I had a customer yesterday who had an off the wall request. He had a concoction in Italy apparently, and wanted to know if I could make one like it. So I asked him to describe it to me.
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[SIDEBAR] part of my schtick is that I try to carry everything imaginable. Every alternative milk option, every type of chocolate, every syrup, etc. I myself am not a fan of sweetened coffee, but lots of folks are. And I’m in business to satisfy my customer’s tastes, not my own.
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So he tells me “Well, it was like a milkshake, but it was lightly flavored with anēce” (that’s how he pronounced it. He meant anise).
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“Okay?”
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“And it had chocolate in it and was really creamy.”
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“Okay?”
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“Can you make something like that?”
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“Sure. What size, how strong do you want it, and what kind of chocolate?”
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“What do you mean what kind of chocolate?”
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“I have twelve kinds of chocolate. Ghirardelli, Mexican chocolate, an Italian chocolate, a double-dark chocolate, white chocolate, German chocolate…”
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“Double-dark chocolate!”
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“Okay. Regular milk, or something exotic?”
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“Do you have coconut milk?”
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“I do.”
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“That’s what I want!”
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So I made him a quad ristretto, dark chocolate, annisette, coconut milk, 24 ounce parfaited frappe. I got a little fancy with it by drizzling some dark chocolate sauce in a spiral on the inside of his cup. He took a sip: “Yes! This is it!” He paid and walked off grinning.
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A few minutes later, he stops by again: “I’ve been looking for someone who could make that ever since I went to Italy three years ago. No one carries that anēce, and that chocolate was incredible.”
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“It’s actually pronounced annisette. This is a syrup form of a traditional Italian aperitif.” (I flashed him the bottle).
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“Well, whatever it’s called, yours are better than the ones I had in Italy.”
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Yes, it’s a pain in the ass to carry over 100 different syrups in a mobile restaurant, but ya’ know what…? If just one in a thousand customers challenges you like that and you satisfy them, you know you’re in the right bidnez. 😎
Damn, that sounds really good. One of these days I'll have to venture over to the Farmers Market to try one...I'll just say make me what you made the guy who went to Italy and then suffered for three years until he found you, had!
Posted by: Carrie | June 27, 2022 at 11:35 AM
Bravo!
Posted by: HV Mom | June 27, 2022 at 08:42 PM
No anise or coconut for me.. And Ghirardelli is quite good chocolate, but I really love Guittard..
Posted by: Jann M | June 28, 2022 at 10:32 PM