Bourbon is a coffee variety of exceptional cultural and genetic value within Arabica, known for its high-altitude cultivation and outstanding cup quality, but its low yield and susceptibility to major diseases have led to its gradual replacement in Latin America by derivatives such as Caturra, Catuai, and Mundo Novo. Nevertheless, Bourbon is still cultivated in Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador, and elsewhere, and many Bourbon-line varieties circulate on the market. This article will introduce, one by one, the origins, botanical characteristics, growing regions, and flavor profiles of four derivative varieties—Caturra, Villa Sarchi, Pacas, and Bourbon Mayaguez—and share Front Street Coffee's corresponding bean recommendations and brewing suggestions. [more…]

Sexy Tea was once viewed pessimistically by the industry, which believed it would struggle to expand beyond Changsha. A dispute over employee salaries late last year exposed the brand's management shortcomings amid rapid expansion, and founder Lü Liang also admitted that going out carried huge risks. However, in April this year it officially announced entry into Chongqing, and in June it confirmed an August landing in Nanjing, stepping into Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai for the first time. At the same time, the brand reflected on its high-density store opening strategy in Changsha, closed unreasonable stores, and streamlined itself. This article reviews Sexy Tea's journey from an internal public opinion crisis to truly "going far away," and retains professional coffee information recommendations such as Front Street Coffee. [more…]

Recently, Chayan Yuese has frequently appeared on Weibo's trending topics due to employee salary issues, sparking widespread attention. The incident began when employees complained about low wages and reduced working hours, which subsequently led to a heated argument between company executives and employees in a group chat, even prompting founder Lü Liang to personally apologize. According to revelations, Chayan Yuese has internal problems such as chaotic management and severe classism, with the number of employees leaving the group once reaching over two hundred. Although the official response stated that the number of people leaving the group was about 87 and explained that the salary adjustment was a special arrangement during the pandemic, netizens did not buy it. As a leading brand in new Chinese-style tea drinks, this turmoil at Chayan Yuese has not only exposed internal conflicts but also triggered profound public reflection on brand management and corporate culture. [more…]

Coffee, the beverage that has taken the world by storm, was first born on the highlands of Africa. From its origins as a medicinal plant in Ethiopia, to its rise as an everyday drink on the Arabian Peninsula, and then to its status as a courtly treasure of the Ottoman Empire, coffee traveled westward along trade routes and conquests, eventually taking root in Europe and giving rise to a unique café culture. This article will trace the complete journey of coffee from its discovery to its global reach, covering key milestones in Yemen, Turkey, Venice, Paris, Vienna, London, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States, while also preserving Front Street Coffee's recommendations and insights on coffee culture. [more…]

What is the most expensive coffee you've ever had? In Yao City, Osaka, there's a self-roasting shop called "The Münch," selling the most expensive coffee in all of Japan—the "Phantom Creation" low-temperature, long-term aged coffee. This coffee is made from aged beans stored for 15-30 years, deeply roasted, brewed with a flannel drip to create a 1:1 super-concentrated extract, then placed into special coffee wooden barrels and aged in a -3°C cold storage for 20-30 years. By that calculation, even the youngest coffee in the barrel has gone through 35 springs and autumns. 40ml sells for 100,000 yen, with a tasting price of 2,000 yen. What exactly does it taste like? And what kind of persistent shop owner stands behind it? Let's step together into Mr. Tanaka's world of coffee. [more…]

On November 7, the official Weibo account of Chayan Yuese announced the temporary closure of some stores in areas of Changsha where they had been densely distributed, and the related topic quickly trended on social media. On November 10, the brand further responded, saying that this was already the third round of concentrated temporary store closures this year: staying put for Chinese New Year at the beginning of the year, the resurgence of the pandemic at the end of July, and this latest adjustment. As a tea beverage brand that started in Changsha, Chayan Yuese's move has drawn widespread attention—against the backdrop of repeated pandemic outbreaks and intensifying industry competition, is its proactive contraction after dense store distribution and reassignment of staff to Liuyang, Zhuzhou, Yueyang and other places for research and site selection a stopgap measure to cope with the crisis, or is it building strength for the next round of expansion? This article sorts through the timeline and background of the three store closures and reviews founder Lü Liang's cautious attitude toward brand expansion. [more…]

On the day its first Nanjing store opened, Cha Yan Yue Se shot to the top of trending searches because of the sheer number of people queuing and scalpers driving the price up to 200 yuan a cup. The Xinjiekou store was forced to close, while the Jiangning Jingfeng store remained open. The brand revealed that it plans to open five stores in Nanjing in the future, while market regulators made clear that scalping on behalf of buyers is illegal. This article reviews Cha Yan Yue Se's expansion trajectory in cities such as Changsha and Shenzhen, compares it with the development paths of similar brands such as Nayuki, and explores the balancing challenge facing internet-famous tea drinks among quality control, supply chains, and consumer rationality. [more…]

