Iced coffee used to be just ice coffee until La Colombe. La Colombe is a Philadelphia based coffee chain that has taken the coffee house experience up another notch. (There are two locations in the city that I know of – one on Lafayette/Prince, the other is in Tribeca). All of their coffee products are outrageously good, but their iced coffee is downright sinful. Their house version of iced coffee comes with a shot of espresso added to their already robust regular coffee blend – making for an unforgettable taste experience (and quite the morning buzz!).

But beyond the amazingly good coffee, La Colombe stands apart for me in other ways. At Brand Synchronicity, we’re big on brand touchpoints and rituals. La Colombe’s use of extremely tasteful hand painted black and white china pottery creates a feeling of uniqueness, authenticity and artisinal craftsmanship (it’s a hard working touchpoint, trust me!).

But the real differentiator for me is their ritual of placing a little plate with a long handled silver spoon alongside your coffee so that you can actually stir your cream (they use half and half – yum) with an honest to goodness, real live spoon! It’s such a small detail, but makes such a big difference in the experience of “dressing” my coffee. Instead of making me use some flimsy plastic or wooden stick, I am actually treated to this incredible moment of decadence in which I am able to stir my perfect coffee with a perfectly sized silver spoon.

The servers actually hand wash every plate and spoon after you’ve used them which is a massive commitment to this ritual on their end – but no one can compete with this place in terms of creating such a significant slice of coffee heaven in the morning. (The fact that the servers are pleasant is a lovely added bonus.)

La Colombe has ruined me for iced coffee anywhere else. The coffee is amazing, the aesthetic is inspired, but their “silver spoon ritual” steals a piece of my heart every morning.