The coffee market continues to slump, and the wave of chain brand closures has spread from China to overseas. Flash Coffee, once dubbed by some media as Luckin's "knockoff," recently abruptly closed all 11 of its stores in Singapore and has become embroiled in disputes over unpaid employee wages and provisional liquidation. The brand had just completed a $50 million funding round, with investors including White Star Capital and Delivery Hero, claiming the funds would be used to improve profitability and accelerate Asia-Pacific expansion. However, less than six months later, news emerged of a creditors' voluntary liquidation, and labor unions also stepped in to address unpaid wages, CPF contributions, and the cashing out of unused leave. Flash Coffee promised to retain the Hong Kong market, but its Luckin-copying, cash-burning approach became unsustainable when funding faltered. This article outlines the sequence of events and key details. [more…]

Under the double pressure of chain-brand expansion and the post-pandemic economic downturn, independent coffee shops are finding it increasingly hard to stay afloat. Many small cafés barely survived three years of the pandemic, only to choose to close during the recovery period to cut their losses—partly out of economic helplessness, and partly because customer disputes left them disheartened. This article recounts one shop owner's experience of a customer illegally using a flash to take photos, then leaving a bad review afterward, with no recourse through appeals—reflecting the real difficulties and emotional toll independent cafés face in their day-to-day operations. [more…]

Recently, an iced Americano method called "flash extraction" has become quite popular in the coffee community. It bears some resemblance to the all-ice Americano, also using only ice cubes and espresso, but the amount of espresso poured in is much larger—almost equivalent to the total liquid volume of a regular hot Americano. Put simply, this method involves rapidly extracting a large amount of espresso all at once, essentially yielding a "long shot" espresso—a Lungo. The difference is that this shot does not come with an excessively high extraction rate, and contains fewer bitter compounds, so when made into an Americano, it has low bitterness and a pronounced sweetness. For those who don't have an espresso grinder, or whose grinder can't grind fine enough, this method is especially friendly—you just need to appropriately increase the water amount to compensate for the lack of extraction efficiency caused by coarser grinding and insufficient puck resistance. Below, Front Street Coffee will discuss the specific parameter ratios and recommend a few medium-light roast beans suitable for this method. [more…]

Recently, a trendy café in Fuzhou, Fujian, became the center of online attention due to seven in-store rules posted at its entrance. The rules include prohibitions on standing to take photos, using flash, changing outfits for photoshoots, and all photography equipment; customers must agree to these terms before entering and making purchases. Some consumers reported that the café attracted traffic on social media by marketing itself as "photo-friendly," but upon arrival, they were told flash photography was not allowed, and even had disagreements with staff over the per-person ordering rule. The café responded that excessive posing for photos disrupts other customers' dining experience, and tables and chairs were damaged due to being moved around casually, so the rules were established to maintain the dining environment. Netizens have mixed opinions: some consider the rules reasonable as a matter of mutual choice, while others criticize the merchant's tone as too forceful. Front Street Coffee reminds that cafés, as public spaces, require mutual understanding from both sides to balance photography needs and dining experience. [more…]

Recently, northern Sumatra in Indonesia has experienced continuous heavy rainfall, triggering secondary disasters such as flash floods and landslides in multiple areas of North Sumatra Province, resulting in 20 deaths and multiple injuries so far. This disaster has not only caused severe damage to local infrastructure including houses, schools, and roads, but has also directly affected the Arabica coffee-growing belt in the Lintong region of central Sumatra—the area where the world-renowned Mandheling coffee is produced. Meanwhile, Deli Serdang Regency, an important commodity transport corridor leading to the Medan seaport, has also been damaged by landslides, disrupting import and export operations. As the Arabica harvest season is currently underway, days of heavy rain may cause ripe cherries to drop and yields to decline, with the market generally holding a cautious attitude toward the supply outlook for the new harvest season. [more…]

Luckin Coffee has officially entered the Singaporean market, but its pricing strategy has sparked heated discussions among local netizens. The first cup is offered at a promotional price of S$4 (about RMB 20.6), while the second cup must be purchased at the original price of S$6.4 (about RMB 33). This price is already on par with Starbucks' pricing in Singapore, and no coupons can be used. Overall product prices range from S$4.8 to S$6.8. Many Singaporean netizens have mentioned local traditional coffee shops and the local chain brand Flash Coffee in discussions, believing that Luckin's pricing lacks competitiveness. This article will provide a detailed interpretation of Luckin's market performance in Singapore and genuine feedback from local consumers. [more…]

Huakui coffee has maintained a high level of popularity in the coffee community thanks to its excellent value for money and its naming method that is updated and iterated every year. Front Street also often includes it in its promotional bean list, and many friends ask customer service after placing an order: what can be done to best showcase Huakui's flavor? In fact, different extraction methods each have their own characteristics, and there is no absolute ranking of better or worse. Everyone might as well try several methods and find the cup that suits their own taste best. In this article, Front Street will systematically share the specific parameters and operational details for making Huakui using four methods: pour-over, pour-over iced coffee, immersion, and cold brew, including key information such as coffee dose, coffee-to-water ratio, water temperature, grind size, and extraction time, to help you more easily recreate Huakui's floral and fruity aroma at home. [more…]