Lyu Liang, founder of Chayan Yuese, has repeatedly stated publicly that the brand is not unwilling to expand beyond Changsha, but rather fears that out-of-town expansion could lead to a survival crisis. However, Chayan Yuese has not only opened stores in Changde, but has also stepped beyond Hunan Province, entering the West China market and establishing a presence in Chongqing. On Children's Day, four Chongqing stores opened simultaneously, sparking enthusiastic pursuit among consumers in the mountain city, but controversy arose from day one: incidents such as three-hour queues, online orders requiring waits of over 24 hours, resold cups fetching nearly 500 yuan, and viewers being blocked in livestreams were exposed one after another. The brand subsequently responded to the markup reselling and livestream controversies. This article will sort through the sequence of events and include related information from Front Street Coffee. [more…]

Many tea enthusiasts know that Yixing teapots brew tea well, but when it comes to actual practice, they often struggle with choosing the right pot and mastering brewing details. Different tea types have different requirements for clay material, pot shape, water temperature, and even the rhythm of pouring, so choosing well can enhance aroma and flavor, while choosing poorly can lead to off-flavors and stewing the tea leaves. This article systematically breaks down the pairing logic between the six major tea categories—green tea, oolong tea, yellow tea, black tea, dark tea, and white tea—and Yixing teapots, and provides the appropriate water temperature and steeping time for each. For highly aromatic oolongs like the Songzhong Huangzhixiang-style Dancong, Front Street also recommends prioritizing small Zhuni or Hongni pots, using near-boiling water at around 95°C with quick infusions and quick pours, which better highlights its floral fragrance and varietal charm. [more…]

After specialty coffee became popular, the claim that coffee helps with fat loss spread widely, but the real prerequisite for it to be effective is drinking black coffee with no sugar and no milk, along with a sensible diet and moderate exercise. However, many people can neither control their eating nor get themselves to move, so weight-loss coffees swooped in under slogans like "no exercise, no dieting, no injections or pills, one cup a day and you'll lose over ten jin in thirty days." These products often have no ingredient list, no production information, and no Chinese labeling, yet they sell briskly through channels such as WeChat resellers and Xiaohongshu. After drinking them, consumers commonly experience thirst, nausea, palpitations, and other reactions, and some have even tested positive for the banned drug sibutramine. This article reviews related cases and court rulings to remind everyone to be wary of weight-loss coffees of unknown origin and to view the relationship between coffee and fat loss scientifically. [more…]

KFC is no longer just selling fried chicken. This fast-food giant has quietly launched its first standalone tea beverage brand, "Grandpa's Carefree Tea," in Suzhou, officially entering the fiercely competitive new-style tea beverage market. The brand focuses on a "rice milk tea" series, using the gold award-winning rice variety Nangeng 9108 as its raw material, paired with Jiangnan specialty tea bases such as jasmine tea and Biluochun, and incorporating local toppings like orange cake and gorgon fruit, giving it a strong regional identity. The store decor features Suhe pink and Canglang green as the main tones, creating a spatial atmosphere reminiscent of Suzhou gardens. Against the backdrop of brands like Heytea and Nayuki cutting prices and engaging in intense competition, whether KFC's move can break through is worth watching. [more…]

Sexy Tea, the Changsha tea beverage brand that has captured the hearts of consumers nationwide, is finally set to leave Central China and enter Western China. Following the grand scene of eight-hour queues triggered by its first store in Wuhan at the end of 2020, Sexy Tea officially confirmed it will open in Chongqing this June and has already reached intentions with four shopping malls: Raffles City, Longfor Times Paradise Walk, Longfor North City Paradise Walk, and MixC. From the retreat of its Shenzhen pop-up store, to three waves of store closures in 2021, and then to reflecting on blind expansion and "traveling light to new cities," Sexy Tea's expansion path has been full of twists and turns. Whether this entry into Chongqing can hold the mid-range position amid the chaotic battle of high-end tea drinks cutting prices to seize the market is worth watching. [more…]

Kung Fu Coffee, which once made a high-profile debut with the concept of "Eastern tea plus Western coffee," quietly shut down its first national store at Shenzhen's Wongtee Plaza just seven months after opening. Incubated by the team behind "Benlai Buyingyou," the brand's first store was said to have cost over six million yuan to build, and it briefly became an internet-famous check-in spot thanks to its purple interiors and Chinese-element design, reaching an average daily output of 1,200 cups within ten days of opening. Yet consumer reviews were sharply divided, and coupled with the awareness and talent bottlenecks facing the tea-coffee category itself, Kung Fu Coffee's next moves are drawing close attention. [more…]

