Summer’s here!
As the weather warms, a nice cold drink is just the thing to quench that thirst. Throughout the neighbourhood, there are plenty of establishments serving refreshing sippers made to beat the heat and send you into chill mode.
Here’s the latest on offer from milkshakes, to smoothies, iced tea and coffee, lemonades and frappécinos, and a few cool surprises in between.
Serving ice cream made from locally sourced organic milk, Soft Peaks is a sweet summer dream nestled in a mason jar. Everything says quality and local – from the toppings to the cones and even the napkins. Cool down with a delicious Organic Milkshake from Soft Peaks crafted from organic milk soft serve, milk and premium ingredients. Current flavours include: Original Milk & Honey, Chocolate, Vanilla, Blueberry.
It’s difficult to walk past Di Beppe without being intrigued by the goings on inside. Groups of twos and threes sit around small rounded tables, sharing good food and conversation. The kitchen crew, seen beyond from the sandwich counter, are busy making pastries, pasta and bread. Fresh coffee sits and steams gently up into the high ceilings. If there’s anywhere in Gastown where Italian culture exists in it’s purest form this far away from home, it’s certainly here at Di Beppe. For the purpose of this article, we suggest this: brewed and bottled fresh in house daily – a nice cold americano.
With some of the best cheesecake in the city, Trees Organic is perfect for chilling out in and satisfying your sweet tooth. There’s nothing quite like sipping on 100% real fruit smoothie on a hot day. Choose from two flavours: Velvety Mango or Sassy Strawberry. If you need a bit of a caffeine hit without the heat, try a Cappuchillo – Frozen Coffee Frappe.
It’s all about the cold brew. Timbertrain’s Cold Brew is referred to as Nitro Cold Brew. With the added nitrogen, the pressure forces the coffee through a disk with small holes in it, creating the frothy beautiful cold brew that comes out of the taps. This creates a cold brew coffee with a silky texture and creaminess reminiscent of a stout like Guinness. It’s best taken black, remaining bold but balanced. Cold brews have a lot more caffeine therefore, prudence is a virtue, dear coffee lovers when partaking from the desirable Timbertrain cold taps.
Coffee connoisseurs will love Revolvers special cold coffee. In addition to a rotating menu of world-class coffee, Revolver sells cold brewed coffee that is bottled fresh after 12 hours of overnight brewing. Each one is packaged in a flask-like glass bottle and is great to carry on the go to the beach or a picnic.
Birds & Beets, buzzing as usual with magic, flowers and sunlight. Cool down, relax and refresh with their assortment of house made libations: Kombucha, Ginger Beer, Soda, Iced Tea and Iced Coffee.
Flying straight out of South Africa to share their joy and passion for good food, coffee and community, Nelson The Seagull is your home away from home. Come here to sip house made lemonade and cold brew coffee, be it on the sunny patio or within the comfort of the shop.
Gastown’s little corner café known for it’s fresh made to order sandwiches, baked goods and homemade soup.
Swing by for a Avocado & Veggie Smoothie, Banana Milkshake, Iced coffee, Frappé or Mocha Frappé.
A fantastic place to work on the laptop and sip coffee. Overlooking both Cordova and Water, the cafe sees plenty of light and people go by. When it’s too hot try Buro’s Iced Earl Grey Tea.
Coffeebar Gastown makes the biggest cookies in the city. treat yourself to one of these sweet monsters and wash it down with a nice Iced Chai Tea.
Located on Water street with a great street side patio, Smart Mouth makes fresh and delicious sandwiches, soup and salads. Hot right now on their drinks menu is a Iced Mocha Latte served in a mason mug, cold brewed coffee infused with nitro, chocolate milk with cold brew, and hard to find anywhere else, an Arnold Palmer – made with in house blended loose leaf tea and homemade lemonade.
East Van Coffee Roasters are genuine artisanal crafters of chocolate. A vintage inspired, social enterprise, they employ local residents and craft right from the bean. If you’re intent on spoiling yourself order their delicious iced drinking chocolate.
Made with the husks of the cacao bean, which are packed with essential minerals and antioxidants. Add a shot of espresso for an extra kick!
Milano are bona fide coffee experts when it comes to striking the perfect balance of body, flavour, sweetness, acidity and aroma. Their primary focus is on the miscela or blend, often combining more than ten premium 100% Arabica coffee bean varietals from around the world in a single cup. Ask for it iced and you’ll be glad you did.
Gastown’s tea emporium filled with the most daring and delicious blends, mixes and loose leafed arrangements. David’s Teas serves an extensive selection of iced tea with blends like Spicy Piña Margarita, Lemon Smash, Apéro Spritz, Peach Mai Tai, Sparkling Sangria, Strawberry Lemonade, Mango fruit Punch and a ton of other fruity and fragrant seasonal blends.
Always a favourite summer destination for frapps and lemonades, Starbucks know how to do fancy. Other than the standard frappecinos and macchiatos, check out their latest seasonal bevys which are sure to please. Starbucks Nariño 70 Cold Brew coffee is slow-steeped for 20 hours to create bold, full-bodied flavours. Customize it yourself, or try the new Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew topped with a splash of housemade vanilla-kissed cream for an extra smooth and delightful finish. Also sounding delicious is the Smoked Butterscotch Latte Frappuccino, Very Berry Hibiscus Refresher and the Cool Lime Refresher.