Geisha 5.0, as a new-crop 2025 Ethiopian natural coffee bean, is known for its creamy strawberry-like sweetness and full, juicy body. It comes from the Buku Abel processing station and has attracted widespread attention in China's coffee circles since winning the TOH in 2017. Unlike the signature white floral notes and bright citric acidity of Yirgacheffe, Geisha takes the route of rich fermented sweetness. In response to this bean's high-altitude hard-bean characteristics, Front Street Coffee extends the dehydration and intermediate phases during roasting to fully develop the sweetness, and offers four extraction methods: hot pour-over, iced pour-over, ice drip, and cold brew. This article will comprehensively cover Geisha's story and background, roasting approach, and the specific parameters and techniques for each brewing method, helping you reliably reproduce Geisha 5.0's gentle flavor at home. [more…]

KFC's coffee brand KCOFFEE recently announced that it will launch a limited-edition "Finger Lickin' Good Fried Chicken Flavored Latte" from the 15th to the 17th, with a flash sale price of 6.6 yuan. This bizarre drink, which blends the classic salty, savory fried chicken with a latte, caused an uproar on social media as soon as the poster was revealed. Many KFC fans said they "can't understand Chinese" and "can't accept it," while others marveled at the wild creativity of KFC China's R&D. As a signature product with more than 80 years of history, Original Recipe Fried Chicken has seen declining sales in recent years, and the brand has repeatedly tried to draw traffic to it through innovative methods, from soup curry Original Recipe Chicken to Original Recipe Chicken burgers, and now fried chicken-flavored coffee—truly a painstaking effort. However, whether gimmick marketing can actually drive sales, or will backfire, is worth watching. [more…]

A new round of subsidy battles on delivery platforms has once again ignited the tea beverage market, with Meituan handing out large numbers of tea drink vouchers, while Ele.me and Taobao Flash Sale fight back with hefty discounts. However, after claiming the vouchers, many consumers found that Goodme stores in Shenzhen, Xi'an, Chengdu, Nanning, and other places showed as "resting/closed" or out of stock on third-party platforms, making it impossible to redeem normally. Interestingly, the same stores were still open on the official mini-program, and products included in the promotion, such as lemonade, could still be ordered. The contradiction between stores actually being overwhelmed with orders and appearing "closed" online has led many to speculate that this is a measure taken by the brand to ease order pressure. Consumers have expressed dissatisfaction over the chaotic promotion, orders being automatically canceled, and no stock upon arrival at stores. Front Street Coffee continues to follow industry developments and brings in-depth observations. [more…]

Pour-over coffee has now become the go-to brewing method for countless enthusiasts in their daily routines—weighing beans, grinding, folding paper, pouring water—every step is full of ritual. But have you ever wondered where this drip-filter brewing method actually came from? And who invented the first dripper and filter paper? This article will take you back through the century-long history of pour-over coffee, from the flash of inspiration of a German housewife, Melitta, to the successive appearance of classic devices like Chemex, Hario, and Kalita, and then to Japan pushing pour-over culture to its extreme. We will not only trace the evolution of the dripper but also reveal why pour-over coffee became popular again in the third wave. Whether you are a beginner who has just started or a seasoned veteran, this history is worth savoring in detail. [more…]

Iced pour-over coffee is not simply pouring hot coffee over ice cubes, but a brewing method known as "flash-chilled pour-over"—using ice to rapidly cool the hot coffee liquid in a short time. However, if you directly use the parameters of a regular hot pour-over, the final product often becomes weak and tasteless. To solve this problem, you need to adjust three core parameters: coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, and water temperature. Front Street has summarized a practical formula: coffee grounds (fine grind) + 10 times hot water + 5 times ice. This article will break down the adjustment logic of iced pour-over in detail, offer suggestions on choosing a dripper and coffee beans, and use an Ethiopian natural bean as an example to provide complete brewing parameters and staged pouring steps. [more…]

Iced pour-over is not simply pouring hot coffee over ice; rather, it is an extraction method in which ice rapidly cools and moderately dilutes the coffee liquid, also known as "flash-chilled pour-over." To make a cup that is both refreshingly cold and rich in aromatic layers, you need to readjust parameters such as coffee dose, water volume, ice amount, grind size, water temperature, and timing. This article focuses on ice usage and application, the coffee-to-ice-to-water ratio, grind size adjustments, and two operational approaches—small-stream分段 and the stirring method—to help coffee enthusiasts make a balanced iced pour-over at home. It also provides specific references based on Front Street Coffee's commonly used parameters. [more…]

