Twin Cities coffee shops are going bananas for this coffee flavor
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Lattes and matchas are going bananas — including at a bunch of Twin Cities coffee shops.
The big picture: Already the most-eaten fresh fruit in America, bananas are ripe for the beverage market beyond smoothies.
By the numbers: Banana syrup is the fastest-growing beverage ingredient flavor over the past year at restaurants, per Circana market data.
- Top chains introduced 100 banana items from July 2025 through July 2026 — already more than in any previous full year, according to Datassential. Most were non-alcoholic.
Search interest is surging, too. "Banana coffee" and "banana matcha" hit all-time highs in search in 2026, per Google trends.
- TikTok has plenty of videos for the banana-curious, including a tutorial for making banana iced coffee at home, by Eva Longoria.
Zoom in: We surveyed the local scene and found banana-flavored beverages on the menu at a handful of cafes this summer:
- Quixotic's "Banana Cloud" has been one of the St. Paul spot's "better-performing" summer seasonal drinks, owner Jake Nelson tells Axios. It remains on the menu through the weekend.
- Hope Breakfast Bar offers a "Banana Muffin Chai" at its 10 locations.
- And Dogwood again put the "Beach Please", a coconut cold brew with banana foam, on the summer menu at its three cafes.
What they're saying: "Banana has definitely proven to work better as a coffee (and matcha) flavor pairing than we might have expected going into the summer," Nelson told Axios in an email.
What we're hearing: Silver Fern plans to bring its Banana Foster Latte back this fall.
- Owner Ben Parsell tells Axios that it was so popular that he kept it on the menu for six months — four times the typical six-week run for seasonal specials.
It was one of the Northeast Minneapolis cafe's top sellers during that period.
Between the espresso pulls: Parsell's original idea was to do a banana bread drink. But he pivoted to a beverage inspired by the boozy dessert after finding that the warm baking spices overpowered the underlying fruit flavor.
- The resulting drink is made with real, ripe bananas stewed down for three hours.
Zoom out: Beyond coffee, bananas also have appeal in new cocktails, "water," soda and even beer.
- Case in point: Soul & Flour in North Loop has a banana pudding daiquiri on its menu and the "Ope" at Star Bistro in downtown is made with bourbon, creme de banane, lemon juice and ginger syrup.
The bottom line: You aren't alone if this flavor convo aPEELs to you!