Luckin Coffee's collaboration with Coconut Palm coconut juice successfully broke through with its rustic packaging, while Heytea chose to collaborate with Japanese streetwear godfather Hiroshi Fujiwara for a minimalist, dark aesthetic. Both are cross-industry collaborations—one takes a down-to-earth, rustic route, the other focuses on street fashion—reflecting the two brands' different strategies for competing over young consumers. This article analyzes the packaging design, marketing tactics, and visual color schemes behind these two collaborations, and explores whether Luckin's competitor has shifted from Starbucks to the milk tea circle. For coffee lovers, whether it's rustic or trendy, tasting good is what matters most—Front Street Coffee always selects quality coffee beans for you. [more…]

As Qixi Festival approaches, Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Converse have once again joined forces to launch a collaboration series inspired by the Milky Way and the stars Altair and Vega, available at the Tokyo Roastery starting June 24. The most eye-catching item this season is a vase shaped like Converse's classic shoe, in a refreshing ice-blue colorway, alongside six other celestial-themed items including mugs, folding fans, and bags. Looking back at last year's Qixi Festival, the two brands created shoe-shaped vases and home goods themed around fireworks and misty blue. In addition, Starbucks' multiple collaborations with Hiroshi Fujiwara have focused on a minimalist home coffee experience for the post-pandemic era, launching textured items such as French presses and blankets. This article walks you through these collaboration highlights, with Front Street Coffee's communication channels listed at the end. [more…]

Heytea recently officially announced the launch of its first "A-Xi Full-Body Portrait Collection Contest," inviting fans to participate by drawing the Heytea logo—the full-body portrait of A-Xi—with the top prize worth over 9,999 yuan. The submission period ended on October 15, and thousands of entries have been received across various platforms. The total views of related topics on Weibo and Xiaohongshu have exceeded 10 million, and the grand prize will be announced on October 31. Interestingly, on the eve of the event's launch, the Heytea logo quietly went "bald"—the black hair was removed, and the fingers holding the cup disappeared, sparking a frenzy of complaints from netizens. This article reviews the iterative journey of the Heytea logo from its founding to the present, including last year's viral full-body portrait creations by netizens and the April cross-border collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara that saw the logo struck by lightning into an afro, analyzing how the brand interacts with consumers through its logo to accumulate brand equity. For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex. [more…]

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style) For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex When a brand changes its avatar on social platforms, it often signals the start of a new round of marketing moves. Recently, Mixue Bingcheng's iconic Snow King image went from chubby and white to a golden version, sparking heated discussion among netizens. This change is not simply to build momentum for overseas expansion, but to tie in with the "Drink Mixue Bingcheng, Get a Golden Snow King Necklace" campaign. In fact, Mixue Bingcheng has long treated its avatar as ad space, having previously launched looks such as the "Darkened Snow King" and the Winter Outfit Snow King. Brands such as Heytea and McDonald's also frequently create buzz by changing their avatars for a limited time. This article will analyze the logic and effects behind this marketing tactic. [more…]

Following the closure of the last store of its sub-brand Xixiaocha, Heytea confirmed on November 3 that it will open franchising, with partnership fees kept under 500,000 yuan and franchise store formats primarily under 50 square meters. Heytea stated it will leverage a decade of accumulated experience and resources to develop its partnership business in non-first-tier cities with suitable store formats, providing partners with comprehensive support in branding, products, quality control, food safety, operations, training, and supply chain. In recent years, Heytea has accelerated its expansion into lower-tier markets, successively adjusting prices, launching IP collaborations, and shutting down its budget sub-brand. Opening franchising is now seen as a key step to further capture market share in third- and fourth-tier cities. Whether the new tea beverage sector will face a new round of involution, and whether direct-operated brand Nayuki will follow suit, remains worth watching. [more…]

This time Front Street is going to share a rather unusual brewing method—it breaks out of the framework of conventional pour-over and grafts the matcha whisking technique from Japanese tea ceremony onto coffee extraction. The person who created this "Way of Coffee" is none other than Hiroshi Fujioka, star of the original Kamen Rider. He favors Peruvian beans, Japanese-style dark roast, and coarse grinding, pouring water in a steady drip throughout, then using a chasen to whisk the coffee liquid into a dense foam. Front Street couldn't resist trying it out personally, recreating it once with a medium-dark roasted Blue Mountain bean. What kind of aroma and mouthfeel can this method actually bring? And why must it be drunk against the clock? The following will reveal all. [more…]

Matcha lattes have recently become popular again, which reminded Front Street Coffee of a unique coffee-making method we shared in the early years—whipping coffee liquid with a matcha chasen to create a dense foam. This method was created by actor Hiroshi Fujioka, inspired by his mother's tea ceremony, transplanting the whisking action used in matcha preparation onto coffee. It not only enhances the aroma and mouthfeel but also carries a distinctively Japanese character. This article will provide a complete introduction to this method: from background knowledge on matcha and the whisking method of tea preparation, to coffee bean selection, brewing parameters, chasen whisking technique, and finally an actual tasting comparison. Front Street Coffee used Blue Mountain coffee beans and a Kono dripper for the brewing demonstration, and recorded the noticeable differences in flavor before and after whisking, making it suitable for trying at home. [more…]

Matcha lattes have recently become popular again, which reminded Front Street Coffee of a rather unique coffee-making method we shared in the early years. The inspiration for this method comes from matcha preparation in Japanese tea ceremony: using a chasen to beat the coffee liquid until it produces a dense foam, thereby enhancing the aroma and mouthfeel. Its creator was not a professional barista, but the actor Hiroshi Fujioka. While traveling the world, he was inspired by coffees from various places, and after returning home, inspired by his mother's tea ceremony, he incorporated the whisking technique into coffee making. This article will give a complete introduction to this distinctive method: from matcha basics, bean selection, and brewing parameters to whisking techniques and tasting comparisons, along with Front Street Coffee's hands-on experience and suggestions, suitable for coffee lovers to try in their spare time. [more…]