Why Does Luckin's Short-Extraction Espresso Base Draw Complaints?

A Luckin insider leaked a preparation video for a new product, the Crazy Black Tea Latte, set to launch on November 24. The drink uses short-extraction espresso as its coffee base, and the news quickly sparked online debate. Many consumers argue the coffee liquid is only about 20 milliliters, so the coffee flavor is masked in tea-coffee drinks and the taste comes across as bland.

Some customers request a swap to Italian ristretto through order notes but are often refused by stores. Luckin outlets mainly use short-extraction espresso, Italian ristretto, and award-winning espresso; the company says short extraction takes only the first half of the shot for higher sweetness and fruity profiles. Even so, the espresso coffee ingredients choice has stayed unpopular with many users since launch.

A Luckin insider recently leaked on social media a new product scheduled to launch on November 24, the "Crazy Black Tea Latte." A preparation video shows the drink still uses short-extraction espresso as its coffee base, and the news quickly sparked heated discussion online. Many consumers expressed strong dissatisfaction with short-extraction espresso, arguing that its coffee liquid volume is only about 20 milliliters, and that when added to tea-coffee or fruit-coffee drinks, the coffee flavor is severely masked, leaving the taste as bland as water. Although some customers try to request a swap to Italian ristretto through order notes, they are often refused by stores. The controversy surrounding Luckin's choice of coffee base continues to intensify.

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Luckin insiders often take to social media immediately after the company releases news to leak upcoming new products in advance, sparking fans' anticipation and discussion about Luckin's new releases.

Recently, a Luckin employee shared a preparation video for the new product "Crazy Black Tea Latte," expected to launch on November 24, and remarked, "Luckin's new launch finally doesn't add new ingredients!" This quickly drew a large crowd of onlookers.

Interestingly, after watching the preparation process, netizens did not focus on the ingredient changes as the employee did, but instead zeroed in on the short-extraction espresso the staff member finally poured into the cup. "Why do they love short extraction so much," "Short extraction? Why short extraction?", "Why is Luckin so obsessed with short-extraction espresso," and some even said directly, "Seeing short extraction, I don't want to try it," "Anything with short extraction, I won't buy."

According to various information online, Luckin's physical stores currently mainly use short-extraction espresso, Italian ristretto, and award-winning espresso, among other espresso coffees. According to official explanations, short-extraction espresso extracts only the first half of the shot, offering higher sweetness and suiting those who prefer fruity flavor profiles.

However, since its launch, this espresso carefully formulated by the brand seems to have remained unpopular with Luckin users. It is understood that because it only takes the first half of the extraction, short-extraction espresso has a smaller coffee liquid volume compared with the store's other coffee bases, at only about 20 milliliters.

(Screenshot from the official mini-program)

Therefore, when short-extraction espresso is used to make tea-coffee, fruit-coffee, and other products, the original flavor of the coffee liquid is easily masked by ingredients such as milk, tea base, syrup, and fruit jam, leading many customers to report that they cannot taste the "coffee flavor" they expect from the drink, saying bluntly, "Today's short-extraction coffee is basically as bland as water."

To get a more pronounced coffee flavor, some customers develop the idea of switching the espresso liquid, but they cannot find an option to change the coffee base on the mini-program ordering interface, so they add a note when ordering, hoping staff can replace the standard short-extraction espresso with the Italian ristretto, which has more coffee liquid and a richer aroma. However, some netizens say that some staff refuse on the grounds that the recipe cannot be modified at will, so not every note succeeds in getting the espresso swapped.

For this reason, as soon as they learned that the upcoming new product uses short-extraction espresso as its base, many regulars could hardly hide their disappointment: "Short extraction again and again and again—I immediately lose any desire to try it." Some also admitted that ever since Luckin adjusted the coffee base of many drinks to short-extraction espresso, they no longer buy these drinks that taste "weak in coffee flavor," saying, "When they change short extraction to ristretto, I'll return to Luckin's embrace."

Some consumers also offered suggestions to Luckin, arguing that customers buying drinks have different tastes and that defaulting to short-extraction espresso makes it hard to meet some people's needs. They suggested Luckin could learn from other coffee brands by offering an "add an extra shot" option, or letting users choose their preferred coffee base on their own.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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