Thank You Coffee began serving its play on pumpkin spice in 2020, but the Chinatown and Anaheim coffee counters riff on Asian ingredients and flavor profiles with options such as the five-spice latte year-round. Around fall, however, the scent of gourd spice always makes its return: the seasonal, signature KSL — or kabocha spice latte — which swaps pumpkin for kabocha squash.
“We don’t really eat pumpkin, but we eat a lot of kabocha,” said co-owner Jonathan Yang. “My wife, Julia, and I love kabocha but not all people know it, and we realized this is a neat way to highlight that kabocha is pretty much like a Japanese pumpkin.”
Thank You Coffee’s KSL derives its chief flavors from a blend of toasted spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom and ginger, which are turned into a syrup with a combination of white and dark brown sugars and ginger bitters; it all gets steeped and strained. Yang steams fresh kabocha squash, then purées it and incorporates it into the spice syrup, adding depth without detracting from the spices, he says. In both locations, a hint of condensed milk is added to the lattes, and they’re dusted with kinako, a roasted soybean flour, for added earthiness and a pie-crust effect. This year they’re adding another fall-inspired drink to the menu at both locations: a persimmon-and-apple latte that’s meant to evoke coziness and comfort throughout the season.
BUS drivers in London have fumed that their vehicles are becoming riddled with cockroaches.
Shocking snaps appear to show the rodents perched in seat cushions and drink containers.
1
Bus drivers in London are fuming as a horde of cockroaches infest their vehiclesCredit: AFP
As a result, many drivers have flocked to London Bus Forums (LBF), a message board and campaigning organisation, to call on Transport for London to make its vehicles cleaner, The Times reports.
One video uploaded to the forum appears to show one driver get a nasty shock when he notices several cockroaches inside his drink.
“I went to take a sip from my drink and felt something in my mouth,” the driver says in the clip.
“I spat it out and saw it was a cockroach.
“I felt sick and ended up vomiting.”
Complaints made by drivers are “growing in frequency and urgency”, according to the LBF.
Bus services are run by private companies under contract to Transport for London [TfL].
TfL said extensive daily cleaning took place across the network and the fleet was treated with the same long-term antibacterial products as were used on the Underground.
A TfL spokesman said: “We are committed to working together with operators to provide a clean environment for staff and customers. Most TfL welfare facilities are cleaned multiple times a day, and at a minimum daily, to maintain hygiene and safety standards.
“All buses are also cleaned every night before entering service, and reports such as these are rare.
Bus driver sacked for wearing a Liverpool shirt after hundreds of Chelsea fans swarmed his bus
“We take any report seriously and are urgently investigating the specific incidents that have been raised.
“As with any reports, we will take appropriate action as part of the investigation, which can include taking buses out of service for inspection, deep cleans and treatment with specialist equipment if necessary.
“We would like to reassure staff that our operators would never take action against people raising concerns about welfare or safety and encourage any driver with concerns to contact their employer, their union, or contact us directly.”
LBF added: “These cockroach reports are not isolated. They reflect a broader failure to maintain safe and sanitary conditions for bus drivers.
“This is a public health issue affecting both staff and passengers.
“That’s why drivers will be marching on November 5 to demand safer working conditions and the adoption of the bus drivers’ bill of rights.”
John Murphy, the regional officer for Unite, the union representing many London bus drivers, fumed that it was “completely unacceptable that London bus drivers are being forced to drive around for hours in vehicles that have cockroach infestations.”
He continued: “TfL and the bus companies need to take action now to rid all buses of infestations and Unite will hold them to account until they do.”
The Sun Online has reached out to Transport for London for comment.
