Deep Cuts’ beans are roasted by Cultivar, the East Dallas coffee shop whose Oak Cliff location Johnson manned before it shuttered during the pandemic. The roasts, like everything else, are on theme, with names like “Wake the Dead” and “Dead Tired.” Johnson says there are plans for Cultivar to begin roasting a Deep Cuts-exclusive cold brew for the shop, too.
The shaken brown sugar espresso, Dead Tired ($6.85), is the most popular item on the menu, but Johnson’s pride and joy is a drink called the Laura Palmer ($5.50). The cold brew and lemonade concoction tends to “freak people out,” but the beverage is “all about balance,” Johnson says.
The drink’s name is a double pun. While it pays homage to the tea and lemonade blend known as an Arnold Palmer, Johnson swapped out the first name to instead pay respects to the murdered small-town high school student whose death initiates the plot of the supernatural television series Twin Peaks.
“That’s one of the ones (that people see) and they say, ‘Oh, I get that! I know what that is,’” Johnson says.
Other signatures include the Monster Blood ($6.65) — an iced matcha suspiciously drizzled with strawberry puree — and the lavender honey latte dubbed The May Queen (starts at $6.35).