Menu changes at Ancient Tea raise questions about coffee expansion

Some customers have noticed that a signature milk tea at Ancient Tea is no longer available in certain stores, while the menu now includes more coffee drinks such as Americanos and lattes. Although the item has not been removed nationwide, some locations have stopped selling it because ingredients are unavailable. The change has led to complaints from longtime customers who feel the brand is moving away from its tea roots. Many have taken to social media to share similar experiences.

The incident highlights a broader challenge for chain tea brands expanding into coffee: balancing new offerings with the expectations of their original customer base. As specialty coffee culture grows, companies may feel pressure to adapt, but longtime patrons often worry that classic drinks will disappear. Observations from Front Street Coffee suggest that successful transitions require careful attention to both new and loyal customers, ensuring that menu evolution does not alienate those who built the brand.

Recently, some consumers have reported that when ordering at Guming stores, they found that the signature product "Uncle Milk Tea" was no longer available, and at the same time, the milk tea category on the menu had noticeably shrunk, replaced by a variety of coffee drinks. This change quickly sparked discussion on social media, with many longtime customers saying there were fewer and fewer milk tea options, and that the brand's focus seemed to be shifting toward coffee. Although it was verified that "Uncle Milk Tea" has not been removed from the menu nationwide, it is true that some stores have stopped selling it due to a shortage of ingredients. Consumers have become doubtful about Guming's transformation direction of "turning a milk tea shop into a coffee shop," worrying that classic tea drinks are gradually disappearing. This article sorts through the course of the incident and feedback from netizens, explores how chain tea beverage brands can balance the expectations of their original customer base when expanding into the coffee business, and includes related observations from Front Street Coffee.

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Recently, a customer walked into a Guming store wanting to order a cup of the signature "Uncle Milk Tea," only to learn from the staff that this drink had been removed from the menu. At the same time, the consumer noticed that the store's new menu had far fewer milk tea varieties, with several familiar milk teas and fruit teas nowhere to be seen, while new categories such as Americano, latte, and specialty coffee had been added. Faced with this dramatically changed menu, the netizen could not help but exclaim, "At first glance, it's all coffee."

Unexpectedly, after this post was published, it quickly resonated with many Guming users. It is understood that "Uncle Milk Tea" has long been a permanent item on Guming's menu and can be considered a "veteran-level milk tea," so many people felt it was unlikely that the brand would remove such a signature product.

After netizens from various places verified with one another, it was confirmed that "Uncle Milk Tea" has actually not been removed from the menu nationwide, and some stores can still take orders for it. The situation encountered by the poster was most likely that some stores lacked ingredients and could only temporarily remove several milk teas they could not make from the menu.

Even so, after seeing the post, many longtime customers said they had had similar experiences and felt that Guming now offered increasingly limited milk tea choices, "pushing coffee all day long," "one look at the menu and everything is discontinued," "the same few items every day." This left consumers who prefer milk tea rather helpless, saying bluntly, "Now when I open Guming, I don't even know what to drink," and "Everything I want to drink is gone."

In the eyes of many longtime customers, Guming's milk teas and fruit teas each have their own merits. Products such as milk tea with grass jelly and paoluda became favorites for many people as soon as they were launched. Even though these signature drinks have been removed from the menu, they are still the white moonlight that fans cannot forget. But in the past two years, the brand seems to have shifted the focus of its new products to the coffee category, and netizens also report often seeing advertisements for "Guming Coffee" on social media, while promotion of tea drinks has become rare.

Some users pointed out that compared with before, Guming has developed fewer new milk tea and fruit tea products recently. "For an entire summer, there wasn't even a single basic watermelon category item." As a result, fans who had expectations for the brand admitted frankly that they were disappointed with the brand after waiting in vain for their favorite drinks, and turned to other milk tea shops to meet their needs.

In the face of these signs, some people began to wonder, "Has Guming changed its R&D team?" and "Why would a milk tea shop turn into a coffee shop?" It is understandable for a chain brand to develop new business based on current market consumer demand. But netizens believe that most consumers came to know Guming through products such as milk tea and fruit tea, and their impression of it has always remained that of a "milk tea shop."

Therefore, in their view, Guming removing many best-selling milk teas and instead promoting coffee drinks inevitably makes people feel that the brand is "chasing the trivial and neglecting the fundamental," and they believe this approach may cause customers who originally loved tea drinks to stop buying Guming products, thereby leading to customer loss.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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