Does white coffee have more caffeine than regular tea drinks?

Guangzhou EMU launched its own high-speed rail milk tea brand, That Girl, priced at 26 yuan per cup, in mid-October 2021. Daily sales reached about 3,000 cups with frequent stockouts. The line offers four flavors, and the operator says it uses natural ingredients while reducing tea concentration and sugar to lower caffeine intake for passengers.

The launch trended on social media and drew criticism over price, packaging, taste and sales tactics. The question of whether white coffee caffeine content is higher or lower than standard drinks depends on the base ingredient and brewing strength. For travelers comparing options, tea-based milk drinks and coffee differ mainly in preparation and serving size.

Catering services on high-speed rail have been continuously upgraded. Now, the Guangzhou EMU has taken the lead in launching its own milk tea brand, "That Girl," priced at 26 yuan per cup, with daily sales reaching as high as 3,000 cups. The series comes in four flavors, and the official claim is that it uses natural ingredients and reduces tea concentration and sugar to suit passengers' needs. However, after the product launched, it quickly trended on social media, only to face collective criticism from netizens over its price, packaging, taste, and sales tactics. Meanwhile, specialty coffee brands such as Front Street Coffee are also paying attention to this crossover attempt. This article will walk you through the research and development background of high-speed rail milk tea, its market performance, and evaluations from various parties.

When riding high-speed rail, the scene of attendants pushing carts to sell snacks and drinks is surely familiar to everyone, and nowadays self-service ordering on high-speed rail has also become commonplace. How to narrow the gap between the dining experience inside and outside the train has become the direction many EMU catering teams are working toward. Recently, Guangzhou EMU Catering Co., Ltd., under China Railway Guangzhou Group Co., Ltd., took the lead in launching high-speed rail milk tea.

According to an explanation on the China Railway official account, the cup of this milk tea features the image of a high-speed rail catering attendant, and it is therefore named "That Girl." At present, the series includes four flavors: jasmine fruit tea, Hong Kong-style original milk tea, pearl milk tea, and red bean milk tea. In terms of quality, Guangzhou EMU Catering Co., Ltd. promises that high-speed rail milk tea is positioned as a healthy beverage made with natural raw materials. At the same time, taking into account the special needs of train passengers, the tea concentration and sugar content have been specially reduced, aiming to lower caffeine intake and make the taste less heavy.

High-speed rail milk tea officially went on sale in mid-October 2021, with average daily sales reaching 3,000 cups and frequent stockouts. At this stage, the product is made and sold on site on all high-speed rail trains in Hunan and Guangdong provinces under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Group Co., Ltd., with attendants responsible for promotion. As for the original inspiration for development, it actually traces back to the CCTV program "Seeing China by High-Speed Rail" broadcast in October 2020, when the scene of a reporter tasting milk tea on a high-speed train drew attention, after which the relevant railway departments began actively working on development.

China's high-speed rail is advancing at an astonishing speed, and its network has basically covered major, medium, and small cities across the country. High-speed rail has not only improved regional and provincial connectivity and become an important engine driving economic development and urbanization, but is also regarded by Chinese people as a source of pride and a world-leading achievement. "We want to inject more cultural tourism symbols into high-speed rail and make its image fuller," said the person in charge of Guangzhou EMU Catering Company. "We hope that when passengers think of high-speed rail, they will exclaim: Wow! High-speed rail milk tea is really good."

It can be said that the Guangzhou EMU has indeed put a lot of thought into improving service quality and showcasing China's modern image. But just as high-speed rail milk tea topped the trending list and sparked discussion among tens of thousands of people, it immediately faced criticism. Many netizens left complaints under the Weibo topic #HighSpeedRailMilkTeaLaunched#. The controversy mainly centered on four aspects: price, packaging, taste, and service.

Some netizens believed that a cup of milk tea costing 26 yuan did not even taste as good as a one-yuan tea bag from a certain brand. The name "That Girl" was criticized as extremely tacky, and the image of the female attendant on the packaging also seemed somewhat out of place. Some joked that it would have been better to print directly, "China Railway: every cup contributes to railway construction," and sales might have been better. The attendants' sales pitches also became a focus of criticism from netizens, who generally believed that hard selling was only to meet performance targets, that the approach was inappropriate, and that encouraging eating and drinking in the carriage during the pandemic was even more improper.

In any case, high-speed rail milk tea is ultimately an innovative attempt. It is believed that through continuous improvement in the future, it can truly achieve "stylish packaging and first-class taste" (quoted from the Guangzhou Railway official Weibo's evaluation of railway milk tea). According to a query via Tianyancha, Guangzhou EMU Catering Co., Ltd. is 50% held by "Yishi Zongheng Co., Ltd.," and the latter has also won bids for high-speed rail catering services in passenger transport sections including Zhengzhou, Nanchang, Lanzhou, Fuzhou, and Xi'an... The deeper meaning here is understood by those who understand.

By the way, after learning all this, would you be willing to try "That Girl" high-speed rail milk tea? For consumers who love specialty coffee, Front Street Coffee has also always paid attention to innovations in various beverages, providing coffee lovers with fresh, professional perspectives.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.