Coffee chain’s April Fool’s prank a big dill

MEAD — Pickle flavoring in odd places has been greeted with relish by food and beverage makers in recent years.

Lay’s and Boulder Canyon offer pickle-flavored potato chips, craft beermakers are touting a few briny brews, and Van Leeuwen — which famously offers totally bonkers ice creams such as pizza, Hidden Valley Ranch and Kraft macaroni and cheese — began offering pickle-flavored ice cream to its Walmart customers in autumn 2022. And we haven’t even mentioned the pickleball craze.

You might say the flavor of pickles has become a big dill.

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In that green-tinted light, many area media outlets probably didn’t bat an eye on Wednesday when they received an email from BML Public Relations, based in Florham Park, New Jersey, carrying the news that Mead-based Ziggi’s Coffee, which was founded as a single coffee shop in Longmont in 2004 and has spread nationwide since then, was announcing the launch of its new pickle-flavored coffee line, which would be “available for a limited time in April.”

How many editors will run the news release verbatim remains unknown. After all, it carries a quote from Brandon Knudsen, co-founder and CEO of Ziggi’s, who said that, “according to Yelp’s 2023 Food Trends report, internet searches for pickle-flavored foods were up 55% this past year, making it the hottest flavor of the moment.”

However, those reporters who suspected that something wasn’t quite kosher gave Knudsen a phone call and discovered that he’s gherkin us around.

“This is our April Fool’s Day prank to our customers,” Knudsen told BizWest with a giggle on Wednesday. “How utterly disgusting that would be to add pickles to espresso.”

Hardly any clues to the prank were included in the well-crafted news release that touted a lineup that included:

• Pickled Dreams — Ziggi’s Coffee’s signature cold brew topped with a tangy pickle juice cold foam, dill seasoning and one full-sized pickle garnish. Available in a 16-ounce for a suggested price of $5.90.

• Dill’ight — Ziggi’s Coffee’s signature espresso blended frozen topped with dill seasoning and slices of sour pickles. Available in a 16-ounce for a suggested price of $6.35.
• Pickle Latte — Ziggi’s Coffee’s signature espresso combined with tangy and sour dill pickle juice. Available in a 16-ounce for a suggested price of $5.40.

“This dill-icious, one-of-a-kind lineup is made with Ziggi’s Coffee’s signature cold brew and espresso combined with the savory, tangy and sour flavors of dill pickle juice,” according to the release. “Available as hot, iced or blended, each pickle/coffee creation is topped with a sprinkle of dill weed and pickle garnishes to give them that extra lip-puckering flavor.”

Knudsen is quoted as saying, “We thought it would be fun to combine two beloved flavors — pickles and coffee — and the result was pretty amazing. As innovators in the beverage industry, we are constantly looking for unique flavor profiles that will surprise and delight. Pickled Dreams, Dill’ight and Pickle Latte do exactly that, and we are confident our guests will love them.”

This isn’t the first April Fool’s prank for the chain, said Ashley Miller, Ziggi’s marketing and communications specialist. 

“We did one two years ago with our customers on social media,” she said. “We offered customized helmets with a straw on the side.”

Knudsen is laughing all the way to the bank. Ziggi’s has grown to 85 coffee shops and drive-through locations across 18 states and has more than 200 locations in various stages of development, with 50 set to open within the next year. It was ranked on the 2023 Entrepreneur Magazine Franchise 500 and awarded Best Food and Drink Franchise in the 2024 Global Franchise Awards.

And he emphasized that he has nothing against these sour food articles that have been preserved in brine or vinegar.

“On Friday nights,” Knudsen said, “my wife likes a pickle shot.”