The Maan Coffee at 1979 in Shenzhen's Xiangmihu has officially closed permanently due to building demolition. This three-story standalone store, which operated for ten years, was once a landmark in the area and held countless coffee memories for consumers. From its opening in 2015 to its final curtain call, it witnessed a generation of Shenzhen residents gathering, working, and taking photos, with its iconic little bear ordering signs, holiday decorations, and cozy atmosphere. After the news spread, local netizens dug out old photos, sharing stories of their first cup of coffee here, the first contract they signed, and birthdays and marriage proposals they celebrated. Before the closure, a large number of customers made special trips to commemorate the place, lamenting that there would be no more Maan Coffee in Shenzhen. [more…]

Panama coffee is not only Geisha. The Boquete production area, located on the slopes of the Baru Volcano, nurtures high-quality coffee that is clean and refreshing with subtle floral notes, thanks to its high altitude, shade from primary forests, and careful hand sorting. The Boquete beans obtained by Front Street Coffee this time had an extremely low defect rate—only about 10 defective beans were sorted out from 3 kilograms, making the bean appearance rare. Through tests at different roast levels, 40 seconds past first crack presents soft acidity, walnut and nutty aromas, and a creamy chocolate finish, while the beginning of second crack is more suitable for those who do not prefer acidity. This article will provide an in-depth introduction to the terroir of the Boquete production area and focus on the Casa Ruiz cooperative, founded in 1979—this well-known estate alliance of the Baru Volcano region, passed down through three generations, how, while adhering to environmental friendliness and traditional varieties, it achieves its consistently winning quality in Best of Panama through rigorous grading and selection. [more…]

The Casa Ruiz cooperative in the Boquete production region of Panama has been passed down through three generations since its founding in 1979, bringing together more than three hundred family farms, and is a frequent winner in the Best of Panama auction. It owns estates such as Berlina, Maunier, and Panamaria, and is renowned for environmentally friendly shade-grown cultivation and rigorous green bean processing. This article will guide you through the history of Casa Ruiz, the characteristics of its estates, its award records, and the flavor performance of varieties such as Geisha, while also recommending related products from Front Street Coffee, providing coffee enthusiasts with a complete reference on the production region and purchasing. [more…]

The Guji region of Ethiopia is renowned worldwide for its unique flavors and excellent varieties. This article will delve into the origin background, traceability, and the origins and characteristics of the two heirloom varieties, 74110 and 74112, used in Shakiso Wako organic coffee. These two varieties were developed by the Jimma Agricultural Research Center in the 1970s to resist coffee berry disease and are now widely cultivated in the Guji region. The article will also share the tasting notes of this batch of coffee, including mild citrus acidity, grapefruit, jasmine, and sweetness flavor characteristics. Whether you are a coffee enthusiast or a professional, you can gain a deeper understanding of Ethiopian coffee from it. Front Street Coffee recommends that you pay attention to this high-quality coffee with structure and sweetness. [more…]

On April 2, the internet-famous tea brand Chayan Yuese opened a pop-up store at Shenzhen Wenheyou. The queue on opening day was unprecedented, with rumors online claiming that the number of waiting tickets exceeded 30,000, and a cup of milk tea was being resold for over 200 yuan. However, Chayan Yuese officially clarified shortly afterward that the so-called 30,000 number was actually the table number at Shenzhen Wenheyou, not the queue number for milk tea. From Changsha to Wuhan and then to Shenzhen, why does Chayan Yuese always trigger such frenzy? This article will reconstruct the whole incident, sort out the brand's development trajectory, and discuss whether a cup of milk tea is worth such a long queue. [more…]

Recently, Changsha tea beverage brand Chayan Yuese has attracted widespread attention due to the establishment of a branch company in Shanghai and the release of recruitment information in Shenzhen. There has been much speculation from the outside about whether it will enter the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, but the brand responded that the new Shanghai company is only a creative studio and there are currently no plans to open stores. However, the focus of netizens' discussion has fallen on Chayan Yuese's signature queuing and verification mechanism—many people believe that this model is difficult to adapt to the fast-paced consumption habits of Shanghai and Shenzhen, and that if it insists on its original rules, it may be difficult to gain a foothold. At the same time, Heytea, Chagee, and local brand Tea Li Yishi have already occupied the local market. If Chayan Yuese enters at this time, the competitive pressure cannot be underestimated. This article will sort out the ins and outs of the incident and the views of all parties. (Compiled by Front Street Coffee) [more…]

