Why did the plum latte style cold brew draw complaints?

Starbucks released three fruit cold brew drinks built on bergamot, green plum and guava, aiming at younger drinkers who prefer lighter flavors. Before the full rollout, customers and internal staff said the drinks tasted like traditional Chinese medicine, and a plum latte direction drew similar reactions. The products were criticized before they reached every store.

Cold brew absorbs fruit juice well and holds visible layers, so it can carry less flavored syrup than espresso drinks. That flexibility is exactly what made the flavor pairing divisive. Some of the criticism also points to the chain's long reliance on Frappuccinos, lattes and Cloud Macchiato releases, which left consumers wanting more variety.

Starbucks recently launched three new fruit cold brew products, featuring flavor elements such as bergamot, green plum, and guava, aiming to attract younger consumers with a refreshing taste. However, before the products were fully rolled out, some netizens and internal partners had already given feedback that they tasted similar to traditional Chinese medicine, sparking widespread discussion. Cold brew coffee, due to its strong adaptability and excellent layering, is seen as a direction to break through the limitations of traditional espresso, but this flavor fusion has clearly sparked considerable controversy. Front Street Coffee continues to monitor coffee product innovation and market feedback. This article will sort out the actual performance of this new product from the perspectives of consumer reviews, ingredient combinations, and category trends.

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In the past, whether ordinary consumers or Starbucks internal employees, many have repeatedly mentioned that the product line of Starbucks in China is almost dominated by Frappuccinos and lattes. The R&D department seems to be walking in the clouds, showing an almost obsessive preference for the Cloud Macchiato series...

The domestic R&D team may have also realized that consumers had already seen through their repetitive old tricks... So they turned to studying Starbucks menus in other countries and regions, thereby learning that the new generation of consumers prefers products with a light and refreshing taste...

Compared with the espresso category, cold brew coffee is clearly more popular among young people. This is not only because it offers a more refreshing drinking experience, but more importantly, cold brew coffee has extremely high adaptability and no longer relies solely on flavored syrups to adjust the overall taste.

Cold brew coffee can be flexibly paired with various fruit juices, and the amount of flavored syrup can be reduced accordingly; from a visual presentation perspective, cold brew coffee is easier to create beautiful layered effects, significantly enhancing both the taste experience and the effect of photo sharing. Domestic R&D: "I! Understand! Cold brew coffee is popular, arrange it immediately!" So, after research and discussion on the taste preferences of domestic consumers, they decided to launch three new fruit cold brew coffee products. In terms of flavor selection, they chose bergamot, green plum, which had been popular for a while in the new-style tea beverage sector in the past two years, and guava, which has been very popular in spring for the past two years.

Originally, it was thought that launching a cold brew coffee series with a refreshing taste similar to new-style tea beverages and attractive layering would win more attention from young consumers! But the result was that before the products were fully officially launched, some netizens and internal partners had already started complaining that all three cold brews had a medicinal taste... Regarding the fruit juices, syrups, and ingredients used in the three products, most partners thought the taste was good. But! Once cold brew coffee was added, the overall picture changed... Some partners said the green plum cold brew tasted like iced Banlangen, the bergamot cold brew like iced cold medicine granules, and the guava cold brew like iced traditional Chinese medicine soup!

Other comments also expressed that it really did not taste good! Clearly three different flavors, yet after adding cold brew coffee, they all uniformly presented a traditional Chinese medicine taste, which is truly amazing! However, taste is a matter of personal preference, after all, salted fish and cabbage each have their own lovers! Some netizens also think this new product is quite tasty, with a much more refreshing taste compared to previous products, no longer all dairy-based types, and more suitable for summer drinking. Image source: Internet

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