Osmanthus Fragrance Dancong is a category of oolong tea with particularly outstanding aroma. The finished tea has a golden and bright liquor color, with a rich floral fragrance and good durability for multiple infusions. To truly bring out its flavor, the brewing method of Chaoshan Gongfu Tea is worth understanding in depth. This article begins with the difference between Gongfu Tea and the Way of Tea, then sorts out the core utensils and key operating points of Chaoshan Gongfu Tea, including the pairing of a small clay stove, a Yixing pot or thin porcelain gaiwan, a tea boat, and small thin porcelain cups, as well as key details such as rapid pouring and brewing with living water. At the same time, drawing on Front Street Coffee's brewing experience, it helps readers understand how to use 6 to 8 grams of tea leaves and a small vessel of no more than 90 milliliters to complete a flash brew within 3 to 5 seconds, thereby obtaining a tea liquor with high aroma and a full-bodied mouthfeel. Whether you are a beginner who has just come into contact with Gongfu Tea or an enthusiast hoping to refine your technique, you can find practical ideas for reference here. [more…]

When three indicator lights on a De'Longhi coffee machine light up and flash simultaneously, users are often left confused. This article will analyze one by one the fault causes and solutions corresponding to different flashing patterns, including grinder blockage, mistakenly selecting the pre-ground coffee powder function, running out of coffee beans, and the need for descaling. At the same time, the article also introduces the background and features of the Nescafé Dolce Gusto capsule coffee machine—this product, launched in cooperation with De'Longhi, uses 15-bar high pressure and 100% ground coffee capsules to let users easily enjoy a coffee experience close to café quality at home. [more…]

Since Indonesia entered the rainy season, heavy rainfall has triggered floods, landslides and other natural disasters in many places, causing casualties and damage to public facilities. This coincides with the coffee harvest season, and the affected areas are close to major coffee-producing regions, so whether plantations have been damaged remains to be confirmed. At the same time, Indonesia's coffee production for 2024/25 is expected to be revised downward, exports are forecast to decline, and combined with a weaker Indonesian rupiah exchange rate and rising fertilizer prices, robusta coffee prices may rise again in the future. This article will review the disaster impact, production data and market trends for coffee lovers' reference. [more…]

Nordic roasting and Italian roasting may seem to differ only in roast level, but behind them lies the historical trajectory of coffee culture's evolution. Italian and French dark roasts long dominated the coffee world, while the Nordic region, having encountered coffee relatively late, was not bound by a bitter-flavor aesthetic, and instead gave rise to a rebellious light-roast style. From the initial "high-heat blast roasting" to the gentler methods refined by Norwegian roasters, Nordic roasting gradually developed into its own school, and ultimately drove the entire industry to shift from the reign of dark roasts to an era dominated by acidity and light roasts. This article provides a complete overview of this evolutionary process, helping you understand the core differences between the Nordic approach and the Italian style. [more…]

After Hurricane "John" made landfall in southern Mexico, it caused at least 16 deaths, damaged more than 700 homes, and left about 100,000 users without power, with Guerrero and Oaxaca states hit especially hard. More critically, 95% of Mexico's coffee production is concentrated in the south, and the current period is when coffee is fruiting; torrential rain knocked fruit off the trees, flooded coffee plants, and the risk of landslides compounded the damage, putting the expected increase in output for the 2024/25 season at risk of being revised downward. At the same time, global coffee prices are already at high levels due to reduced production in places such as Brazil and Vietnam, and with Mexico now hit by another climate shock, prices are unlikely to fall in the short term. [more…]

During the use of a De'Longhi coffee machine, the various indicator lights on the panel will display different states to indicate the machine's current issues. This article uses diagrams to explain one by one the meanings of the water shortage light flashing and staying on, the coffee grounds container indicator light flashing and staying on, the extractor abnormality represented by the triangular exclamation mark indicator light, and the excessive bean amount issue when the grounds container and exclamation mark flash simultaneously. It also introduces the meanings of the display icons on mid-to-high-end models, including water shortage, bean shortage, full grounds container, and descaling prompts. If the problem still cannot be resolved after troubleshooting step by step, it is recommended to contact a professional repair technician. We hope this is helpful to friends who are currently using De'Longhi coffee machines. [more…]

Everyone has seen mobile coffee carts, but have you ever seen a coffee bar installed inside a driver's cab, mounted above the center console? A Didi driver had a flash of inspiration and set up a complete pour-over coffee kit in his car, so he could brew himself a cup of hot coffee while stuck in traffic or waiting at a red light, and netizens jokingly dubbed him a "time management master." Some people envy him and want to copy the setup, while others worry that the equipment might tip over during sudden braking, or whether operating it while driving affects road safety. Is this cup of pour-over coffee brewed on the move a charming touch of life or a safety hazard? Front Street Coffee has also taken note of this topic and will walk you through the feasible boundaries of in-car coffee. [more…]