This article is sponsored by our partner, UPOURIA.
At June Coffee Roasters, cold beverages, from iced lattes to matchas, are menu mainstays. “I’d like to think our lineup has everything for everyone,” writes owner Jimmy Truong in an email. The cafe is located in Birmingham, Alabama, where July’s average temperature is over 80° Fahrenheit, and the weather stays in the 60s and 70s well into autumn.
That may also be why June Coffee sees consistent, year-round cold coffee sales. “Over 60% of sales are cold in spring and summer,” he says. That fluctuates a bit during other parts of the year—but not by much. “Last fall, roughly 40%–45% of our beverage sales were iced, and I believe this year they could be even higher,” he adds.
In 2023, 75% of drinks purchased at Starbucks were cold, and cold brew is among the fastest-growing drinks in the cold coffee category. But whereas cold coffee once clashed with sweater weather, it’s now solidifying its reign beyond summer break—and helping cafes draw in reliable business well into fall.
Social media is a good indicator of these shifting norms. “At the beginning of the cold brew era, we were talking about a summer drink—now we’re talking about something that goes throughout the year,” says Liliana Medina, the category director of the coffee division at Sunny Sky Products, a beverage solutions company. “If you look at posts of cold brew, you see a lot of indoor environments now.”
Regardless of where and when their patrons enjoy iced drinks, cafes are working hard to keep their menus as fresh as their daily filters. Medina believes that cold coffee still hasn’t tapped its full potential—and the key to high-value sales lies in customization.
How Cafes Are Doing Cold Coffee
At Fresh Cup, we’ve highlighted how cold brew meets consumers’ desires for convenience, novelty, and consistency. Of course, it should be brewed as well as cafes’ espresso to really stand out—and does particularly well when used as a base for creative drink builds.
But cold brew, which is just a subset of cold coffee drinks, has long been seen as a summer drink. That’s beginning to change.
“I firmly believe that cold coffee is here to stay!” writes Lisa Sponsler, owner of Revival Coffee Company in Fisherville, Kentucky, in an email. “In the summer, cold drinks make up 80% of our total beverage sales, whereas in fall, it’s closer to 65–70%.”
Sponsler attributes some of this to Fisherville’s climate—it can still be 80°F in the evenings during fall—but she’s also noticed cold drinks becoming more popular with younger coffee drinkers. The popularity of cold drinks “started with Millennials and has continued [trending]. We notice that the older generations resort to hot beverages even in the warmer months, but because the majority of our business is younger people, our cold coffee sales still soar,” she says.
Katie Schertler, brand manager at Sunny Sky, notes that these changes reflect Gen Z’s growing consumer influence. “Gen Z has grown up drinking cold coffee, and the more purchasing power they have, the more those sales are soaring,” she says. “The way spending habits are, grabbing a cup of coffee is a quick way to have a moment of indulgence that doesn’t break the bank.”
In her role, Medina works with cafes on how to incorporate Sunny Sky products into their menus. She’s seen coffee shop owners find particular success when they target three different customer segments: the health-driven consumer, the indulgence-driven consumer, and the convenience-driven consumer.
Medina has noticed that today’s health-driven consumers are often drawn to cold brew because it’s “less acidic” than filter coffee, due to differences in how coffee compounds are extracted during the brewing process. “That’s a huge advantage, not only for Gen Z and Millennials but for older generations” who are curious about cold coffee, she says. For health-conscious consumers looking to incorporate flavors, she recommends pairing cold brew with Sunny Sky’s UPOURIA® sugar-free syrups.
Meanwhile, she says the indulgence-driven consumer looks for drinks created with novel flavors and components including syrups, cold foams, and other toppings. Medina suggests that offering an affogato—made with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and UPOURIA cold brew concentrates—is an easy way for cafes to put a “high-ticket item” on the menu while minimizing prep time. “It’s trendy and a great application,” she says. “You just mix a scoop of vanilla ice cream with cold brew.”
Medina has also seen how convenience-driven consumers seek beverages that suit their dietary needs and interests, like drinks with protein powder and infused cold brews. Sunny Sky has created UPOURIA’s functional line, which includes the Alert Flavored Syrup with ginseng, ginkgo biloba, and vitamin C, to cater to this segment.
