Largely unknown outside of New England, “coffee milk” has made a splash this fall thanks to Dunkin’s limited-time product, the “Dunklatte.”
A typical Latte combines a milk base with espressoThe Dunklet, on the other hand, combines coffee milk and espresso.
Adding coffee milk to the drink meant that Dunkin’ not only had to market the Dunkellot throughout the United States, but also let others know what the phrase “coffee milk” actually meant.
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“When we first created the Dunkin’ Dunkelette, we knew we had something special on our hands, but Coffee Milk, an unfamiliar concept to most people,” Jill McVicker Nelson, Dunkin’ chief marketing officer, said in a statement. It was a challenge to present.” Fox News Digital.
News of Dunklet’s coffee milk base also prompted politicians to express their enthusiasm.
Dunklett, combining coffee milk with espresso, introduced coffee milk to a wider audience beyond New England when it debuted this summer. (Dunkin’)
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (D) posted a “Galaxy Brain” meme on Instagram in late August, saying that a combination of coffee milk and Dunkin’s iced coffee had the “biggest brain ever.”
Governor Maura Healey (D-Mass.), a fellow New Englander, then quoted McKee’s meme.
He added this comment: “Non-new England The mind can’t understand it.”
But what is coffee milk?
And why is it so popular in New England yet almost unheard of elsewhere?
Here’s a glimpse of the background.
What is coffee milk?
Coffee milk is made by adding coffee-flavored syrup to milk, Little Roddy Foods CEO Eli Berkowitz told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
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This is similar to how chocolate syrup or strawberry syrup can be added to milk to make chocolate and strawberry milk.
Little Roadie Foods is a distributor of three major brands of coffee syrup: Autocrat, Coffee Time and Eclipse. According to its ingredients list, this syrup is not brewed coffee, but it does contain coffee extract.
Coffee Time, Eclipse and Autocrat are three major brands of coffee syrup. Syrup is mixed with milk to make coffee milk. (Little Roadie Foods)
“It’s a Rhode Island tradition,” Berkowitz said. “Once you leave (Rhode Island), when you go to New York – they all think you’re talking about something else. They have no idea.”
He added, “It’s so weird that this is just a Rhode Island thing.”
Like many people in Rhode Island, Berkowitz has been drinking coffee and milk since childhood.
“I think it was a way to get the kids to eat more milk.”
“For whatever reason it’s been a staple of New England. All of our kids grew up this way,” he said. “I’m 65 and this is what I’ve always wanted.”
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Coffee milk doesn’t have the exact flavor profile like regular hot, Berkowitz said. cup of coffee,
He said, “It just has a sweet taste to it. That’s what it is.”
Coffee milk was named the official “state beverage” of Rhode Island in 1993. (Creative Commons; iStock)
Although the product contains caffeine, it varies by brand, Berkowitz said.
Still, its superficial similarities to beverages typically consumed by older people are likely why it’s so popular among children, he said.
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“I think when kids were growing up, mom and dad Drinking a cup of coffee – (it was) like, ‘Can I drink that?'” he said.
“It tastes like melted coffee ice cream!”
Instead of coffee, parents would tell their children to drink coffee milk because “it has a darker color.”
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“I think it was a way to get kids to drink more milk,” Berkowitz said.
“If children didn’t like plain milk, it was sweetened with (syrup).”
According to the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s website, coffee milk was adopted as the “state drink” of Rhode Island on June 29, 1993.
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Deputy Secretary of State Rob Rock described himself as “a big fan of coffee milk.”
In an email to Fox News Digital, Rock shared his favorite way to prepare the drink.
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He said, “Coffee milk tastes best with the right balance of Autocrat coffee syrup and milk, preferably 2%.”
“It tastes like melted Coffee Ice Cream,
