Chocolate
My first thought when I tried the CoHo South’s April drink was: holy sh*t, this is incredible. There was actually a bit more vivid language but I’m trying to maintain some professionalism here. Suffice it to say, I was genuinely caught off guard by how delicious this hazelnut hot chocolate was; I also finished about half of it within the first minute before I remembered I needed pictures of it, thus why there aren’t any here.
A hazelnut hot chocolate sounds relatively simple and unsurprising, after all it’s a fairly intuitive twist on a classic hot chocolate. All you do is take a standard hot chocolate, add some hazelnut syrup and voilá, you have a drink that tastes absolutely scrumptious with the sweet and buttery flavor of the hazelnut complementing the richness of the chocolate. If you’ve ever had Nutella, those are the primary flavors you’re dealing with.
It’s also worth noting that this is a drink that customers can technically order all year as hazelnut syrup is something always available to add to drinks. You could even try other twists on the hot chocolate as the CoHo South also carries vanilla syrup, caramel syrup, coconut syrup and white chocolate year-round. All of these are great additions to take your hot chocolate game to the next level.
If you’re looking to pair your hazelnut hot chocolate with a CoHo South pastry, try one of their butter croissants — though you likely can’t go wrong with any of their pastries. Or, if you’re jiving for some extra chocolate, swing by BioBrew for a chocolate croissant instead.
This will probably be one of the last hot drink of the month specials until Fall rolls around and the weather starts to cool down again, so if you’re looking for a little extra warmth and comfort in the next couple weeks, make sure to stop by the CoHo South. But if you’d rather focus your attention on iced drinks, don’t forget to swing by the CoHo for their peach mango green tea sparkler. Honestly, though, why not just try out both?