Astringent Coffee and the Ice Debate Behind Lemon Tea Complaints

Chayan Yuese announced the relaunch of its lemon tea series on April 29 with five drinks, including the returning classic Orchid Glaze and four seasonal limited editions. Changsha, the brand's home city, did not get the series because the lemon category is handled by its subsidiary Good Mo Lemon. Complaints about too much ice soon overshadowed talk of taste.

Consumers reported that a cup was nearly empty after a few sips and that removing the ice left less than half. The company said lemon tea cannot be made with less or no ice because the ice suppresses astringency, the sharp drying sensation also discussed around astringent coffee. Buyers still felt that nearly 20 yuan bought mostly ice.

As temperatures climbed, Sexy Tea officially announced on April 29 the relaunch of its lemon tea series, introducing five new products, including the classic "Orchid Glaze" and several seasonal limited editions. However, Changsha was absent from this launch because its Good Mo Lemon brand already covers the lemon tea category, disappointing longtime fans. After the new products hit the market, complaints about "too much ice" on social platforms quickly overshadowed discussions about taste. Many consumers reported that a cup was almost gone after a few sips, and after removing the ice, the portion was less than half. The company had explained that lemon tea cannot be made with less ice or no ice because the ice is used to suppress astringency, but consumers still felt that spending nearly 20 yuan got them something more like a cup of ice. This article will sort out the incident and the reactions from all sides in detail.

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As rain increases, the weather grows hotter day by day, and the signature cold drinks that major brands excel at have returned to consumers' view.

To attract thirsty fans walking on the street, on April 29, Sexy Tea officially announced the relaunch of its lemon tea series. Targeting different preferences such as "guava juice, floral fragrance lovers, sour taste fans, and those who prefer rich flavors," it launched five tea drinks at once using multiple popular tea bases and combining yellow lemon and perfume lemon varieties.

In addition to "Orchid Glaze," which first appeared back in 2019, returning as a classic, the others are all new seasonal limited editions for this round, including "Tourmaline," "Youth Glaze," "Sheng Sheng Glaze," and "Fireworks Glaze."

It is worth noting that Sexy Tea's lemon tea series was launched simultaneously in other regions, but Changsha, its birthplace, did not offer it, leaving longtime fans who had waited a long time deeply disappointed. In response, the company explained that because the local "lemon stall" had already been contracted to its subsidiary brand Good Mo Lemon, which had launched many novel-style lemon teas, milk tea stores would no longer launch them separately in order to reduce overlap.

As Sexy Tea said, the original intention of making lemon tea was because summer is too hot, and people's tastes change with the temperature. Sweet-and-sour, icy foods become the first choice in summer. These days not only coincided with the May Day holiday, but many parts of the country were also in muggy, sweat-inducing weather, so Sexy Tea's colorful and refreshing lemon teas naturally hit the spot. As soon as the official promotional images went online, they immediately made many fans drool.

Unexpectedly, however, while the lemon tea series that the R&D team worked so hard to create became a hit, it also triggered a lot of discontent. When we open social platforms and click into Sexy Tea's topic to take a look, almost everything that greets the eye is real-life photos of the lemon tea, but compared with discussion posts sparked by the drinks' taste, complaints about "too much ice" gained the upper hand.

While posting photos, people joked that after getting Sexy Tea's lemon tea, it was almost gone after just a few sips, and the taste was especially weak. Curiosity drove them to lift the lid and look, and apart from a few lemon slices on top, most of the cup was all ice.

Some more experienced netizens fished out the ice before drinking and then discovered that although they had clearly ordered the "1L" extra-large cup, after manually removing the ice, the remaining portion was not even half. This inevitably made people wonder whether what they had spent nearly 20 yuan on was not lemon tea, but a cup (or tray) of ice.

"Good heavens, Sexy Tea, did you install an ice machine in my drink?" "Sexy Tea's standard ice is too much! After drinking it, there's still a full cup of ice." "As soon as I opened it, I was devastated—a full cup of ice." "Is Sexy Tea imitating Luckin? It's all ice, drained in one sip." "Sexy Tea, why don't you just sell ice??" "Sexy Tea's ice has already surpassed Luckin's"...

In fact, regarding the issue of ice quantity in lemon tea, the company had already disclosed it in its posts. According to an article on Sexy Tea's official WeChat account, because lemon naturally has a sour and astringent taste, it cannot do without the support of sugar and ice. Sugar's role is to present the sourness of a cup of lemon tea just right. To avoid the drink becoming "too sweet," Sexy Tea offers two options: half sugar and less sugar. Ice's role is to "suppress astringency," so the entire lemon tea series cannot be made "less ice," let alone "no ice."

Although the brand had already issued a "disclaimer" in advance, in consumers' eyes, they had clearly spent real money on lemon tea, yet after getting it, the part that was actually the drink was less than half, with the rest all being ice that should have been a "supporting role," so naturally they felt it was "not worth it."

Image source: online screenshots

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