The weather is officially hovering over 50 degrees here in Chicago, which means that almost every cafe within a 15-block radius of my apartment has ceremoniously reopened their patios and added some kind of sparkling coffee drink back to their menus. The desire for caffeine, bitterness and bubbles, however, is seemingly a national phenomenon.
"Welcome to espresso tonic summer," declared Food & Wine earlier this week, while in my Instagram and TikTok feed, foamy pistachio lattes and the vestiges of Dalgona coffee mania are being steadily replaced by crisp images of ice-packed glasses filled with fizzy, deep mahogany-colored coffee sodas.
