Inspired by a meal shared at Bay View’s legendary Odd Duck, this little latte is one of the most fascinating creations we’ve ever served. From a base of our sous vide coffee, we layer a veritable cornucopia of flavors and ingredients that have taken the world of haute cuisine by storm over the last few years. 

To create the faux maple, we infuse Indonesian sweet soy sauce with dried candy cap mushrooms and lightly toasted fenugreek seeds, both of which contain high amounts of Sotolon, one of the key chemical compounds responsible for the distinctive aroma and flavor of maple syrup. After several days of aging, the sweet soy becomes an entirely new ingredient, resplendent with sweet aroma’s reminiscent of slow mornings and happy hearts.

Next, we puree black garlic (garlic bulbs that have been fermented for several weeks in a controlled environment until the cloves are transformed to offer flavors of garlic confit and aged balsamic) with coconut cream to create a deeply unctuous, slightly sweet cream.

A custom bitters blend of Creole Bitters, Peychaud’s Bitters, and Disco Inferno Liquid Seasoning transforms the sweet, salty, and savory into a harmonious symphony of flavors, offering abundant baking spice, black licorice, and chili. 

As a final ode to oddity, we finish the latte with passionfruit powder to provide a striking contrast of bright, punchy acidity that blows open the profile of the latte underneath. Grated tonka bean imported from France, where it is a quintessential base note in the making of fine perfume, rounds off the sharpness of the passionfruit’s aroma with notes of rich vanilla, tobacco, and leather. This isn’t a latte you’ll want to slam, it’s one to sit back and contemplate. We’ve never tasted anything like it, and we’re incredibly excited to share it with you. 

How do you build a drink for a legend? Greek Freak is a tribute to a tried-and-true Milwaukee icon, Buck’s superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has, perhaps more than any other Milwaukean, elevated and celebrated our city, bringing Milwaukee to the global stage. It would be remiss at best, and blasphemous at worst, to create a menu in tribute to Milwaukee, without a tribute to the Greek Freak himself. 

Organic cold brew matcha from our friends at Breakaway Matcha in San Francisco provides a clean, grassy base to build from, and contributes a vibrant splash of Buck’s green.  

Next, we make a reduction of Retsina, a Greek white wine which has been made in Greece for at least 2,000 years. Its unique flavor is said to have originated from the practice of sealing wine vessels, particularly the large clay vessels that preceded wood barrels known as amphorae, with Aleppo Pin. While the began to use wooden in the 3rd century AD, removing any need for the use of pine resin, the flavor contributed by the pine had become so popular that the practice continued. To this day, Retsina is a celebrated tradition within Greek wine making, producing richly aromatic and herbal white wines. When reduced, the wine contributes crisp notes of wild herbs, citrusy pine, and a gentle funk that’s vaguely reminiscent of parmesan cheese.

Attiki honey, one of the finest in the world, is fortified with neroli essential oil, bringing notes of fragrant orange blossom to the existing palette of thyme, wildflowers, and fresh fruit. Fresh lemon juice and Jamaican #1 bitters from our pals at Bittercube balance the sweetness, while extra virgin olive oil from Crete provides a luscious mouthfeel and a little punch of pepper. To emulsify the oil and the water based ingredients, we use egg white to create a protein net in which the two ingredients can blend. Over time, the oil and water based components will separate, creating an evolving drinking experience. 

As a finishing touch, we turn Greek Mountain tea into a light, fluffy foam. Greek Mountain tea, a caffeine free infusion made from the Sideritis plant, has been consumed in Greece for centuries, and was originally used to heal wounds from iron weapons in battle.