Last year, I stood in line at the Blueprint Coffee location on Delmar Boulevard with the intention of ordering a cold brew (now available in cans). On that day, however, I noticed a sparkling coffee drink on the menu: The Italian Espressoda. That’s when I discovered my new morning go-to.
As the story goes, the drink originated when a customer asked for a double shot of espresso on top of an Italian Soda—an old-fashioned, Italian-style soda made with a splash of milk. (The Italian Soda’s remained on Blueprint’s menu since Day 1.) The staff later decided to try the customer’s invention—which was so good, they added it to the menu.
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Here’s how the 12-ounce drink is made:
- Add 1 ounce of vanilla syrup to a glass or cup. (The Blueprint team steeps a vanilla bean tea to make its vanilla syrup, which is actually a half-sweet simple syrup, with a 1:2 ratio of sugar to water.)
- Top the vanilla syrup with 4 ounces of soda water.
- Add ice to the glass.
- Float 1 ounce of local creamery Rolling Lawns’ whole milk on top of the soda water, vanilla syrup, and ice.
- Pour a double shot of Blueprint’s house espresso, Penrose, on top of it all.
The visual effect is a layered cascade of espresso and cream on top of sparkling clear soda water, though it’s best to mix the ingredients before sipping.
If you like the Italian Espressoda, you can try making one at home, though it likely won’t be as good, unless you happen to have a perfectly calibrated La Marzocco Linea PB espresso machine, excellently filtered water, and fresh bubbly club soda. As for the espresso? Blueprint pulls its espresso shots normale (a 1:2 ratio of coffee to water, not ristretto or lungo), explains director of retail Kevin Reddy, adding that the team strives for “a balanced, quality extraction” every time and that the machine is “dialed in” each morning.
The result: a lightly sweet coffee soda, with the carbonation making Blueprint’s espresso sing.
As barista Eric Miranda says, “The people who love it, love it.”
To learn more, Blueprint offers monthly classes for small groups here. On March 2, the team is offering an Advanced Espresso class, which will approach recipes from both “a tasting perspective and an extraction perspective.” On March 10, an Understanding Extraction class will provide “a theoretical exploration of coffee brewing with tasting and troubleshooting exercises.” Classes are $75 per shot.