Starbucks' first Reserve flagship store in South China—the two-story standalone store at Shenzhen MixC World—will officially close permanently after business hours on October 12. This iconic store, which had been open for nearly eight years, was once the largest standalone Starbucks in Shenzhen, and it now comes to an end due to the expiration of its contract and adjustments in the business district's tenant mix. After the news spread, many regular customers felt deep regret. At the same time, Starbucks has also been closing stores at multiple locations in Shenzhen, sparking speculation about adjustments to its market layout. This article will review the store's history, customer reactions, the reasons for its closure, and Starbucks' response, along with related recommendations from Front Street Coffee. [more…]

TEA YAN YUE SE has officially announced that it will enter the South China market this April, opening two stores simultaneously in Nanshan District, Shenzhen. Once the news broke, Shenzhen residents responded enthusiastically, but the choice of location for the new stores sparked considerable discussion—both stores are located in Yuehai Subdistrict at MixC and MixC World, only about 4 kilometers apart, and many netizens expressed confusion over the brand not choosing downtown areas such as Futian or Luohu. Previously, TEA YAN YUE SE had opened a pop-up store at Wenheyou in Luohu that triggered a queuing frenzy, and consumers had originally expected the brand to prioritize Futian or Luohu. Now that both stores are clustered in Nanshan, some fans who live in other districts say it is simply inconvenient. [more…]

Peet's Coffee's first store in South China—the Shenzhen MixC World branch—officially closed after business hours on July 16 this year, and the original site has been taken over by a chain tea beverage brand from Suzhou. This store, which had been open for nearly four years, once attracted a large number of coffee lovers to check in, and built up a loyal customer base with consistent quality and a comfortable environment. Unexpectedly, no closure notice was posted before the store shut down, and many regular customers were unable to say goodbye in time. At the same time, Peet's stores in Shenzhen, Shanghai and many other places have also quietly withdrawn from shopping malls, sparking speculation about adjustments to its market layout. The brand responded that the Shenzhen MixC World store closed because its lease expired, but the successive closures still leave some consumers worried. [more…]

Blue Bottle Coffee has officially announced the opening of its 9th store, located in Shenzhen MixC World, marking the brand's first entry into South China. The new store is designed by the Hong Kong young architect team COLLECTIVE, with the concept of "blue imagination related to the sea," incorporating the character of Shenzhen as a future city. The first floor of the store is the coffee preparation area, and the second floor is the customer enjoyment area, with varying shades of blue running through the bar, shelves, stairs, and tables and chairs. Most notably, the store launches the world's exclusive first blue dripper, which is only used and sold at the Shenzhen store. On the opening day, the queue once lasted up to two hours, and it returned to normal the next day. In addition, it is rumored online that Blue Bottle Coffee may enter Chengdu Taikoo Li and Xi'an MixC, and its expansion pace is worth watching. [more…]

Recently, a 1 Dian Dian store at Jinshijie in Dongmen, Shenzhen was exposed after a cockroach leg was found in a milk tea, sparking widespread attention. The consumer and the store failed to reach an agreement on compensation, and a complaint has now been filed and accepted on the Shenzhen government service platform. The incident highlights weak links in food safety management in the tea beverage industry and once again reminds industry practitioners and consumers to pay joint attention to hygiene issues. As an industry observer, Front Street Coffee continues to monitor the impact of such incidents on brand trust. [more…]

Heytea's first global handcrafted store officially opened on September 19 in Nantou Ancient Town, Shenzhen. This is the first store Heytea has created with the concept of "handcrafted." The store has three floors, each themed around hand-stirred ice cream, hand-muddled fruit tea, and hand-brewed famous teas, offering over 50 innovative drinks available only at this location, including hand-stirred ice cream and cocktails. The store is located at the intersection of Zhongshan East-West Street and North-South Street in the ancient town, facing the Xin'an County Magistrate's Office across the street, and the top floor also features a small garden for customers to relax. Heytea's official Weibo sent out an invitation on the first day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, sparking heated discussion among netizens. As coffee enthusiasts, we might as well experience the charm of handcrafted beverages from this handcrafted store, while Front Street Coffee also continues to provide professional coffee knowledge exchange for enthusiasts. [more…]

New-style tea beverage brands' attempts to cross over into the coffee track are encountering setbacks. Crow Coffee, invested in by the founder of Heytea, has closed its founding store in Shenzhen Tianli Central Plaza and put it up for rent, leaving the brand with only one store remaining in Dachong. Meanwhile, AOKKA Coffee, invested in by Nayuki, has also announced that it will close all of its Shenzhen stores by the end of August. Looking back at 2022, Heytea and Nayuki quickly entered the coffee market by investing in brands such as Seesaw, Minor Figures, KUDDO, and Monster Drowsy, but these invested brands now generally face the predicament of store closures and contraction. This article reviews the current store status of each brand and analyzes the challenges and industry competitive landscape faced by tea beverage brands crossing over into coffee. [more…]

