Why Does Americano Coffee Taste Bitter?

ChaPanda launched two plant-based drinks, Light & Refreshing Kale and Body-Cleansing Wheatgrass, in select regions on November 12 under its Super Veggie series. Wheatgrass, the tender stems and leaves of wheat, is the less familiar ingredient and drew most of the curiosity. Kale was already common in vegetable-and-fruit tea, so wheatgrass became the talking point.

The launch fits a wider shift in new tea, where brands build vegetable, fruit and tea combinations to stand out rather than compete on the same fruit flavors. Wheatgrass juice has a nutritional following from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and overseas, which gives the ingredient a reference point. First taster reactions, including joking comparisons from cat owners, shaped how the products were received online.

New tea beverage brands are all seeking differentiated breakthroughs in the "vegetable + fruit + tea" combinations, and ChaPanda recently launched its own Super Veggie series, rolling out two new products at once: "Light & Refreshing Kale" and "Body-Cleansing Wheatgrass." Kale is already a common sight in the fruit-and-vegetable tea space, but wheatgrass, a somewhat unfamiliar ingredient, has sparked curiosity and discussion among consumers. From ingredient pairings to taste experience, from cat owners' amusing associations to store employees' prep workload, this new product has stirred up quite a wave on social media. This article walks you through the ins and outs of ChaPanda's new plant-based tea launch, as well as the real feedback from the first batch of tasters.

Kale, bitter melon, cilantro, celery... Nowadays, more and more new tea beverage brands are adding various plants to their drinks, creating veggie tea series around innovative "vegetable + fruit + tea" combinations as they search for new directions in differentiated development.

Recently, ChaPanda fans were delighted to discover that they no longer need to make a special trip to other brands to get kale drinks. ChaPanda, known for fruit teas like mango pomelo sago, has finally gotten into plant-based teas—and not just one, but two new products at once.

According to ChaPanda's official announcement, on November 12 the company launched "Light & Refreshing Kale" and "Body-Cleansing Wheatgrass" in select regions, both belonging to the Super Veggie series. Compared to kale leaves, which are a tired staple in the fruit-and-vegetable tea world, what exactly is this wheatgrass that ChaPanda has dug up? Many curious minds promptly grabbed their phones and hit the search button.

Online encyclopedias show that wheatgrass, also known as wheat seedling, refers to the tender stems and leaves of wheat, looking similar to the grass you'd see everywhere along roadsides and in yards. There was once a time when fresh-pressed wheatgrass juice was popular overseas and in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan as part of a nutritional dietary culture.

Nevertheless, many people broke into a cold sweat over whether ChaPanda's R&D staff could keep their jobs—after all, a creative idea like making customers chew on grass could easily backfire if people refuse to turn into cows, leading to poor sales and a pink slip.

However, after studying the ingredient list of "Body-Cleansing Wheatgrass," some netizens remarked that ChaPanda's R&D team actually has a strong survival instinct. It turns out that although the product name features the rustic word "grass," the wheatgrass is actually freshly pressed together with apple and pineapple, combined with a jasmine snow bud tea base—it doesn't look like it would be a dark cuisine disaster at all.

After some mental preparation, wheatgrass finally welcomed its first wave of tasters. These brave souls, after ordering and taking a sip, couldn't wait to post photos on social media and share their "grass-chewing" experiences.

Some thought this cup of "wheatgrass" tasted quite novel—slightly bitter but very refreshing, suitable for sipping slowly. After finishing, there's a grassy taste in the mouth, and people who usually drink Americanos should enjoy this beverage.

Some netizens said they came specifically to try the grass, but when the drink arrived with a default slight sweetness, the initial grassy flavor was fairly mild, and what emerged in the latter half was actually a kiwi taste—slightly sour, which counts as a peculiar experience.

What's more dramatic is that "wheatgrass" also caught the attention of cat owners. Many cat owners said, isn't this just the cat grass that their feline masters have been craving? No wonder it looked so familiar—they use this same grass to feed their cats. Cat owners also wondered aloud whether they could order the new product and then ask ChaPanda to throw in some cat grass, since growing it themselves easily gets moldy. With just a few comments, ChaPanda instantly transformed from a tea beverage brand into a pet food brand—the atmosphere was quite hilarious.

However, while customers are amused, ChaPanda's employees will likely face the tedious ingredient prep process for fruit-and-vegetable teas in the days ahead, spending their shifts from opening time endlessly washing grass and pressing grass.

Image source: Internet

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