Cantonese people often say they "get internal heat from just drinking water." Although herbal tea can reduce internal heat, it is bitter and hard to swallow. The Guangzhou-based tea beverage brand Tea Save Planet took a different approach by combining bitter melon with lemon tea, creating the first bitter melon lemon tea, which unexpectedly ignited the market. In just one year, Tea Save Planet sold more than 1 million cups of tea beverages, with stores covering 16 cities nationwide and the number of stores exceeding 180. This brand, which began planning in 2019, after a quiet period in the early days of the pandemic, expanded rapidly starting in March 2020. Front Street Coffee believes that Tea Save Planet's success is inseparable from local cultural identity, differentiated innovation, and distinctive brand design. This article will analyze in detail the rise of this phenomenal tea beverage brand. [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…]

Pukka is a well-known organic herbal tea brand from the UK that blends the ancient wisdom of Indian Ayurveda into its teas, advocating harmony between herbs and nature. Its entire line of teas uses 100% organic ingredients, is certified by the Soil Association, and its tea bags are fully recyclable, with the printing ink also made from plant-based materials, all in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint. Because it is caffeine-free, Pukka's teas are suitable for the whole family to enjoy, offering a calming rather than stimulating experience. This article selects several popular teas for flavor reviews, from after-meal tea to goodnight tea, from cinnamon to matcha, analyzing their aroma and taste characteristics one by one, and includes Front Street Coffee's recommendations and practical brewing suggestions to help coffee and tea lovers find their ideal choice. [more…]

When fresh flowers meet milk tea, what kind of sparks will fly? A tea beverage shop in Shanghai called Xue Xiaomei MICHA has given the answer—monthly revenue peaking at over 700,000 yuan, with more than 1,200 cups sold in a single day at its highest. The fresh flower tea beverage series has drawn attention with prices ranging from 40 to 129 yuan. Behind this is not only the drive of the "appearance economy," but also the business logic of a hybrid operation combining a flower shop and a tea beverage shop. From Shanghai to Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Xi'an, this kind of combined store is spreading across the country. However, the safety boundary between fresh flowers and beverages, and the difficulty of repeat purchases after consumers' novelty wears off, are also realities that this category must face head-on. This article will take you through a comprehensive understanding of the popularity code and industry concerns behind fresh flower milk tea. [more…]

Since opening China's first post office café on February 14 this year, China Post has officially entered the coffee market as a national team player. Amid an enthusiastic consumer response, the country's second post office café opened on Cat Street in Xiamen. The new store blends in with the local character of Cat Street, creating a space for cat lovers to mingle, and has partnered with oat milk brand OATLY to launch a hidden-menu eco-friendly special. At the same time, OATLY put in a strong performance in the Asian market in the first quarter, with its Barista product contributing significantly, and the brand is accelerating its expansion into diverse categories such as new-style tea drinks and plant-based ice cream. [more…]

The new tea beverage market landscape is constantly evolving. Even HEYTEA, which insisted on direct operation for ten years, has announced it will open franchising, targeting lower-tier markets. This strategy has attracted the attention of many franchisees, and some former Yidiandian franchisees are even planning to abandon their old stores to switch to HEYTEA. However, HEYTEA's partner selection criteria are quite strict—not only are the fees not low, but applicants are also required to commit full-time, provide proof of assets, and have management experience. Whether switching is wise remains unknown. This article compiles relevant reports and data, and includes a Front Street Coffee information entry for readers' reference. [more…]

Mandheling coffee is a classic single-origin coffee from Sumatra, Indonesia, renowned for its rich, full-bodied flavor with a bittersweet finish. Before Blue Mountain coffee became famous worldwide, it was once regarded as one of the finest coffees on the planet. This article will systematically review Mandheling's growing regions, flavor characteristics, and grading background, with a focus on core production areas in northern Sumatra such as Lintong and Mandheling. For enthusiasts looking to get their hands on Indonesian Mandheling coffee beans, choosing a brand is often a major challenge. This article will also incorporate product information from Front Street Coffee to offer practical brand selection advice, helping readers gain a clearer understanding of this representative Asian coffee. [more…]

The competition between Cotti Coffee, founded by Lu Zhengyao, and Luckin Coffee is extending from the market to a battle for talent and franchisees. This article examines how Cotti, leveraging its "former Luckin founder" label and low-threshold policies, attracts former Luckin franchisees and baristas to switch sides, and analyzes its strategy of setting up shop right next to Luckin in third- and fourth-tier cities to directly capture Luckin's customer traffic. It also looks at the strong Luckin background within Cotti and the head-to-head confrontations between the two in small-city commercial districts. Through multiple cases and interviews, it reveals the fierce rivalry in the coffee arena. [more…]

