Our shop doesn't really open until the espresso machine does. There's a short moment every morning, before we flip the sign and long before the first customer, when it's just us, the smell of a fresh double shot and the day ahead of us. Coffee Kick was born in that moment, and honestly, the first glass of it gets poured for ourselves more often than we'd like to admit.

In the blender: a double shot of espresso, banana, a spoonful of cacao and milk. The banana makes it smooth instead of bitter, the cacao gives it that deep, almost dessert-like edge, and the espresso pulls the whole smoothie together with a proper wake-up in the background. It's the only cup on our menu that comes with a caffeine warning we're proud of.

In Groningen it's the smoothie of the bike ride to work, the 9 a.m. lecture that came too early and every Saturday that starts earlier than planned. Regulars order it without looking at the menu, some order two. If coffee usually runs your morning anyway, this one just makes the commute taste better.