I like to think of myself as a fairly gastronomically open-minded person. “Here, try this cow tongue.” “Don’t forget to suck the head of the crawfish. It’ll make you smarter.” “Here’s some coffee I roasted myself.” Two out of three of those things are always delights and welcome at whatever table I happen to be gathered around. But this new creation from Starbucks, I just don’t know that I’m game. The Pepper Nitro with a Jerky Twist is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: nitro cold brew with a big ole hunk of beef jerky in it.
To be fair, it’s not just cold brew and jerky. According to Food & Wine, the drink also contains “malted pepper syrup, cracked pink peppercorn and layer of cold honey foam on the top,” which doesn’t sound half bad. Until you add the skewer of grass fed beef jerky like some sort of meaty orange peel, that is.
Only available at the Starbucks Reserve in Seattle, this new concoction made specifically for your friend that still wears t-shirts heralding their love of bacon is “accompanied by an uplifting backstory:”
The coffee featured in the beverage—Starbucks Reserve Easter D.R. Congo Lake Kivu—comes from a community that has struggled during the decades-long conflict in the African nation. Farmers have been looking for a sustainable, profitable crop to provide economic stability, which the coffee chain has provided in the forms of not only purchasing the harvest, but also providing infrastructure and education for ethical growing practices.
Though a little gimmicky, this monstrosity of a “coffee cocktail” is at least highlighting a growing region that is having to overcome significant conflict and isn’t a regular part of most roasters’ offering sheets. Personally, I’d rather buy the beans, have it made as an “on-demand” brew, or just as a nitro cold brew, all very beefless alternatives that are available at the Seattle Reserve. But if you want a hunk of dehydrated meat in your coffee, then do you. One person’s Pepper Nitro with a Jerky Twist is another person’s treasure.
Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.
*top image via Starbucks
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