Nayuki, once hailed as the "first stock of new-style tea drinks," has delivered a less-than-stellar half-year report card: revenue dipped slightly year-on-year, and after adjustments, it swung from profit to loss. Facing multiple pressures—questions over price cuts, the impact of the pandemic, and competition from peers—Nayuki has begun setting its sights on the coffee track, seeking new growth points by investing in brands like AOKKA. Meanwhile, brands such as Heytea and Chayan Yuese are also making their own moves to save themselves. Is the collective push by new tea drink brands into coffee a move of desperation or a new trend? This article reviews Nayuki's latest performance and investment moves, and takes stock of the self-rescue paths within the industry. [more…]

The competition between Cotti and Luckin has yet to produce a winner, and founder Lu Zhengyao has now announced that Cotti will expand into milk tea, a move that has caused an uproar among franchisees. Recently, a letter from a franchisee to Cotti has been circulating on social media, detailing Cotti's various problems across six dimensions, including supply, R&D, and operations. Meanwhile, some netizens have done the math: with an investment of 400,000 yuan to open a store, even at 500 cups sold per day, it would take four and a half years to break even—yet many stores sell fewer than 100 cups a day. With Tea Cat's launch imminent, some franchisees have already lost confidence, and transfer listings are appearing frequently on social media. Cotti's management has still not responded to the letter, and the patience and confidence of franchisees are being worn down. [more…]

The word Java actually encompasses three different references in the coffee world: it can be an Indonesian growing region, the name of a coffee variety in the cup, or used as a broader umbrella term. This article, from the perspective of Front Street, first introduces the geography and historical background of Java Island as Indonesia's second-largest coffee-producing region, then traces back to the Dutch introduction of Typica to Java and the later shift from Arabica to Robusta. It then focuses on clarifying the true identity of the Java variety—it did not originate in Indonesia but is a local variety selected in Ethiopia and later introduced elsewhere—and distinguishes the physical differences between long-berry and short-berry Java. After reading, you will understand: the Java variety can be called Java coffee, but Java coffee is not necessarily the Java variety. [more…]

Guatemalan Antigua coffee is renowned worldwide for its balanced fruity acidity, rich spicy aroma, and signature smoky flavor. Behind this cup of coffee lies a tapestry woven from the ancient heritage of Mayan civilization, the rise and fall of Spanish colonial history, and the unique terroir bestowed by volcanic soil. From the diligent cultivation of the indigenous people to the admiration of today's international coffee connoisseurs, Antigua coffee carries a story spanning hundreds of years. This article will guide you through an in-depth understanding of Antigua coffee's flavor characteristics, historical origins, and its unique position in the global coffee landscape. [more…]

Saturnbird, known for its freeze-dried coffee, has recently launched its first espresso-style specialty coffee liquid, officially entering the increasingly competitive coffee liquid segment. The new products come in two versions—a light-roast Americano style and a dark-roast latte style—each using blended beans with different processing methods, with distinct emphases in flavor presentation. Since its founding in 2015, Saturnbird has quickly gained popularity with its highly recognizable small-can packaging design and numerical grading system, and in 2021 it even opened an offline concept store in Shanghai. However, the coffee liquid sector already has brands like Yongpu, Sumida River, and Seesaw laying the groundwork ahead of it, and giants such as Nestlé have also entered the fray one after another. Whether Saturnbird's expansion of its product line this time can break through again in the convenient coffee market is worth coffee lovers' continued attention. [more…]

The normalization of coffee consumption and the prevalence of takeout culture have made disposable cups a pollution source that cannot be ignored. Environmental issues have long ceased to be a novelty in the coffee world—packaging innovation, coffee grounds reuse, paper straw replacements, as well as bring-your-own-cup discounts and in-store reusable cup pilots, are all being continuously explored. Recently, FamilyMart announced that it will massively roll out reusable cups to 400 stores in the Taiwan region, becoming East Asia's first convenience store chain to introduce reusable cups at scale. Previously, Starbucks launched a "borrowed cup" pilot in Seattle, and McDonald's also partnered with the Loop platform to test reusable cups. Can these initiatives truly change consumption habits and drive the industry to reduce plastic? This article will walk you through the practical paths of these pioneers and the real challenges they face. [more…]

