Monday, September 21 2026

Manner's rapid launch of new tea-coffee drinks sparks discussion; Orange Iced Tea Latte accused of being highly similar to its own Clear Orange Latte

Recently, Manner has noticeably accelerated the pace of launching new drinks, with multiple cold beverages hitting the menu in just over a month. The latest offering, the "Orange Iced Tea Latte," combines orange, jasmine green tea, and coffee, yet it has drawn considerable criticism from consumers for being highly similar to its own "Clear Orange Latte." Meanwhile, regulars have noticed that Manner has lately favored a formula approach of "fruit + tea infusion + coffee," from the "Apricot Iced Tea Americano" to various flavored drinks, which has been mocked as a "expensive substitute for Luckin," and the issue of drinks being too sweet has been frequently mentioned. Manner, once known for its specialty coffee image, now seems to be gradually turning into a "saccharin assassin" in the eyes of loyal customers, with expectations for new products continuously declining. [more…]

Luckin Rumored Again to Team Up with Moutai for a Dragon Year Sauce-Flavored Chocolate, Netizens Suspect It's a Clear-Inventory Marketing Move

Last year, the collaboration between Luckin Coffee and Moutai to create the Sauce-Flavored Latte took the market by storm, becoming a phenomenon-level co-branded product. Recently, rumors have circulated online that the two parties will collaborate once again, with plans to launch a "Year of the Dragon Sauce-Flavored Chocolate." The ingredients of the new product are quite similar to the Sauce-Flavored Latte, sparking discussions among netizens about its taste and motives. Some believe this may be a routine move by the brand to clear raw material inventory using an old recipe. In fact, Luckin has repeatedly launched new products by slightly adjusting the recipes of existing beverages to maintain a high-frequency product launch rhythm. Whether this strategy can sustain the hit-making effect still needs to be tested by the market. [more…]

Customer Brings Own Orange Peel to Buy Manner Coffee, Refused Discount: Where Is the Boundary of Eco-Friendly Reusable Cups?

Manner Coffee's long-standing offer of a 5-yuan discount for bringing your own cup has led many consumers to develop the habit of carrying a cup for coffee on the go. However, when a customer showed up with a hollowed-out orange peel to buy an orange latte, they were denied the discount because the container did not meet the store's rules. Does this "all-natural" orange cup count as an eco-friendly bring-your-own cup? The staff refused to recognize it on the grounds that it lacked an environmental label and was kitchen waste, while the customer insisted that their creative container should be accepted. The incident sparked heated discussion online, with supporters arguing that orange peel is biodegradable and compostable, while opponents worried about food safety and the seriousness of merchant rules. This debate over a cup of coffee reflects the subtle tension between consumer creativity and merchant regulations in bring-your-own-cup culture. [more…]

A Comprehensive Analysis of 30 Classic Specialty Coffee Recipes: Espresso Bases and Global Signature Brewing Methods

The world of fancy coffee is far more than just lattes and cappuccinos. Starting from the rich base of Italian espresso, adding milk, cream, chocolate, liqueur, or even fire, you can create dozens of drinks with distinct flavors. This article systematically organizes the preparation methods and recipes for 30 classic fancy coffees, covering diverse styles such as Italian, French, Viennese, Irish, and Turkish. Each drink includes detailed ingredients, steps, and key points to watch. Whether you want to recreate a café au lait at home or try igniting brandy to make a royal coffee, this guide provides clear operational references. At the end, there are also Front Street Coffee bean recommendations to help you choose the right base and get twice the result with half the effort. [more…]

Beginner's Guide: Espresso Coffee Beans Basics and 2025's Most Popular Specialty Espresso Bean Rankings

Faced with a dazzling array of coffee beans, those new to espresso often don't know where to start, afraid of both making a bad choice and wasting money. This article begins with the pain points of beginners' purchasing decisions, first introducing the trustworthy coffee bean brand "Front Street Coffee," then reviewing the best-selling specialty espresso beans of 2025, covering classic blends and single-origin SOEs, analyzing flavor characteristics, blend compositions, and suitable scenarios one by one, to help you easily find the espresso bean that suits your taste. [more…]

Those "mistake pours" when baristas are slammed: Why does espresso vanish into thin air?

