Stephanie Hofmann
The maple bacon latte from Ground Zero Coffee started out as a joke.
The cafe, located at 744 Williamson St., added some bacon items to its food menu last year, inspiring the baristas to incorporate the ingredient into their specialty coffee drink offerings. Soon it it became a customer favorite. It’s not technically on the menu anymore, but you can still get it if you ask nicely (which you should be doing anyway).
Zagat’s 2015 National Dining Trends Survey declared that America’s bacon obsession is waning. But what if we’re not ready for it to be over? What if we want to continue sprinkling salty meat morsels on all manner of foodstuffs — including coffee?
When the latte arrives, it’s fragrant and liberally foamed, with chunks of honest-to-goodness bacon nestled gently within the cloud of steamed milk. A shot of maple syrup (the coffee shop kind, not the pancake kind) adds sweetness and an overall breakfast vibe. I’m feeling it.
After the froth-and-meat layer, you’re left with maple-flavored liquid. The espresso flavor doesn’t really come through, but it’s still pretty good. Towards the end, though, I started losing interest in the drink — until I realized that there’s another layer of bacon on the bottom.
Ron Swanson would approve.