In recent years, with the advancement of plastic restriction policies, plastic straws have gradually exited the food service scene, replaced by paper straws and PLA straws. However, paper straws easily become soggy, and PLA straws are not heat-resistant, greatly diminishing the consumer experience. A team led by Academician Yu Shuhong of the University of Science and Technology of China has taken a different approach, using bacterial cellulose combined with sodium alginate to develop an edible nata de coco straw. Its strength, modulus, and toughness are more than twice those of paper straws, it is thinner, and it can be made in different colors. Buried in soil, it nearly disappears in 45 days and completely degrades in 60 days. Can this new material save the afternoon tea joy of office workers? This article will provide a detailed interpretation. [more…]

Recently, a customer picking up an order at a Chagee store noticed that staff had stacked labeled paper cups one inside another, with their own cup at the very bottom. This raised concerns about possible food contamination from the cup walls coming into direct contact with the inside of another cup. The post quickly sparked widespread discussion: many bubble tea shop employees pointed out that unused paper cups are already stacked when they leave the factory, and that stacking cups during peak hours is a common practice to save counter space and speed up service. But most consumers were not convinced, noting that brands such as Starbucks, Luckin Coffee, and Heytea have explicit rules against this practice. Behind this debate lies the real dilemma facing tea beverage stores as they try to balance the pressure of order surges with hygiene standards. [more…]

Blue Mountain coffee occupies an irreplaceable position in the global coffee landscape thanks to its exquisite balance of sweetness, acidity, and bitterness. It is produced in the Blue Mountains of eastern Jamaica, where volcanic soil, a climate of year-round mist and rain, and just the right elevation combine to create its unique flavor—rich, aromatic, and entirely free of bitterness. From the introduction of Arabica seeds in the 18th century, to the strict oversight of the Jamaica Coffee Industry Board, and on to the grading system running from No.1 down to PB, every step of Blue Mountain coffee is steeped in meticulous care. This article systematically lays out the cultural origins, cultivation history, growing regions, and grading standards of Blue Mountain coffee, while also sharing practical advice from Front Street Coffee on buying and brewing, to help coffee lovers truly understand this legendary cup. [more…]

As China's population aging process accelerates, the elderly care issues of the post-80s and post-90s generations are attracting increasing attention. Some experts suggest that young people should plan for retirement as early as possible—for example, by drinking one less 30-yuan cup of coffee each day, they could save nearly a thousand yuan a month, which happens to match the tax-advantaged contribution limit of the individual pension scheme. However, this suggestion has sparked widespread discussion on social media. For many young people, a 30-yuan cup of coffee every day is not a common expense, and the overall pressure of living costs is far from something that can be solved by skipping one cup of coffee. This article will explore the reality and controversy behind this topic from the perspectives of retirement data, individual pension policy, and the current state of coffee consumption. [more…]

A silent coffee shop in Shanghai, staffed mainly by hearing-impaired baristas, published an article titled "Please rest assured, we are still alive. But..." on June 14, quickly gaining over 80,000 views. Under the impact of the pandemic, dine-in service was suspended, delivery communication was hindered, and masks obscured lip-reading, plunging the shop into a situation of zero revenue and zero foot traffic. The baristas hand-drew 12 touching moments from those months into illustrations and launched an original themed drip-bag coffee set as a self-rescue effort. The article reviewed the real difficulties this special coffee shop faced, its self-rescue methods, and business adjustment ideas that coffee shops could draw on during the pandemic, including joining delivery platforms, ensuring product quality, designing offline discounts to bring customers back, and developing peripheral products such as drip bags and coffee beans to meet consumers' shifting demand from "going to the shop" to "having it at home." [more…]

In the heat of summer, everyone's demand for a pick-me-up coffee only grows, and all sorts of novel ideas come with it. Last week, a reader asked Front Street Coffee: can you put coffee in a bag and brew it directly, just like making tea? After all, drip bags require pouring water in stages and controlling the amount of water, which makes for a few more steps, whereas bagged coffee seems to save a lot of trouble. To give an objective answer, Front Street Coffee used the same batch of beans to compare bagged coffee and drip bags in both hot brewing and cold brew, keeping records from grind size and coffee-to-water ratio to steeping time. If you're also curious about how bagged coffee actually performs, and where exactly it differs from drip bags, why not follow along with Front Street Coffee's experiment and take a look. [more…]