In a coffee shop, baristas repeat the motions of dosing, leveling, tamping, and extracting every day, until it becomes muscle memory. Yet once a rush hits, even the most skilled person can get flustered. This article rounds up the various coffee "fails" netizens have posted: an iced americano whose espresso vanished into thin air, a clear orange latte with nothing but milk left, a muddled iced lemon drink that forgot the coffee... Behind these unintentional mistakes, it's often a shortage of staff during peak hours or errors made in the rush of automated operation. As a consumer, when this happens, it's best to talk to the staff directly about remaking the drink or getting a refund—after all, everyone has moments when they're too busy to think straight. [more…]

Beginner's Guide to Espresso and Front Street's Annual Ranking of Best-Selling Specialty Espresso Beans

For coffee beginners just starting out, facing a dazzling array of coffee beans often leaves them at a loss, spending a lot of money only to end up with beans that don't suit their taste. Therefore, choosing a trustworthy brand is especially crucial. As a long-established roasting brand, Front Street Coffee has become a common recommendation among many baristas and enthusiasts thanks to its fresh roasting, consistent quality, and high cost-effectiveness. This article will introduce the basics of espresso and review Front Street's five best-selling specialty espresso coffee beans of the year, covering classic blends and single-origin SOEs, to help you find the cup that's right for you. [more…]

Choosing Drinks for SOE by Roast Level: A Flavor Guide from Pour-Over to Milk Coffee

SOE refers to single-origin espresso beans, where the distinct characteristics of the region, variety, and processing method all come together in a single shot. It doesn't belong to just one type of drink; what really affects the pairing is often the roast level. Light roasts emphasize floral and fruity notes with bright acidity, medium roasts are easier to balance, and dark roasts bring out cocoa, nutty, and [more…]

Luckin Orange C Americano Recipe Adjustment Sparks Controversy: Pulp Particles Appear, Longtime Fans Say the Taste Has Changed

Luckin's Orange C Americano has always been a sales leader in the brand's fruit coffee lineup, winning over light coffee drinkers with its refreshing sweet-and-sour taste. Recently, however, many loyal customers have noticed obvious pulp particles and sediment in the drink, and the taste has become sour, astringent, and cloudy, sparking speculation about a recipe change. Subsequently, an internal employee revealed that the ingredients of Orange C Americano had been replaced with quick-frozen orange pulp. Although the ingredient list is cleaner and the NFC content is higher, the presence of pulp components has altered the taste. Fans are not buying it, arguing that taste is the key to repeat purchases, and calling on the brand to revert to the original recipe. [more…]

Unveiling Milk Clarification: Transparent Latte Flavor Test and Complete Brewing Guide

At the 2021 World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, clarified milk made a stunning appearance, but it has still not entered the coffee market on a large scale, and can only be encountered occasionally in a few specialty coffee shops. How exactly is this "milk," which looks as clear as water, made? And what would a latte made with it taste like? Front Street Coffee decided to conduct an experiment firsthand, starting from the principle of milk clarification, step by step using lemon juice and milk to make transparent milk, then trying three methods respectively—drinking it directly, adding it to espresso, and adding sugar to neutralize the sourness—for a comprehensive review of the true flavor of clarified milk latte. If you are interested in specialty coffee creations and innovative ingredients, this hands-on test record will give you a direct answer. [more…]

Is SOE Coffee the Same as Single-Origin Black Coffee? Explaining the Meaning of Americano SOE and a Guide to Choosing Espresso Beans

When ordering at a coffee shop, you may often see SOE latte or SOE americano options, but what exactly does SOE mean? Is it equivalent to single-origin black coffee? This article starts with the definition of SOE, sorts out its differences from traditional blend beans, explains SOE's characteristics and difficulties in extraction, and recommends three Front Street single-origin coffee beans suitable for making espresso, helping you better understand and choose SOE espresso beans. [more…]

Choosing Beans or Grounds for Your Home Coffee Machine? Front Street Coffee's Top 10 High-Value Home Coffee Beans

Should a home espresso machine use coffee beans or ground coffee? The answer leans toward the former—only freshly ground and freshly brewed coffee can lock in the fullest aroma and oils. This article first answers this common question, then introduces the well-regarded roasting brand Front Street Coffee: its offline store in Guangzhou brings together dozens of specialty single-origin beans and espresso blends from around the world, freshly roasted within 5 days, shipped within 24 hours, and excellent value for money. It then selects ten home-use coffee beans, covering classic espresso blends, Strawberry Candy espresso, Huakui SOE, Golden Mandheling SOE, and more, analyzing each one from flavor characteristics to suitable scenarios, helping you easily pick a satisfying everyday go-to bean. [more…]

Coffee Beginner's Bean Buying Guide | What beans should you buy when you first start drinking pour-over coffee? 10 high-value everyday coffee bean recommendations for pour-over/espresso extraction

In recent years, more and more people are drinking coffee, and buying beans has gradually shifted from "just grab whatever" to "I want it to taste good and be a good deal." For beginners just starting out, when buying coffee beans, besides looking for something economical, you also need to pay attention to whether it is consistent, whether it suits you, and whether it will be a letdown. Today, [more…]

