It's the middle of the afternoon in New Orleans in August, which means you need a pick-me-up and you very much do not need it hot. That is the entire reason the Chocolate Covered Espresso Bean gets made frozen this time of year. It's the most decadent drink we do at CR, and right now it's also the most sensible one.
Here's how it gets built. Large cup, filled to the top with ice, and the ice goes straight into the blender. Then cold brew, poured in right to where the ice is peeking over. That's the base. Coffee and ice, no milk carrying it, no syrup doing the work.
Next is a heaping scoop of our frozen coffee base, which is what turns it thick and creamy instead of a coffee slushie. Then a heaping scoop of cocoa powder. And then the part that makes the name honest: espresso grounds, shaken straight in. "I just shake to my heart's content," is how Piper puts it, which is the correct amount.
Blend it up, pour it in the cup, and top it with more ground espresso.
That last step is not garnish. Dry espresso grounds on a frozen drink are exactly what a chocolate covered espresso bean tastes like when you bite one in half. Chocolate first, then that dark roasty bitterness right behind it, with a little grit that reminds you there was a coffee bean involved. Take the grounds out and you have a mocha freeze, which is fine. Leave them in and it tastes like the candy it's named after.
The cocoa does the same job in reverse. It's dark, so the drink lands rich rather than sweet, and it keeps the whole thing from tipping into milkshake territory. This is still coffee. It's cold brew and espresso in a cup with chocolate on it.
It is not a small drink and it is not a light one. That's the point. If you want the responsible version of a two o'clock coffee we'll happily pour you a cold brew over ice. This is the other thing. This is the one you get when the day has been long and the walk back to the car is going to be ninety-something degrees either way.
Frozen, obviously. In August there's no other way to serve it. Piper makes it at Magazine, and you can get one at Metairie Rd and St. Roch Market too. It's on the menu at all three.