A.J. Brown sugar shaken espresso? Drinks at Philadelphia coffee shop go green for Eagles

CBS News

29-01-2025

Whether it's the " A.J. Brown sugar shaken espresso" or the Saquon Sparkley cold brew with edible glitter, if you're on the hunt for a drink to match your passion for the Philadelphia Eagles, a coffee shop in Bridesburg is serving up just the thing.
"I Knead Coffee" debuted four new Eagles-inspired coffee drinks just in time for the NFL playoffs. Just like the Birds, the drinks have exploded in popularity as the team gets ready for Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.
"We were headed to the playoffs. My baristas said this is something we need to capitalize on," said Carley Schwab, owner of I Knead Coffee on Richmond Street. "Basically, they're like, this is our neighborhood's bread and butter. It's Philly's bread and butter. Everyone loves the Eagles. We need to make drinks for the Eagles. And they were trying to think of ways to name the drinks and then kind of developed the recipes from there."
The first drink you'll find on the "Philly Specials" menu is the "Saquon Sparkley," a cold brew coffee with green mint cold foam and edible glitter.
"Saquon Barkley became Saquon Sparkley, and they were really excited," Schwab said.
At first, there were designs to make the "sparkley" drink a seltzer or soda.
"And one of my baristas realized that we had edible glitter in the basement, and they yelled, 'We have glitter! So that was kind of the beginning, and then it just snowballed from there," Schwab said.
It snowballed into three more specialty drinks. The "Bleed Green" is iced matcha with white mocha dyed green.
A little bit Sabrina Carpenter and a little bit "Inner Excellence," the "A.J. Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso" is espresso, brown sugar, and your choice of milk over ice.
The "Cafe Au Slay" is hot coffee with green steamed milk and sprinkles.
"Our customers, on a Sunday, even when it's not playoffs, are coming in in their Eagles gear regardless. So when they come in and they can wear their Eagles jersey or their Eagles beanie or their sweatshirt, and also grab a Saquon Sparkley, it kind of just completes the look," Schwab said.
Schwab says she's been pleasantly surprised by the demand for the drinks. She's happy to meet the needs of a passionate fanbase that's thirsty for another championship.
"We also have seen some new faces. So people have seen online that we're doing stuff for the Eagles specifically, and they've come out to try them," Schwab said. "So that's really cool."
"We have our regular customers. We were super excited to do this for them. I could not have ever imagined that we would get this much attention for it," Schwab said. "It's super fun, though, and the drinks are great, and everyone loves them. The community itself is just always so excited for the Birds. Eagles chants and 'Go Birds,' all of that is very common in the vernacular here, so it's just cool to contribute a little bit more to the excitement and caffeinate people along the way."
You can find the "Philly Specials" and Eagles-inspired baked goods at "I Knead Coffee" at 4600 Richmond Street in Bridesburg. The shop is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends.