Although Flat Red and Flat White have similar names, they are essentially two completely different coffee drinks. Flat White is a milk coffee originating from Australia, while Flat Red was born in Ukraine and is made with espresso paired with freshly squeezed fruit juice, with a flavor resembling red wine. This article will introduce in detail the origin story, ingredients, and ratio parameters of Flat Red, and share Front Street Coffee's practical recipe, including suggestions for pairing juice with espresso, extraction parameters, and a description of the finished drink's flavor, helping coffee lovers make a distinctive coffee full of fruity flavor at home. [more…]

Orange juice not only helps relieve fatigue, but its refreshing effect is even considered superior to coffee. So what kind of taste experience would combining it with coffee bring? Today, Front Street takes you to recreate at home the Orange C Americano that has swept the country. From choosing the variety for fresh-squeezed orange juice and the extraction parameters for espresso, to the specific steps for both iced and hot versions, we break down the ingredient ratios and production details one by one, helping you make a refreshing specialty drink that has both the rich aroma of coffee and the abundant juice of oranges. [more…]

From its stunning debut at the Shanghai Coffee Festival to now becoming a staple creative drink on Beijing café menus, Douzhi Coffee has gone through several years of development. Recently, this Beijing specialty has been upgraded once again—some shops have launched a Douzhi Latte, paired with a complete "Douzhi three-piece set," and even selected the highly renowned Huakui coffee beans, attracting many curious visitors to check in. However, the extreme flavor of Douzhi itself keeps the drink's reputation polarizing. What's more interesting is that the shop later quietly switched the coffee beans, from Huakui to an IICA Platinum Award-winning bean, sparking discussions among consumers about the pairing of beans and Douzhi. [more…]

Recently, Nayuki launched "Unsweetened · Nayuki Black Grape," promoted as having 0 added sugar with all sweetness coming from fruit, yet it drew complaints from consumers for being too sweet. The brand replaced sucrose with apple juice, but concentrated apple juice can have a sugar content exceeding 50, meaning the actual sugar content of the entire drink is not low. This approach is similar to the strategy some brands use of hiding additives in ingredients, maintaining sweetness while preserving the "healthy" selling point. Consumers' impression of juice as naturally burden-free is being exploited, while the risk of blood sugar spikes remains. This article sorts out the ins and outs of the incident and includes related product information from Front Street Coffee, exploring the trade-off tea beverage brands face between taste and health. [more…]

On a hot summer day, a refreshing apple-infused Americano might be exactly what you need. This article centers on the pairing of apple juice and espresso, sharing three different approaches: direct mixing, adding sparkling water, and freezing apple juice into ice cubes. As the star of the coffee, Front Street Mamba Blend Coffee brings the wildness of Mandheling and the cocoa-like balance of Brazilian beans. Whether you have an espresso machine or a moka pot on hand, as long as you get the ratio of juice to coffee and the details right, you can recreate at home an apple Americano with a harmonious taste where the fruity aroma isn't overshadowed. [more…]

Are you very familiar with Flat White but have never heard of Flat Red? This red coffee drink from Ukraine is catching the attention of coffee lovers worldwide with its unique combination of juice and espresso. It contains no alcohol, yet has the sweet-and-sour taste and fermented aroma reminiscent of mulled wine, with its color coming from a blend of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice and orange juice. Although both Flat Red and Flat White have "Flat" in their names, the two have almost no connection in origin, recipe, or flavor—the only similarity is that both are topped with a thin, silky layer of foam. This article will introduce you to the background of Flat Red's creation, its preparation method, and share Front Street Coffee's recreation experience, to see why this seasonal drink has taken Ukraine by storm. [more…]

Tea Baidao's recently launched "Super Veggie" drink series, from the wheatgrass-starring "Cat Grass Juice" to the bell pepper mixed fruit "Vitamin C Fast Burn Bell Pepper," has attracted a large number of consumers eager to try the novel combinations, and has also driven store sales growth. However, the other side of the product's hot sales is the heavy manual juicing task facing back-kitchen employees. Because stores use smoothie machines rather than professional juicing equipment, the fruits and vegetables are blended into a thick puree, and employees must repeatedly knead and squeeze filter bags to extract juice. During peak periods, demand exceeds supply, leaving many staff members crying out in despair. This article will take you behind the scenes of the real production process and the voices of employees behind this fruit and vegetable juice craze. [more…]

In today's coffee culture, where new trends keep emerging, drinks like Frappuccino, Flat White, and Dirty have taken turns rising to fame, yet one pale red coffee is rarely mentioned by domestic enthusiasts—it is Flat Red from Ukraine. This drink was inspired by locals' love of red wine. Its inventor, Vadym Granovskiy, replaced alcohol with pomegranate juice and orange juice, paired it with espresso, and created a unique coffee whose color resembles red wine and which carries a fermented vinous aroma and fruity acidity. In this article, Front Street will guide you through the background of Flat Red's creation, its making logic, and a complete reproduction of its recipe, from the juice mixing ratio to steam heating and foaming, and finally to the tasting experience, presented one by one. If you also want to try a cup of distinctive Ukrainian-style coffee at home, why not follow Front Street's steps and make it yourself. [more…]

Recently, a new Luckin Coffee ordering hack has been trending on social media: when ordering an Orange C Americano, note "no coffee liquid" and you'll get a cup of orange juice. Many netizens have followed suit, saying it tastes pretty good, and some even drank three different flavors of coffee-free drinks for three days straight. The discussion this has sparked is quite interesting too—some think it's better to just buy orange juice, while others see it as a new way to grab a 9.9 yuan deal. From the earlier Iced Coconut Latte without coffee liquid to today's Orange C Americano without the Americano, Luckin customers' enthusiasm for DIY ordering seems to never fade. This article takes you through the ins and outs of this "no coffee liquid" trend. [more…]

Starbucks is deeply associated with milk-based coffee drinks like lattes and cappuccinos, but it once also owned a juice brand called Evolution Fresh. Recently, Starbucks officially announced that it would sell the brand to Bolthouse Farms, allowing it to concentrate more resources on growing its coffee beverage business. The deal involves nearly 300 employees and is expected to be completed later this year. From a high-priced acquisition in 2011 to its resale now, the fate of Evolution Fresh reflects Starbucks' strategic swings under different leaders. This article will sort through the ins and outs of this sale, and how Starbucks, after Schultz's return, is refocusing on the U.S. coffee market and responding to the wave of unionization. [more…]

National drink Coconut Palm Coconut Juice breaks its 34-year tradition of "no collaboration with outside parties" for the first time, launching a dream crossover with Luckin Coffee. One is a time-honored coconut juice brand whose formula and packaging have remained unchanged for decades, while the other is a chain coffee brand that sparked the coconut latte craze. This collaboration is both driven by market trends and an attempt by an old brand to seek a new wave of attention. The co-branded cup sleeves continue Coconut Palm's iconic color-block layout style. Although the new products will not officially launch until April 11, some stores have already begun using the co-branded cup sleeves for预热. Can this collaboration replicate the sales miracle of the coconut line? And why did Coconut Palm Coconut Juice choose to "break out of its circle" at this moment? This article will take you through the development history of Coconut Palm and analyze the background and highlights of this collaboration. [more…]

Tomato scrambled eggs are common, but have you ever tried tomato coffee? After a certain brand launched tomato Americano, Front Street decided to verify it hands-on. We start with the logic of selecting cherry tomatoes, compare the performance differences between large tomatoes and cherry tomatoes in specialty drinks, and analyze why commercially available tomato beverages are not suitable for mixing directly with coffee. Then we document two fresh-juicing attempts—the first failed because the pulp was too thick, and the second, after adding water, blending, and filtering, yielded a clear juice. The final product was made with 90g ice cubes, 120g tomato juice, and 38g Warm Sun coffee liquid. On the palate, sourness and bitterness clash, with a noticeable astringency from the fruit skin. This whole hands-on test tells you: is this specialty drink really worth recreating? [more…]

A glass of olive juice selling for 1,000 yuan once put the brand Yecuishan in the trending topics and also drew the attention of market regulators. At the end of 2021, this drink, which was claimed to be made with Golden Jade Sanian olives costing nearly 800 yuan per jin, was investigated by the Shenzhen Municipal Market Supervision Bureau because the actual purchase price did not match the promotion, and the company involved was ultimately fined 500,000 yuan. After Heytea invested in Yecuishan, it also faced questions from netizens. This incident not only exposed the chaos of pricing and promotion in the tea beverage industry, but also prompted people to think about the real cost and authenticity of so-called high-end products on the market. [more…]

Many coffee enthusiasts hope that the pour-over coffee they brew at home can have a full-bodied mouthfeel like fruit juice—featuring both a fruity sweet-and-sour flavor and a rich, weighty texture close to that of juice. This experience, known as a "juicy" quality, is actually a dual concept that describes both flavor and mouthfeel at the same time. However, not all coffee beans can produce this effect, making bean selection crucial. Starting from the definition of a juicy quality, this article will explain what kind of coffee beans are suitable for expressing it, and further share how to adjust the framework during pour-over extraction to bring the brewed coffee closer to a full, juice-like experience. If you also want your everyday pour-over to have more of a juicy expressiveness, it is worth approaching it from both bean selection and extraction. [more…]

In the cold winter, a cup of hot milk tea always brings a bit of warmth. Prices for drinks on the market range from under ten yuan at Mixue Bingcheng to thirty or forty yuan at Nayuki and Heytea, with most still within what consumers can afford. However, recently a thousand-yuan drink has drawn attention on Weibo's trending topics—an olive juice launched by the Shenzhen milk tea brand Yecuishan, priced as high as 1,000 yuan. This drink uses the rare Chaoshan variety Jinyu Sannian olive, with the raw material costing about 800 yuan per jin on the market, and production taking nearly 3 hours. At the same time, Heytea has taken a stake in Yecuishan, holding 60% to become the largest shareholder, and the brand currently has more than 30 stores. [more…]

Compared to coffee with its pronounced bitterness, sweet-and-sour milk tea is clearly more to the public's taste. Whether on a busy workday or a leisurely weekend, milk tea has long been part of many people's lives. Recently, a newly opened milk tea shop in Changsha, Hunan, suddenly went viral—not because of its unique flavors, but because a single cup of juice was selling for 108 yuan. The shop, named "Xiaoshanjing · Fruit Molecular Tea," drew attention with its giant tiger tail design and high-priced menu. Staff claimed that the durian drink contains half a cup of Musang King pulp, while the mangosteen drink uses 4 jin of mangosteen. Is the high price worth the money, or is it a marketing gimmick? Consumers have differing views, and some are reminded of the earlier incident in Shenzhen involving Yecuishan's thousand-yuan olive juice. [more…]

Recently, Shenzhen's Heytea was investigated by regulators for suspected false advertising over a cup of olive juice priced at a thousand yuan, sparking heated discussion among netizens. Many consumers left comments on Weibo asking whether they could get a refund with their receipt, and the incident once again reminds everyone to consume rationally. Meanwhile, why can Chaoshan olives sell for such a high price? This article analyzes the whole story of the incident, the regulatory investigation, and raw material costs, taking you through the business logic behind the thousand-yuan juice and the preciousness of Chaoshan olives. [more…]

On a scorching summer day, the pairing of watermelon and iced coffee is all the rage. Front Street Coffee found that juicy watermelon pairs far better with crisp black coffee than with milk, so they put together three watermelon mix-and-match options: watermelon sparkling Americano, watermelon cold brew coffee, and watermelon iced pour-over. From melon-picking tips and material preparation to detailed steps, Front Street breaks down the key points for making each drink one by one, including using Warm Sun Blend to make the sparkling Americano, Colombia · Rose Valley cold brew paired with freshly squeezed watermelon juice, and the complete parameters for making iced pour-over with Sidamo · Elto combined with frozen watermelon juice cubes. Each of the three methods has its own merits—there are simple, quick everyday versions, and more advanced approaches that require preparing ingredients in advance—making them suitable for coffee lovers to try their hand at during the hot weather. [more…]

In recent years, the salted pomelo Dirty has become quite popular online, but many people frequently fail when trying to recreate it at home. The core difficulty lies in the acidity of the pomelo juice, which causes milk proteins to denature and curdle, seriously affecting the taste. Through multiple experiments, Front Street has found a method that is closer to the original: using concentrated pomelo juice combined with sucrose syrup to make a homemade pomelo syrup, then combining it with milk and espresso, and finally sprinkling on sour plum powder to create a unique experience of intertwined salty and sweet flavors. This article will share the complete production parameters and flavor layers of this drink, from material selection, syrup ratios, coffee bean recommendations, to specific operating steps, helping coffee enthusiasts make a rich, well-balanced salted pomelo Dirty at home. [more…]

Can Americano taste like fruit juice too? Today Front Street Coffee will share how to make an Americano with a flavor as juicy as fruit juice. The key lies in choosing the right coffee beans and using the right extraction parameters. For coffee beans, you should choose medium-light roasted single-origin beans, such as Fenchline Estate · Sidra, Kenya · Little Tomato, etc. These beans can bring concrete fruity flavors. When extracting espresso, you need to balance acidity, sweetness, and bitterness, and avoid under-extraction. The recommended coffee-to-liquid ratio is 1:1.5, with an extraction time of 30-35 seconds. Then adjust the ratio of coffee to water according to personal preference, usually between 1:3 and 1:4, to obtain a full-bodied or light fruity Americano. [more…]