What Is a Dirty Coffee and Why Bean Juice Divides Drinkers

A dirty coffee is a drink where a strong coffee element is layered or blended with another liquid, and in Beijing that liquid is often douzhi, the fermented mung bean beverage known as bean juice. Shops have paired it with a full set of bean juice, fried ring, and shredded pickles, and one recent version used Huakui beans, drawing curious customers.

Bean juice carries a sharp, fermented flavor, so opinions split sharply once blending coffee beans with it enters the picture. The shop later switched from Huakui to IICA Platinum Award beans without announcement, which started discussion about how bean choice interacts with such an intense flavor. Bean juice coffee began as a novelty at the Shanghai International Coffee Food and Culture Festival and has since settled onto menus across the capital.

From its stunning debut at the Shanghai Coffee Festival to now becoming a fixture on the menus of Beijing coffee shops as a creative beverage, bean juice coffee has gone through several years of development. Recently, this Beijing-style special drink has been upgraded again—some shops have launched bean juice lattes, paired with a complete bean juice set, and have even chosen the highly renowned Huakui coffee beans, attracting many curious people to check in. However, the extreme flavor of bean juice itself has kept the reputation of this beverage polarized. More interestingly, the shop later quietly switched the coffee beans, from Huakui to IICA Platinum Award beans, sparking discussions among consumers about the pairing of beans and bean juice.

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As early as several years ago, bean juice dirty caused a sensation at the Shanghai International Coffee Food and Culture Festival, which not only opened netizens' eyes but also delivered a strong taste冲击.

After years of evolution, bean juice coffee, which was originally marketed as a novelty, has now steadily appeared on the menus of many coffee shops in Beijing. Many out-of-town tourists visiting the capital are willing to order a cup of authentic bean juice americano to experience this creative drink rich in local flavor.

Recently, this "Beijing special" has undergone new changes under the interpretation of baristas. According to a poster from a certain coffee shop, its bean juice latte not only comes with the complete bean juice set—"bean juice, fried ring, shredded pickles"—but also shows considerable care in the choice of coffee beans, using Huakui, which has extremely high discussion and broad recognition in the coffee circle.

Among many coffee beans, Huakui produced in the Hambela region of Ethiopia has attracted the attention of industry practitioners every new harvest season since it became popular in 2017. This year's Huakui 8.0 is the same, and recently many baristas can be seen on social platforms cupping the newly arrived Huakui 8.0.

Huakui beans, which already have a large domestic fan base and come with topic热度, paired with Beijing's specialty bean juice, such a combination naturally attracts many curious netizens to give it a try.

Since Beijing bean juice is a local drink with a relatively extreme flavor, its taste after blending with coffee can only be said to vary from person to person: those who prefer bean juice can finish a whole cup in one go as soon as they get it, while those who cannot accept the "sour and stinky" smell of bean juice will be deterred after just one small sip.

This bean juice latte using Huakui coffee beans has likewise failed to escape the fate of polarized reviews—some praise it by saying, "It's delicious, and the complete bean juice set is all there," while other netizens who have been "attacked" by the unique flavor of bean juice still feel lingering fear and sigh, "This combination is too terrifying."

However, some consumers who tried it noticed that although the in-store poster says "Huakui," the beans actually served by the shop are not Huakui. In response, the shop said that this bean juice latte did initially use Huakui, but later, in order to ensure stable output and let customers experience a better flavor, it has now been switched to IICA Platinum Award beans, carrying out an "upgrade and transformation" of the bean juice latte.

Choosing higher-quality ingredients to improve product performance may attract many adventurous enthusiasts to come and taste it, but some consumers believe that because the taste of bean juice is too distinctive, even if the shop upgrades the coffee beans, they actually cannot tell the difference between the "Huakui version" bean juice latte and other bean juice coffees.

For loyal fans of bean juice latte, the most important thing in this cup is not what beans are used, but that sip of authentic Beijing bean juice flavor!

Image source: Internet

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