For her part, Sponsler and the team at Revival work hard to provide “a vast selection of cold beverages, ranging from lattes to cold brew, americanos, a variety of teas and refreshers, boba, smoothies and blended drinks.” They change flavors seasonally and offer specials for holidays like Valentine’s Day and Thanksgiving.
But the iced latte reigns supreme, and at Revivial, customers can order a variety of both housemade and purchased syrups and sauces to customize their drinks. “Lattes are by far our number-one seller, as they [offer] typically the most unique flavors,” Sponsler says.
The Future of Cold Coffee is Customized
In recent years, customers have come to expect a range of flavor options wherever coffee is available. “Whether we’re talking about a convenience store, a coffee shop, or a restaurant, customers want customization,” says Medina.
The evolution of cold brew has begun to mirror that of soda, she adds. Today, “it’s not something you’d necessarily only drink with lunch. It’s something for throughout the day, year-round.”
But it’s not just about cold coffee—it’s also about the flavors it can showcase and complement.
“My team is usually inspired by food and drink flavors of the season, and we take it from there,” says Sponsler. Where summer months evoke associations with fruit flavors, like strawberry shortcake and blueberry muffin, Revival’s fall 2025 menu includes an iced snickerdoodle latte alongside a pumpkin patch matcha and an apple cider slushie. “For fall, we introduced a housemade pumpkin spice syrup,” Sponsler adds. “In winter, we typically make our own toffee for our caramel brûlée latte.”
The June Coffee team channels a similar energy. “I knew I wanted to offer different flavors that many customers aren’t used to, like pistachio rose and orange fig, on top of our regular vanilla, chocolate, and caramel [flavors],” says Truong. But the seasons also bring fresh inspiration. “Our seasonal menus give us a chance to play around with wilder flavors,” he says.
What sticks, says Medina, depends on the channel. Whereas “everyone uses French vanilla and caramel,” lavender syrup might draw customers looking for unique or one-of-a-kind drinks. When coffee businesses use syrups to enhance their cold brew and other iced drinks, the flavors “can be a gateway to higher margins. They’re a big growth driver,” she says.
Because customers love customization, businesses are putting their own spin on it—turning trends into something that feels unique to their brand. One way Sunny Sky helps coffee shops offer more custom drinks is through co-manufacturing: Customers give them their beans, and Sunny Sky uses them to produce everything from cold brew concentrates to ready-to-drink cold brew fridge packs.
“Many [shops] roast their own coffee and they’re proud of it,” says Medina. But “it can be a humongous hassle to prepare at the shop. It’s very hard to keep it consistent.” Medina says that giving shops a cold coffee base that’s ready to go gives them freedom to experiment with new combinations and flavor profiles. “We [even] have horchata now,” Medina says.
Cafes are able to request products with flavors already added, she notes. “The solution depends on how much time they have. Some have the time to combine flavors themselves. Others want something that can just be poured directly.”
Not only can flavor enhancers support customers’ love of customization, they can also suit their dietary needs. “As a dedicated gluten-free shop, we have to be very careful about what we bring in,” Sponsler says.
To Be or Not to Be Cold Coffee
Truong has a theory as to why cold coffee is so enduring—and endearing—in the modern age.
“I think people want to enjoy their beverages quicker, instead of waiting for them to cool down enough to drink,” he says. He thinks “more and more people will switch to iced.”
Medina sees “a lot of growth and innovation” in cold coffee, especially as cafes pursue new and unexpected takes on iced beverages. If there’s one thing we can expect, she says, it’s that cold coffee will “continue to be an extremely relevant and crafted experience,” for customers across all coffee-loving generations.
Sponsored by UPOURIA by Sunny Sky Products
UPOURIA helps cafes keep up with summer drink trends without the headache. Their ready-to-serve cold brew concentrates, flavored syrups, and creamers let you quickly craft everything from viral strawberry matcha lattes to coffee mocktails—all while keeping consistency high and prep time low. Perfect for busy cafes looking to innovate without the extra labor.