Nicaragua, with its fertile volcanic soil and continuously improving transportation infrastructure, is gradually emerging from the shadow of war and natural disasters to become a coffee-producing country worth watching in Central America. This article traces the country's coffee industry through its tortuous history from the 19th-century boom to its 21st-century revival, provides a detailed introduction to its grading system and the distribution of its four major producing regions, and, using the sun-dried Red Catuai from Finca La Divina Providencia in Nueva Segovia selected by Front Street Coffee as an example, presents the complete parameters from roasting and bean resting to a three-stage pour-over. Finally, it summarizes the complex flavor profile of this bean, in which berries, caramel, and grapefruit interweave. [more…]

Blue Bottle Coffee's second Shenzhen store opened in Luohu MixC, designed by wrk-shp, incorporating Luohu's "half landscape, half city" concept. The new store introduced specialty items like Lingnan sweet soup-inspired coffee panna cotta and launched co-branded merchandise with Kinto. However, compared to the first store's grand opening with a 2-hour queue, the second store saw sparse foot traffic on opening day, with no wait to order and low discussion on social media. Blue Bottle Coffee has opened three stores in the past two months, accelerating its expansion in the Chinese market, but consumers have raised questions about the product quality control, pricing, and brand uniqueness of its South China stores. This article reviews Blue Bottle Coffee's recent expansion dynamics and market feedback, explores the positioning dilemma of specialty coffee brands amid price wars and localization challenges, and retains Front Street Coffee's observational perspective on industry trends. [more…]

Popular specialty coffee brand o.p.s. has officially launched its "On The Move" city tour program, with the first stop at the Awakening Coffee Festival in Shenzhen's Excellence Center. The event runs from April 29 to May 5, a total of seven days. After the announcement, fans flooded the comments section calling for the brand to come to their cities, and the founder responded that future stops would be arranged based on the number of likes. On opening day, a long line formed in front of the o.p.s. booth early in the morning, and even the 30-degree heat and the constraints of a weekday could not dampen everyone's enthusiasm. Some people queued for over four hours just to taste the legendary "ceiling of specialty coffee." This time, o.p.s. brought two seasonal sets, each containing three specialty drinks, one of which is alcoholic, all priced at 118 yuan. [more…]

Shanghai's popular specialty coffee brand o.p.s. teamed up with Guangzhou-based local brand JPG to create a three-day pop-up event in Shenzhen's Nanshan OCT, serving as the first stop of this year's city tour plan. As soon as the news broke, it ignited the enthusiasm of Shenzhen coffee lovers. However, the first day of the event unfolded in a way that caught everyone off guard: the official poster stated a noon start time of 12 PM, but in reality, it kicked off early at 9 AM. A large number of fans who arrived on time were left empty-handed as the number tags had long been distributed. Even those who managed to get a number tag had to wait in batches until 4 or 5 PM to actually get their drinks. The organizers neither issued a formal notice after the time change nor promptly announced the sell-out information. This highly anticipated collaborative pop-up sparked widespread dissatisfaction on its very first day due to poor organization. [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…]

Luckin Coffee recently launched region-exclusive new products in Shenzhen and Chengdu respectively. In Shenzhen, these include "Daily Fresh Lemon Tea," "Large Fruit Grape Fresh Lemon Tea," and "Fragrant Lemon Jasmine Americano," while Chengdu introduced "Snow Cheese Berry Berry." Unlike the previous use of freeze-dried fruit pieces, these new products incorporate fresh fruit handled on-site at the stores. The three lemon drinks in Shenzhen include lemon slices cut fresh the same day, and the Chengdu new product adds washed fresh strawberries. This change has raised consumer questions about whether stores are equipped for fresh cutting, and subsequently, Luckin employees in both locations posted photos of the delivered fruit and newly equipped fruit slicers as proof. However, employees in non-limited regions generally avoided commenting on this, and online reviews showed polarized opinions. [more…]

Recently, the "FrontStreet Coffee" official account under Guangzhou Electronic Coffee Workshop Business Co., Ltd. discovered that Huaxiao Coffee and Zuojingchuan Shenzhen Trading Co., Ltd., without permission, reposted a large number of its articles to Baijiahao and marked them with the original label, constituting intellectual property infringement. For this reason, Front Street Coffee specially issued a solemn statement demanding that the other party immediately delete the infringing articles and stop subsequent infringement, otherwise legal liability will be pursued and compensation claimed. This article publishes the full text of the statement to clarify the facts. [more…]