Star Wars space coffee, Disneyland's most unusual drink, is one of its all-time best - SF Gate

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Some people go to Disneyland because, no matter how much time passes or how many tweaks might happen to rides over the years, things will be fundamentally the same every time they return. There will always be a Disneyland Railroad blasting its whistle and always a castle, all rosy and pink, rising over Main Street.

Some people go for the exact opposite reason: because no matter how many times they’ve been, there will always be something new to experience in the parks. I’m one of those people in the latter camp. If there’s something new at Disneyland — especially if it’s a new snack — I’m going to try it.

That’s how I found myself standing at the register at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge ordering space coffee.

The Cold Brew Black Caf looks weird and sounds weirder: the restaurant’s menu describes it as “cold brew coffee topped with sweet cream cheese and chocolate puffs,” which are essentially Cocoa Puffs, on top. It debuted at the space-themed restaurant when it reopened in June from its pandemic closure, and had been making daily appearances on my social media feeds ever since — so of course I had to try it, even if the idea of cheese in my coffee sounded… well, like cheese in my coffee.

Folks are freaking out over the NEW Cold Brew Black Caf from Docking Bay 7 over on IG. Have you tried it yet? pic.twitter.com/1lwbLORZHe
— My Disney Eats (@mydisneyeats) July 21, 2021

That said, I was primed to like it. I love coffee, and I’m a fan of any space food — the “Astronaut Ice Cream” that astronauts don’t actually eat but is available at every planetarium gift shop I’ve ever been to — is still one of my favorite nostalgic childhood treats. But still, I was dubious. I always drink my coffee black and unsweetened, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a sugary cereal.

So, I got my Black Caf, took a moment to enjoy the way the topping had started to swirl down into the coffee, and took a sip.

And it. was. delicious.

I don’t know what kind of wizardry is going into that cream cheese topping, but it was lightly sweet and thick enough to stay afloat on top of the coffee without immediately mixing in — though left on its own for five minutes, the drink would probably have settled into a cohesive mixture. Reviews online mostly recommend that you stir the coffee and the topping together, but I enjoy it the opposite way, when it’s still separate. You get a taste of strong black coffee and then a taste of the sweet topping, and then a cereal puff or two for texture at the end.

My pro tip: Order it without ice. It's a real buzzkill to think you're about to eat a chocolate puff and crunch down into an ice cube instead.

The idea may be new to Disneyland, but has been circulating in Los Angeles since 2019 — and according to Forbes, has been around much longer than that, with cheese-topped coffee evolving from “cheese tea.”

“Some background on the whole cheese tea trend, which really started making a big splash in the U.S. last year: There are different versions of the story about where it originated,” Leslie Kelly wrote in her article about Percolate, the LA coffee shop serving a tiramisu-inspired, cheese-topped cold brew. “The wildly popular Hey Tea chain lays claim to inventing cheese tea, topping cold tea with a thick layer of creamy, slightly salty, slightly sweet cheese sourced from New Zealand. However, others say it began in street stalls in Taiwan.”

Chocolate puffs and a few rogue ice cubes sticking out.
Julie Tremaine

I’ve tried and enjoyed many things I didn’t expect to at Disneyland — that pickle corn dog comes to mind — but I almost never order them again. The next time I went to the parks, though, space coffee was at the top of my must-have list for the day. It’s that good.

If you can’t make it to a galaxy far, far away to try the Cold Brew Black Caf for yourself, here’s a copycat recipe from Polka Dots and Pixie Dust.