Can coffee make you feel drunk when a drink contains alcohol?

A coffee drink itself does not cause intoxication, but a beverage that mixes alcohol into coffee or tea can. Tea Baidao's "Drunken Stroll Upward Path," a limited ChaPanda and Luzhou Laojiao collaboration from 2020 that combined baijiu with milk tea, returned after five years, and some buyers report a spicy alcohol taste and an obvious heady feeling.

The original release used a rum-filled chocolate flavor profile that built a loyal following, and its comeback has split reviewers: drinkers who enjoy alcohol praise it, while others find the liquor note harsh. Some longtime fans say the new version tastes different from the 2020 batch and suspect the formula was quietly changed, though nothing has been confirmed.

ChaPanda once collaborated with Luzhou Laojiao to launch a limited-edition drink called "Drunken Stride on the Road," which in 2020 won over a large number of loyal fans with its rum-filled chocolate flavor born from the collision of baijiu and milk tea. Five years later, this star product that countless people have been longing for is finally back on the shelves. However, its reputation after returning has been polarizing: those who love to drink can't get enough of it, while consumers who don't drink often complain about the harsh, spicy alcohol taste and the obvious heady feeling. What disappoints old fans even more is that many feel the new version's taste is far from the white moonlight in their memories, and some even suspect the formula has been quietly adjusted. Is it a change in ingredients, a shift in taste, or the work of nostalgic filters? This article will take you to find out.

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Today, competition in the chain beverage industry is becoming increasingly fierce, and consumers' pursuit of novelty is endless. If brands want to retain attention, they must continuously innovate and create talking points with an endless stream of creative drinks. Of course, some brands choose another path—bringing back classic products that were both critically acclaimed and commercially successful a few years ago, playing the nostalgia card. ChaPanda is doing exactly that.

It is understood that in 2020, ChaPanda joined hands with the famous baijiu company Luzhou Laojiao for a crossover collaboration, jointly launching a limited-edition tea drink with Luzhou Laojiao added, called "Drunken Stride on the Road." With its bold creativity, solid ingredients, and unique taste resembling rum-filled chocolate, this product quickly won the favor of many liquor lovers and became an unforgettable white moonlight in many people's hearts.

Although ChaPanda subsequently launched other alcoholic drinks, they could never replace "Drunken Stride on the Road" in consumers' hearts. For this reason, in the face of wave after wave of calls from netizens for its return, the brand decided to relaunch this limited-edition drink from five years ago, immediately sparking heated discussion among both new and old customers.

(Image taken from the official Weibo)

However, judging from reviews on major social platforms, the feedback on the return of "Drunken Stride on the Road" can be described as polarized. Those who love the aroma of alcohol are conquered at first sip by this milk tea infused with Luzhou Laojiao; while customers who do not often drink complain that the alcohol taste is too prominent, and that when drinking it they can even clearly feel the pungency and stimulation of the baijiu, feeling that the alcohol flavor and milk flavor each go their own way, with poor integration.

Some consumers who are more sensitive to alcohol also said that after just a few sips their faces turned red and their heads felt dizzy, and they bluntly suggested the brand might as well change the name to "Drunken Stride Gets You Tipsy" instead, which would be more fitting.

As for the old fans longing to relive the taste of the past, many placed orders as soon as the new product launched, only to feel disappointed after drinking it: "Why isn't the one that returned the original Drunken Stride on the Road?", "Such a strong alcohol smell, completely different from before," "Not a trace of the original stunning feeling, and the taste is different too," "It's completely different from what I drank before," "Why does it feel like Drunken Stride on the Road isn't as good as before..."

In their memories, the original "Drunken Stride on the Road" was a tea drink in which the aroma of baijiu and the fragrance of milk blended and became one, and drinking it was like tasting a piece of rum-filled chocolate. However, the version returning to the market after five years apart makes people feel that "the alcohol aroma and the milk tea aroma refuse to give way to each other in the mouth," "not quite alcohol, not quite milk, not quite tea," clearly far from the flavor that lingered in their minds for so long.

Some consumers even suspect that the brand may have adjusted the formula without notice, which is why the flavor of the new "Drunken Stride on the Road" is so different from before.

However, some netizens hold a different view. They believe the change in taste of the new "Drunken Stride on the Road" may not necessarily be caused by a formula change, but could also be because the ingredients used to make the tea drink have changed compared with five years ago, or because the drinker's own taste preferences have quietly shifted over the five years, which is why the white moonlight that once stunned the times is no longer as beautiful as in memory.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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