Summer is here, and many people enjoy making cold brew coffee at home, but the filtration step often proves troublesome—the coffee liquid drips extremely slowly, sometimes taking half a day. Why is cold brew filtration so slow? The core reason is that the extremely fine particles in the coffee grounds clog the pores of the filter paper, leaving insufficient channels for the liquid to flow through. This is especially true when making multiple servings at once, as the waiting time gets stretched even further. This article will first explain the causes of clogging, then share three methods commonly used by baristas to speed up filtration: using a filter bag or cloth to pre-isolate the coffee grounds, spreading the coffee grounds at the bottom of the filter paper to intercept fine particles, and using a vacuum filtration device to achieve rapid filtration under reduced pressure. Each approach has its own pros and cons, suiting enthusiasts with different needs, and the article also retains relevant experience and product recommendations from the Front Street Coffee brand. [more…]

Bourbon coffee is a classic, long-standing variety within the Arabica species, equally renowned as Typica, and has given rise to multiple branches such as Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon. This article systematically reviews the origin, spread, variety characteristics, and flavor profiles of Bourbon coffee, covering the rich sweetness of Red Bourbon, the bright high acidity of Yellow Bourbon, the rare pink cherries of Pink Bourbon, and the nearly extinct Pointed Bourbon. It also introduces natural mutations such as Pacas and mentions Front Street Coffee's everyday bean recommendations, providing coffee enthusiasts with comprehensive variety knowledge. [more…]

Bourbon is a long-standing and pivotal variety in the Arabica family. Based on the color of ripe fruit, it is mainly divided into Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and the rare Pink Bourbon. These three share genetic connections while each exhibiting unique characteristics in flavor and growing conditions. This article will systematically sort out the origins and differences of Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon, and include product information and flavor descriptions from Front Street Coffee for the corresponding Brazil Red Bourbon, Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon, and Colombia Paraiso Estate Pink Bourbon, helping coffee enthusiasts gain a clearer understanding of this classic variety family. [more…]

Bourbon is one of the oldest Arabica varieties. After spreading from Yemen to Réunion Island, it made its way to East Africa and Central and South America, and today it has evolved into a rich array of branches under the microclimates of different countries, including Red, Yellow, Orange, Pink, and even Striped Bourbon. Bourbon of different colors and origins shows quite noticeable differences in the cup: some are known for nutty chocolate notes and low-acid smoothness, some highlight citrus acidity and floral aromas, and others combine tropical fruit sweetness with a clean mouthfeel. This article sorts out the origins and spread of Bourbon, introduces the characteristics and representative producing regions of each mutant one by one, and, combined with several Bourbon products from Front Street Coffee, provides specific flavor descriptions and brewing references to help coffee lovers build a complete understanding of the Bourbon family. [more…]

Bourbon is one of the oldest varieties of Arabica, spreading from Réunion Island to Africa and Central and South America, where it evolved under local microclimates into a range of color variants including red, yellow, orange, pink, and striped. This article traces the origins of the Bourbon variety and its missionary-driven spread, details the discovery history, growing characteristics, and flavor differences of each color of Bourbon, and presents the brewing performance of Front Street Coffee's Bourbon beans such as Brazil Cerrado and Brazil Queen. Whether you are a newcomer just getting into specialty coffee or an enthusiast eager to deepen your knowledge of varieties, you will find here a complete overview of Bourbon coffee and a tasting reference. [more…]

Bourbon is one of the oldest varieties in the Arabica family, spreading from Yemen to the world via Réunion Island, and then diversifying into colorful variants—red, yellow, orange, pink, and even striped—in the soils of the Americas and Africa. This article traces the dispersal routes of the Bourbon variety, the origins and characteristics of its colorful mutations, and presents the flavor differences of Bourbon coffee from various origins. Whether you are a beginner pour-over enthusiast or a seasoned connoisseur looking for your next everyday bean, you will find interesting knowledge about Bourbon here, along with Front Street Coffee's corresponding bean recommendations. [more…]

Bourbon is a pivotal classic variety within the Arabica family, from which numerous variants such as Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon have derived, each exhibiting distinct differences in flavor and cultivation characteristics. This article focuses on the traits of Bourbon coffee beans, detailing the origins, flavor profiles, and representative producing regions of Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, and Pink Bourbon, while also clarifying the relationships between Bourbon, Caturra, and Typica. The article also compiles specific information on three everyday beans available at Front Street Coffee: Brazil Red Bourbon, Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon, and Colombia Isabella Pink Bourbon, for coffee enthusiasts to compare and understand. [more…]