What went wrong with the Flowing Sand Pu'er in coffee culture?

1 Dian Dian released a new drink, Flowing Sand Pu'er, described as Yunnan aged Pu'er milk tea with handmade finely mashed red bean paste. Many buyers found distinct whole red beans at the bottom of the cup instead of a flowing paste, and shared photos jokingly calling it red bean porridge. Customer service apologized and reported the issue internally.

Staff said the red bean paste must be hand-crushed at least five times, but no strict standard requires a flowing sand texture, so busy stores may have skipped the mashing step. Early tasters who got a properly blended cup praised the sweet red bean aroma mixed with rich Pu'er milk tea, showing how preparation consistency shapes a drink's reception among specialty coffee drinkers.

1 Dian Dian recently launched a new product, "Flowing Sand Pu'er," officially claiming it combines Yunnan aged Pu'er milk tea with handmade finely mashed red bean paste, attracting a large number of red bean lovers to try it. However, many consumers found upon receiving the drink that the bottom of the cup contained distinct red beans, far from the flowing sand texture advertised, and buyer photos were jokingly called "red bean porridge." Staff explained that the red bean paste needs to be manually crushed at least 5 times, but there is no hard requirement for it to present a flowing sand state, suspected to be a missed mashing step due to being busy. Official customer service has apologized and reported it internally.

▲

Click to follow | Daily specialty coffee culture magazine Coffee Workshop

Recently, 1 Dian Dian launched a new drink called "Flowing Sand Pu'er." According to the brand's introduction, this new product uses Yunnan aged Pu'er milk tea as the base, adds handmade finely mashed red bean paste, and brings a flavor and texture completely different from regular red bean milk tea.

Many consumers who prefer red bean toppings were immediately tempted to try it after seeing the official description, and as soon as the new product was launched, they placed orders one after another, wanting to find out what it was like.

Judging from the reviews posted by the first batch of tasters, after the dense red bean paste blends with the rich Pu'er milk tea, it neither makes the whole cup look cloudy nor prevents one from tasting the sweet aroma of red beans while drinking. The taste is even better than the shop's ordinary red bean milk tea, conquering the taste buds of a large number of red bean lovers with just one sip and becoming their recent top choice for repeat purchases.

However, some customers who bought it after hearing about it were greatly disappointed after receiving the drink. From the buyer photos they posted, the red beans settled at the bottom of the takeaway cup were distinct grains, completely different from the flowing red bean sand mentioned in the official promotion.

Unexpectedly, customers who received this kind of "Flowing Sand Pu'er" with distinct grains were not few. "What I got was also individual red beans, so it turns out it needs to be mashed into paste?" "It wasn't mashed into paste at all, it was all individual grains." "What I ordered yesterday was also a cup of red bean milk tea called Flowing Sand." Many people even suspected that the new product they received had the wrong topping added by the staff.

In addition, some people reported after tasting it that the red bean flowing sand in 1 Dian Dian's new product was not as delicate and smooth as expected, and the red bean skins could be clearly tasted while sipping.

Facing customer feedback and complaints, some 1 Dian Dian employees quickly came forward to explain. According to the drink preparation process, the red bean paste in Pu'er flowing sand is actually made from red bean topping. The staff mashes the red beans scooped into the bottom of the cup, then pours in the prepared milk tea, and a cup of Flowing Sand Pu'er is complete.

Some people also shared their own preparation process to support this explanation, and said that according to regulations, the red bean topping in each cup of Flowing Sand Pu'er must be manually crushed at least 5 times. But they also mentioned that the process does not require the red beans at the bottom of the cup to present a flowing sand state when served.

Based on this, employees speculated that it may be that staff did not fully mash the red bean topping into paste when making the new product. It may also be that while busy, they only focused on adding the topping but forgot the key mashing step, which led to customers not tasting the soft and smooth red bean flowing sand in the drink, but instead feeling like they were eating a bowl of "red bean porridge."

Official customer service also left a message of apology under consumers' feedback posts, explaining the situation customers encountered, and said it had been reported internally. In the view of netizens, since the brand emphasized red bean flowing sand when promoting the new product, it should ensure production standards so that users can taste the topping with a flowing sand texture, rather than eating piles of red bean grains.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Disclaimer: Some images in this article are from the internet. For some content on the website, such as images, we will respect the original author's copyright and indicate the source. However, due to the large quantity, some images and texts may not have been credited in time. Please forgive us. If the original author has any disputes, they can contact the website for handling. Once verified, we will correct it immediately. Compiled and edited by "Coffee Workshop." Please indicate the source when reposting. If there is infringement, please inform us for deletion. Thank you~!

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