The results are in—our seasonal staff beverage contest has crowned not one, but two winners this year. It’s always a favorite moment for us, when our team brings their creativity to the menu, sharing stories, memories, and flavors close to home. This time, the winning drinks come from our Columbia Business School cafe and right here at Joe HQ.
Pomegranate Mocha Latte
Andy, Cafe Lead at Columbia Business School
Over the years, our presence on Columbia’s campus has steadily grown, welcoming students, neighbors, and visitors into our cafes. Today, we’re proud to have four cafes and a pop-up across campus. At Columbia Business School, you’ll find Andy—our cafe lead and one of this year’s beverage contest winners—with his Pomegranate Mocha Latte. We sat down with Andy to learn more about the inspiration behind the drink and his time at Joe.
How long have you worked at Joe?
This September will be my third year at Joe!
What’s been one of the biggest highlights during your time here?
One of my biggest highlights was scoring a 100% on our Coffee Audit here at CBS. It was a true testament to how hard the team here works but also how much the baristas here care about their craft. Another big highlight for me was having some students from the graduating MBA class of 2025 leave me small notes showing appreciation for just being their barista while they were here.
What was the inspiration behind the Pomegranate Mocha Latte?
There are two main inspirations! The first was that pomegranate is my late grandmother's favorite fruit. One of the earliest memories I have is of me as a child sitting on her lap, eating a pomegranate while she drank a cup of coffee so I wanted to combine these two flavors!.The second was my favorite candy, Brookside Dark chocolate-covered pomegranate! I really wanted my drink to come out tasting exactly like the candy, so I was super happy with the end result!
**What’s your usual go-to coffee order?**I like to start off my day with either an 8oz vanilla latte or an oat cortado!
What’s your first memory of coffee?
It’s really hard to pinpoint my first memory of coffee since I can’t really remember anytime I haven’t been around coffee. I can’t remember a night of my childhood where the day didn’t end with my whole family enjoying a cup of coffee together with conchas (a mexican pastry).
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
I believe the quote was “ If you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you'll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you're done.”. It’s a great reminder to be to constantly working towards my goals and small consistent increments is the best way to achieve them!
Miso Brown Butter Latte
Jordi, VP of People & Culture
If you make your way to 30th and Park Avenue South, you’ll find the heart of Joe—our HQ. We’ve recently moved a few floors up, making room for a brand-new training space we’ve lovingly named the Park Ave Lab. HQ is home to the teams that keep Joe running—wholesale, education, marketing, leadership, HR, and cafe management. Over the years, we’ve grown a lot, and our VP of People & Culture, Jordi, has been a driving force behind that growth. He’s poured his creativity into our seasonal staff beverage contest many times, but this year his Miso Brown Butter Latte truly took the spotlight. We sat down with Jordi in the office to talk about his work, his journey, and the story behind this winning drink.
How long have you worked at Joe?
Since June 2020.
What’s been one of the biggest highlights during your time here?
Being able to help build the culture of kindness, collaboration, and values-forward business we work in. Just the idea of a mandatory micro-aggression training, an ethical business council, a workshop on emotional intelligence and compassionate accountability would have all been scoffed at in previous companies i worked for. so i'm happy i found a place were those things are seen as truly valuable. That has been a proud highlight... oh and singing about our HR/Payroll system at the Joe show was quite memorable, as well.
What was the inspiration behind the Miso Brown Butter Latte?
To be completely honest, it was inspired by a 2 live crew song from the 1980's that sounds like 2 of the ingredients.... but also, I used to joke that we should do a Miso Ramen Latte with noodles. This has all the warmth and umami....without the carbs!
What’s your usual go-to coffee order?
Summer: Yuzu Espresso Spritz (I love lemonade with a shot of espresso, when I can't get to a Joe) Winter: Good ol' La Familia Guarnizo drip. I love a bright fruity light-roast.
What’s your first memory of coffee?
My mom used to let me drink the last sips of her coffee when I was a young kid. She added milk and sugar to her coffee so the last sips had all the undissolved sugar which made it quite the ephemeral treat!
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
My grandfather used to always say, "it could be worse!" which isn't direct advice, but it is a gratitude-forward perspective that my entire family in general has internalized. Understanding how blessed we are, even when are struggling, really keeps things in perspective.