Holsem Coffee Instant Latte Bags. All photos courtesy of Holsem Coffee.
Local Coffee Roaster and Retailer in San Diego’s North Park Holsem Coffee presented a thorough change of the brand’s image and a up-to-date line of “instant latte” mixtures.
In up-to-date, brilliant packaging, Holsem’s just-add-water latte mixes combine instant convenience with all-natural ingredients like freeze-dried fruit, natural spices and maple syrup as the only sweetener. The arid mixes are made in San Diego using an undisclosed, proprietary process.
Holsem’s instant latte product line is expanding the rapidly growing “instant specialty” market. Ten years ago, the two words may have been incompatible, but the instant specialty category was developed by business-to-business companies such as Quick coffeeSudden Coffee and Voila (though the latter two no longer exist).
More recently, specialty instant coffee, or “instant espresso,” has emerged under brands such as Waka Coffee, House of Word, and Coracle Coffee, as well as third-wave brands such as Blue Bottle and Intelligentsia.
Meanwhile, Holsem is bringing a up-to-date approach to the category with an emphasis on additional, complementary flavours and a commitment to using fit ingredients.
“That’s always been the foundation for Holsem, to celebrate coffee, to celebrate flavor and to pair it with wholesome ingredients and to refine those flavor profiles,” Holsem co-founder Muna Farhat, one of two women behind the coffee business, recently told DCN.
Farhat and Holsem, co-founder and roaster Salpi Sleiman, are no newcomers to the fine coffee scene – they’ve been collaborating on coffee for over a decade.
Holsem Coffee co-owners Salpi Sleiman and Muna Farhat. Photo courtesy.
Until now, Farhat had been generally disappointed with the coffee flavors available on the market, such as pumpkin spice lattes, which tend to be high in sugar. So she found something more nutritious by working with Sleiman.
“I could enjoy a nice taste without burdening my body,” Farhat said. “It was tastier because the ingredients were so pure, so powerful… We joined forces and created Holsem.”
Since then, the pair have been running a brick-and-mortar café and roastery, and the up-to-date instant latte line is their first major direct-to-consumer online sales venture. The packaging for the up-to-date line was created by Fuse designCalifornian company founded by eminent Swiss-American designer Yves Behar.
Farhat said the Holsem latte coffees reflect the company’s strategy to source high-quality, traceable Arabica coffees with unique flavor profiles, protected by Salpi in the roastery.
However, the company now sources ingredients for more than just coffee production, making it harder to maintain a perfect and consistent taste in the cup.
Farhat said: “When harvesting the blueberry maple, we found that the taste of the blueberry differs dramatically depending on where it was grown.”
Instant latte mix flavors include banana bread, blueberry maple, chocolate peanut butter, orange vanilla, matcha mint and a seasonal offering, currently pumpkin spice. The banana bread mix, for example, is made with organic oat milk, pure maple syrup, freeze-dried bananas, instant coffee, cashews, cinnamon and 100% MCT coconut oil, with no other ingredients or additives.
Customers can purchase five servings for $14 or take advantage of the subscription option.
The Holsem Café is located at 2911 University Ave. in San Diego. Tell DCN editors about your up-to-date café or roastery here.
Libby Allnatt
Libby Allnatt is a writer with a passion for trying up-to-date coffee shops, based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
