What Went Wrong With the Luckin Coffee Matcha Cloud Top

Luckin Coffee's new "Triple Cheesy Thick Matcha" was pulled from sale at many stores shortly after launch. The matcha cloud top, whipped in stores and stored in the refrigerator ahead of opening, solidified instead of staying fluid, turning into a texture staff compared to dry yogurt or matcha cement. Some cups did not move even when turned upside down, so managers in several regions told stores to stop selling the drink.

The drink pairs thousand-mesh-grade matcha with a cloud top whipped fresh each day, and stores prepared it in advance before opening. Because the topping set hard during cold storage, orders were canceled and the item showed as discontinued, not because demand outpaced supply. The failure drew criticism of Luckin's research and development team from frontline employees, and the cause, whether formula or in-store process, remains unclear, leaving a gap in the daily coffee culture routine.

Luckin Coffee recently launched a new product, "Triple Cheesy Thick Matcha," featuring a combination of thousand-mesh-grade matcha and a daily freshly whipped matcha cloud top, attracting a large number of matcha lovers to place orders and try it out. However, not long after the new product hit the market, many consumers received notifications that their orders had been canceled by stores or that the item was shown as discontinued. The reason was not that demand exceeded supply, but that the matcha cloud top prepared in advance by stores developed an abnormal solidification after refrigeration—the milk cap that should have been fluid turned into a solid texture resembling dry choking yogurt or matcha cement, and even when the container was turned upside down, it did not move at all. Managers in many regions had to urgently notify stores to suspend sales depending on the situation. Was it a formula problem or an error in the operation process? Luckin's R&D department also came in for collective criticism from frontline employees.

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Yesterday morning, Luckin launched a new product called "Triple Cheesy Thick Matcha." According to the official description, the drink uses thousand-mesh-grade matcha as its base, topped with a matcha cloud top freshly whipped daily in stores, intended to present customers with a richly layered drinking experience.

(Image screenshot from the official Weibo)

As soon as news of the new product came out, it immediately ignited the enthusiasm of many matcha lovers. Many people placed orders as soon as it launched, happily waiting for delivery. However, according to feedback from some consumers, not long after ordering, they received notices that stores had canceled their orders, and some stores directly showed that the new product had been discontinued.

Faced with customers' questions, many Luckin store employees helplessly posted photos and videos to explain: the rapid suspension of "Triple Cheesy Thick Matcha" after launch was not because sales were too hot, but because the matcha cloud top on top of the drink encountered a situation no one had expected.

According to Luckin's morning-shift employees, the matcha cloud top they prepared in advance before opening for business, after being stored in the refrigerator for a period of time, actually turned from a flowable milk cap into a solid state. No matter how it was shaken, swung, or even turned upside down, the matcha cloud top stuck tightly to the bottom, not a single drop falling out.

Some store clerks initially thought they had made an operational mistake that caused the milk cap's texture to change, so they took out the ingredients again and made another batch strictly according to the formula provided by Luckin. But although the newly whipped matcha milk cap was fluid at first, once it was placed in the refrigerated fridge to sit for a while, the matcha cloud top that came out was still firmly solidified at the bottom of the container.

It should be pointed out that the abnormality in the finished matcha cloud top was not an isolated phenomenon. From the pictures and videos successively posted by Luckin employees, some of the matcha cloud tops they whipped had a texture similar to dry choking yogurt, some looked like darker-colored ice cream, and some were simply like "matcha cement," basically all being thick, solid states difficult to pour out. In addition, a small number of employees also reported that although the matcha cloud top they made could flow, it was as thin as water, far from the milk cap in their impression.

Because a large number of store staff reported that the finished matcha cloud top did not meet standards, managers in some regions had to urgently issue temporary notices after the new product went on sale, requiring stores to suspend sales of "Triple Cheesy Matcha" according to the actual situation, while summarizing and reporting the new product's production situation to Luckin headquarters.

With production failures frequently occurring just after the new product launched, Luckin's frontline workers, while analyzing the causes, could not help but raise questions: "Luckin R&D department, what were you actually thinking? Have you even made it yourself?" "Luckin, is this right?" "Did you not refrigerate it during R&D?" "Luckin, you call this a milk cap?!"

In their view, the main reason for the abnormal finished matcha cloud top this time lay in loopholes in the formula, production method, and milk cap storage and other links provided by the brand, which led to large-scale failures in the matcha cloud top made by store employees according to the operating instructions. Many even directly called out to Luckin's R&D staff: "R&D department, come to the frontline and make two cups yourself."

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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