Every year, as the winter chill hits and the Christmas lights blink on, I welcome back peppermint mochas and chestnut praline lattes like long-lost friends. The flavors are comforting, reliable and, well, a little predictable.
Maybe that’s why my tastebuds seemed to awake from a coma after discovering the Funky Mittens latte from Jinkies! Coffee and Hangout, a seventies-themed coffee shop that opened in Overland Park this past January.
The Funky Mittens is a unique holiday special latte that combines s’mores and raspberry flavoring, then gets topped with toasted marshmallows, chocolate sauce and red drizzle. With a creamy chocolate texture and lingering berry, the limited-time drink is a concoction that screams festivity and originality.
The Funky Mittens latte isn’t the only specialty drink from Jinkies that breaks the mold. Owners Lisa and Madi Dombrowski, a mother-daughter duo, pride themselves on their one-of-a-kind seasonal flavors, such as their cereal milk- and popcorn-flavored lattes featured this past summer.
“We knew we wanted to come up with something that people could only get here and not any other place,” Madi says.
Jinkies’ unusual drinks aren’t its only selling highlight. The shop is covered in seventies decor and references, from the Scooby Doo-named lemonades to the vintage records hanging on the walls—which belonged to Lisa’s late father.
If you want to escape your Starbucks slump, it might be time to twist tradition with the Funky Mittens or one of the shop’s seven other winter specials. You might just make a new holiday friend.
