Written by Jordan Michelman.
Joe Coffee is a great New York City success story. Founded all the way back in 2003 by brother-sister duo Jonathan and Gabriel Rubinstein, Joe started with one little cafe in the heart of the West Village, on the corner of Waverly and Gay. Now with more than 20 locations across the city, including iconic hubs like Grand Central Terminal and the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport, Joe has grown to become synonymous with coffee in the Big Apple. I start nearly every trip to New York with a Joe visit—the Pro Shop and UWS locations are both favorites, but nothing beats a little time on the iconic bench in front of their much-loved original location.
Scale and efficiency with heart—it’s a uniquely New York set of challenges, and for Joe, that translates into everything they do, including signature drinks. Autumn in New York is unmatched, and you want something just right in your hands to sip as you walk around the city. To learn more about how Joe thinks about building signature drinks for fall—including their own spins on the fall coffee classic Pumpkin Spice Latte—I spoke with Jon Freihofer, who is a jack of all trades at Joe, and does a ton of work behind the scenes on their ever-changing signature drink menu.
Hi Jon, thanks so much for speaking with us. To start, please tell me more about your unique role at Joe.
Jon Freihofer: I am the Director of Coffee Services at Joe–which means I oversee the tech service and training & education departments as well as work on menu development and strategic initiatives related to quality, coffee, and menu design. I’ve been at Joe since 2013 and in coffee since 2006. I’ve worked many roles, from barista to manager to trainer, with a brief stint in the startup/software developer space as well.
At any given time around how many signature drinks are running at Joe? Are those drinks featured typically at every one of your locations?
JF: There are anywhere from 3-6 signature drinks at any given time: a couple of staples and a few in rotation based on seasonality. We do have the same signature drinks at every location except for the smaller kiosk/coffee window concepts, which may have a pared-down menu due to space constraints. We also accept staff submissions for limited-run promos. One example is when our Union Square location developed an organic relationship with a vendor from the farmers’ market. A few weeks later, we featured a limited-run maple latte at that location, using that local vendor’s maple syrup. It was simple and just made sense.
About how long does it take for you to develop a signature drink from start to finish?
I’d say around 6 months, typically, when you include our menu tasting committee, feedback rounds, costing, sourcing ingredients, SOP/calories, staff training, etc. We can pivot pretty fast when needed, though, and do smaller rollouts in shorter timeframes depending on the needs of the business.
You mentioned seasonality a moment ago—let’s talk about signature drinks for fall. A lot of coffee drinkers associate this time with “pumpkin spice lattes”—and everyone who works in coffee has an opinion on this topic. How do you guys play with the PSL idea in the fall at Joe?
JF: We were kind of anti-pumpkin for a really long time at Joe, but I think p-spice took over and let itself in through the front door to set up camp. It’s part of the accepted industry canon now, and it’s our responsibility to make it in a way that still feels Joe.
We rolled it out for the first time last year, and it was one of our biggest sellers. Go figure! We wanted to keep it simple and use a really nice, fragrant, and complex pumpkin spice syrup. We ended up partnering with a local company called Proper, and added just a few simple but effective other ingredients to make it pop. We use it in cold foam, as a latte, in chai, or in anything that’s fitting for pumpkin spice, really.
What goes into thinking about drinks for NYC in the fall? How are you able to think about signature drinks in a way that’s tethered to Joe, which is so closely connected to NYC?
JF: Barista/staff input is huge for us. We want to make sure everything on the menu gets the buy-in from the people who have to make it every day. Our featured seasonal beverage is actually always staff-created per our bi-annual seasonal beverage contest. It’s become an integral part of the business with a big cash prize and a social media blast for the winner. It’s so much fun, and I get to taste so many amazing ideas. We have also created a staff-run menu committee to help us decide what trends we need to get ahead of (or try and start!) and to help steer the menu selection and positioning. It’s a group effort, and anyone who’s interested is allowed to chip in.
Is there a past example of a fall seasonal drink you think has been really great and well-received by guests?
JF: A couple of years ago, we rolled out the Banana Bread Latte, which was a staff seasonal beverage contest winner. It was a total smash and got so popular that it became a permanent menu item. We took it away briefly, I think, last spring, and there was practically a public uproar. We then “rolled it out” again, and it instantly started selling even more than before. Long live BBL!
Joe Coffee has multiple locations in New York City. Visit their official website for flavors and follow them on Instagram for more information.
