2024 was a wild ride here at Kaldi's, as we saw new product launches, new cafes open, new drinks and menus, and of course, the return of some of your old favorites from 2023. I'll share a moment I captured on camera for each month, knowing there was so much more that went on and kept us busy, kept us striving, and kept us celebrating what we do throughout the year.
Cheers to 2024, we hope we served you well last year, and I hope you enjoy this look back.
January
Our first seasonal rollout of the year brought one of your all-time favorites back: the Cinnamon Cardamom Latte. The flavors in this drink are so popular that we've created a hot toddy recipe that uses the syrup. Two little secrets for you, dear reader - you can use that syrup recipe with our concentrate (getting ahead of myself!) and your other favorite drink, the Brown Sugar Rosemary Latte, which normally goes away in January, is sticking around an extra month this year! You heard it here first!
February
February brought the third and final iteration of our STL City Game Day Tumbler. This tumbler got you free drip coffee fills on game days and got us the most enthusiastic reaction of any single merch item we've sold in over a decade at least. We didn't know the team's season would be so injury-riddled and hard, but the love we felt was an extension of the inaugural season's excitement and we can't wait to for our hometown team to give it another go next year!
March
March saw the launch of our new cold brew coffee concentrate, a crazy-delicious, fast way of getting classically good iced coffee, wildly good hot coffee, and all the lattes you can dream up at home. The versatility and classic flavors of our concentrate were again on display later in the year at The Fountain on Delmar during our Great Coffee Cocktail Showdown.
April
May
May brought a fresh blend, celebrating our founding in 1994, available only at Sam's Club. Chocolatey and smooth, Roast '94 was our first entry into Sam's and an opportunity to bring our love of coffee to a new market.
June
We switched things up in June, bringing in an extra fancy Kona from our sister company, Honolulu Coffee. Highlighting the terroir of the slopes of Mauna Loa on the Big Island, this coffee was followed by a special cafe-only holiday release of pure Kona towards the end of 2024.
July
We beat back the summer heat this year with the launch of cold foam. Sweet, creamy, and cold, it became the perfect summer accessory and when the Baked Maple Pumpkin Latte launched, an indescribably scrumptious substitution for whipped cream.
August
After months of construction and planning, August brought a new cafe to Saint Louis, when we unlocked the doors to our new Ladue location. Your instant welcome in the neighborhood made us feel right at home and every day has been treasured.
September
September always brings a smile as National Coffee Day hits our calendars and we spent the month focused on our favorite thing of all: coffee. We launched a limited edition throwback bag of Cafe Kaldi to celebrate our heritage and launched three new compostable pods, including our first single-origin pod.
October
October rocked the house with a party at our new Ladue cafe to mark our 30th anniversary, which in a twist, coincided with you helping us win USA Today's Reader's Choice as Best Coffee Chain in the country! Balloon sculptures, live music, and best of all - GOATS! - made this Saturday afternoon an unforgettable commemoration.
November
'Tis the Season returned for the 12th year in a row in a beautiful sleeve created once again by The Firecracker Press. Nostalgic retro vibes matched our tribute to the original blend of coffee, Mocha Java, and brought instant holiday joy to our office.
December
All things holiday in December saw our cafes decked, presents laid out, and a new, Golden Subscription offered in just 30 editions. This 30 month take on our ever-popular gift subscriptions was an incredible deal marking our final celebration of our anniversary, offered at a large discount to our superfans. Thanks to you, all 30 were gone within the first hour!
After 30 years, we still experience the same thrill serving you your morning coffee and we owe all our success, longevity, and every award along the way to you. Thank you for choosing us, day after day, year after year, and cheers to 2024!
