What Are the Ingredients of This Milk Tea Trend?

Yidiandian, also written A Little Tea, launched a nationwide drink called Fentiao Naiwu, which adds fentiao starch noodles as a topping to an oolong milk tea base. A large cup sells for 16 yuan. Official copy tells customers to sip noodles while drinking milk tea, and the poster shows chopsticks lifting the noodles.

The product fits a fast-moving new tea market where light milk tea, fruit tea, floral tea and vegetable tea keep arriving. Fentiao is a starch-based topping rather than a tea or dairy ingredient, which is what set off the online discussion. Coffee is simpler by comparison: what are the ingredients of coffee is essentially coffee beans and water, nothing more.

The pace of innovation in the new tea beverage industry is dizzying, with new products like light milk tea, fruit tea, floral tea, and vegetable tea emerging one after another. Recently, the long-established tea brand Yidiandian launched a new product called "Fentiao Naiwu," which adds the specialty topping fentiao (starch noodles) to an oolong milk tea base, priced at 16 yuan for a large cup, quickly sparking heated discussions online. The official promotional copy bluntly states "sip noodles while drinking milk tea," and the poster even features chopsticks lifting the fentiao, making people exclaim that milk tea has evolved beyond recognition. This article will introduce the features of this new product, consumer feedback, and market controversies, while Front Street Coffee also interprets the industry logic behind this cross-border attempt for you.

In recent years, innovation in the types of beverages in the new tea industry has been changing with each passing day. In addition to traditional milk tea and coffee, the R&D departments of major brands are all striving to introduce new products, with light milk tea, fruit tea, floral tea, vegetable tea, and various other new items hitting the market one after another, dazzling tea lovers and forcing them to keep opening their wallets to experience all kinds of wonderful combinations.

Recently, the long-dormant old tea brand Yidiandian suddenly launched a new topping product, attracting the attention of many Yidiandian fans, who spread the news to each other, with greetings turning into "Have you 'slurped' Yidiandian today?"

It is understood that this new product launched nationwide by Yidiandian is called "Fentiao Naiwu," which puts the specialty topping fentiao into an oolong milk tea base, priced at 16 yuan for a large cup.

When many people first saw this name online, they couldn't believe it was really the brand's naming, but the official account did indeed write it that way, and the accompanying promotional copy was even more shocking, with admiration for it flowing endlessly like the mighty river.

Look, in the promotional copy for this topping, Yidiandian bluntly writes "Brand-new awesome topping: fentiao," "Sip noodles while drinking milk tea, a cup of milk tea brings double happiness." Netizens exclaimed that they understand the joy of a bowl of noodles with a cup of milk tea, but Yidiandian just putting noodles into milk tea for people to "slurp" is somewhat baffling.

Even more astonishing is that the official promotional poster released by Yidiandian features a pose of "picking up fentiao with chopsticks," giving the impression of transitioning from a milk tea shop to a noodle restaurant, sparking heated discussions among netizens.

"Milk tea has finally evolved into something I don't recognize!" "Noodles in my milk tea? Even a noodle lover like me would call the police!" "Huh? From tomorrow on, are we supposed to have chopsticks with milk tea?" "Although I know it's definitely not the hot pot fentiao in the milk tea, the name fentiao makes it hard not to think of the kind for hot pot," netizens commented one after another.

Fentiao with milk tea, although people were surprised by this new combination launched by Yidiandian, they couldn't resist the novelty, and this pairing ultimately piqued fans' curiosity, prompting them to place orders and try it.

Netizens who ordered and tried it said that this fentiao is not the sweet potato fentiao used for hot pot, but made from tapioca starch, overall chewy, similar to the previous topping boba, just different in shape. Also, there's no need to prepare chopsticks for this drink, because Yidiandian has thoughtfully sized the fentiao to match a thick straw, so consumers don't need to worry about not being able to suck it up.

Regarding the new fentiao, on social media, fans have started spontaneously recommending it, creating 101 ways to eat it: "Wash with clean water multiple times until no milk tea remains, add chili oil and aged vinegar, and Yidiandian-brand hot and sour noodles are born," "Cold mixed fentiao with Lao Gan Ma, simply amazing," the scene is quite joyful. Later, the Yidiandian Changsha official account also joined in, showing a photo of "stir-fried pork with chili and mixed fentiao," riding another wave of traffic.

However, some consumers say that instead of crossing borders to compete with noodle shops and making things that are neither tea nor noodles, Yidiandian would be better off honestly sticking to old products, controlling costs, and maintaining prices, which would naturally earn a group of loyal fans. Otherwise, with other brands offering 9.9 low prices plus premium ingredients, the new product's price of nearly 20 yuan will still lose some customer groups.

Image source: Internet

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