7 Cold Drinks That Are Better Than A Basic Iced Latte

Horchata  

A perfect summer lunch looks like a toastie and a horchata on Batch Baby’s suntrap terrace. This Haggerston coffee shop goes through an intricate and time-consuming process that involves soaking, blending, and straining to get the right creamy consistency for their horchata. It’s made with oat milk and cream rather than traditional condensed milk, so it’s vegan and not too sweet. You can ask for it with coffee too.

Iced Tiramisu Latte

Cup + Lid, a small cafe in Marylebone, specialises in chocolate and has a menu that reads like Wonka’s mind. Their tiramisu iced latte lives up to its hype. It doesn’t taste exactly like tiramisu, but we’re big fans of the creamy milk chocolate flavour so we don’t really mind. The milk chocolate mixed with espresso and thick tiramisu cream is more of a dessert than an iced latte, and we’re here for it.

Matcha Ube Latte

Part of the reason anyone drinks a milky iced latte is for that ombre swirl. The one at Panadera—a Filipino, Kentish Town bakery—has reached unicorn-levels of fabulousness, with the purple from the ube combining with the green matcha. But it’s not just pretty. The pared-back sweetness of the ube works well to temper any bitterness without totally disguising the matcha flavour. And the crème mousse on top is foamy and smooth, and elevates this from your everyday latte.

Horchata Cold Brew 

We return to this Mexican churrería in Covent Garden as often as we put on Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell album and frequent our bed. And it’s always for this drink. The horchata in Aguamiel’s cold brew brings a satisfying creaminess but also a subtle, nutty sweetness. And we love the addition of warm, toasty cinnamon dusted on top. The coffee kick is decent too—read: it gets us through afternoon meetings.

Iced Pearl Milk Tea With Oreo

Although this Taiwanese import has a more central Covent Garden location, we much prefer the calmer, still pretty central, Goodge Street spot. And the iced ‘Dirtea’ from Gong Cha is the perfect summer drink. With a base of brown sugar milk tea, creamy milk foam on top, Oreo crumbs mixed throughout, and chewy tapioca with each sip—it’s great for when you want something milky and refreshing. We’d recommend asking for 50% sweetness, as the full 100% can be a little bit sickly.

Iced Spanish Latte 

What this Covent Garden coffee spot lacks in seats, it makes up for in style. Kyoto import % Arabica serves excellent espresso-based drinks and while there’s usually a queue that snakes all the way outside—especially on a sunny day—the iced Spanish latte is well worth the wait. Condensed milk sweetens the rich coffee and makes for a thickened, creamy iced latte that’ll be finished within five minutes.

Iced Peanut Latte

Sometimes you want an iced latte to have a bit of complexity and not kick you in the face with coffee. Beaten By A Whisker, a Walthamstow bakery and cafe, does an iced peanut latte that delivers a gentle caffeine hit—it has one shot of coffee—and background notes of sweetness. They use the same peanut caramel in their bakes. They also use a light, gently frothed oat milk base that doesn't result in a silly little stomach ache.