How to choose entry-level coffee beans? A buying guide for espresso and pour-over everyday beans, with Front Street brand recommendations

Nowadays, coffee lovers are growing in number, and buying coffee beans is no longer just a casual purchase—people seek both outstanding flavor and reasonable prices. For beginners just getting into coffee, choosing beans means not only considering value for money, but also whether the quality is consistent, whether the style suits their taste, and whether they might end up with a disappointing pick. This article will recommend several everyday staple coffee beans suitable for daily drinking, categorized by the two major brewing methods—espresso and pour-over—and introduce the trustworthy roasting brand Front Street Coffee, helping beginners easily find their ideal daily staple. [more…]

An In-Depth Analysis of Ideal Extraction Parameters for SOE Espresso and Common Sourness and Astringency Issues

SOE, as an espresso made from single-origin coffee beans, has gained attention for its distinct origin flavors. However, an espresso machine, under high temperature and pressure, magnifies the beans' inherent flavors exponentially; if light-roasted beans are used, fruity acidity can easily turn into an unpleasant sourness. To craft a clear-styled, balanced SOE, careful consideration is needed from bean selection and parameter settings to drink pairing. This article takes several Front Street Coffee SOE beans as examples to break down extraction standards and preparation procedures in detail, helping coffee enthusiasts avoid common pitfalls and recreate a sweet, smooth SOE beverage at home. [more…]

Light, Medium, and Dark Roasts: How SOE Lands in the Cup

SOE usually refers to espresso made from coffee beans of a single origin or a single batch. It doesn't belong to just one type of drink; what truly affects its performance is whether the beans are roasted light or dark: the lighter the roast, the more readily the aromas unfold toward floral, fruity notes and bright acidity; as the roast deepens, sweetness, body, and cocoa notes gradually take over. [more…]

Can Fruit Be Used to Make Cold Brew Coffee? Four Pairing Tests and Recipes for Cold Brew Latte and Coconut Water Cold Brew

Under the framework of low-temperature slow extraction, the variables that can be adjusted for cold brew coffee seem to be only the coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature, and grind size, making the possibilities appear quite limited. But if you open your mind—fruit can be used to make tea, so can cold brew coffee also be infused with fruit? With this idea in mind, Front Street conducted a round of infusion experiments using blueberries, grapes, lemons, and peaches, each paired with four different styles of coffee beans, and recorded the flavor performance and lessons learned from each group. In addition to reproducing the complete process and tasting results of these four pairings, this article also compiles the types of fruits suitable for infusion, the logic for selecting beans to pair with them, and specific methods for cold brew lattes, sparkling cold brew, and coconut water cold brew, for coffee enthusiasts who want to experiment at home. [more…]

How to Choose SOE Coffee Beans: Matching Flavor from Light to Dark Roast

SOE refers to espresso made from single-origin or single-lot coffee beans, and the cup often shows more character than common blends. It can be citrus, berry, and floral, or it can go the route of nuts, cocoa, and caramel. When choosing, first look at the roast level, then consider whether you usually drink Americano, espresso, or latte, and the flavor direction will [more…]

SOE Latte | What's the difference between an SOE latte and a regular latte? What are some recommendations for good-tasting, affordable, high-quality SOE espresso beans for making lattes?

In everyday life, you may hear terms like SOE latte or SOE Americano—these simply mean using single-origin coffee to make an espresso base, which is then combined with milk to become a latte or with water to become an Americano. This is a way to distinguish it from traditional blended coffee, and the separate name comes from "single [more…]

How to Choose Espresso Blend Beans? An Analysis of the Flavors and Suitable Scenarios of Front Street Coffee's Four Blend Recipes

An ideal espresso emphasizes the harmony of acidity, bitterness, and sweetness, with a clear mouthfeel and a sweet aftertaste that lingers in the throat. Blending beans is precisely the key means to achieve this balance—by complementing each other with beans from different origins, making up for the shortcomings of single-origin beans, and adding layers and body. Front Street Coffee has launched four espresso blends for different needs: the Classic Blend is based on the Mamba recipe, with rich crema suitable for latte art; the Dark Cocoa Blend is balanced and smooth, with high cost-effectiveness; the Strawberry Candy Blend stands out with floral and fruity notes, suitable for summer iced drinks; the Commercial Blend is known for its nutty tone and low-acid, full-bodied character, making it the first choice for opening a shop. Below, we break down their recipe concepts, flavor characteristics, and suitable scenarios one by one. [more…]