Under the impact of the pandemic, the global catering industry is under widespread pressure, and Starbucks has also set its sights on China's vast lower-tier market. From slowing the pace of store openings in the United States and increasing its bet on China, to putting forward the vision of covering more than 300 cities by 2025 and opening a new store on average every nine hours, Starbucks is treating county-level markets as an important breakthrough. The consumption periods and customer group structure of county-town stores are completely different from those in first- and second-tier cities. Instead, breakfast, afternoon tea, and the period after dinner form peak hours, and social and scene-based needs far exceed the simple need for caffeine. Combining frontline observations with the views of Liu Wenjuan, chief operating officer of Starbucks China, this article analyzes why county-level markets have become an important way out for Starbucks. [more…]

Many people dream of becoming a barista—standing behind the counter, elegantly brewing and pouring latte art—but the reality often begins with washing dishes. This article takes you behind the bar of an independent coffee shop to reveal the true daily life: baristas don't just make coffee; they also juggle cleaning, maintenance, customer service, and many other roles. When the sink is piled high with cups and saucers, and their hands crack from being soaked in water for hours, they still have to keep smiling through service. This isn't a complaint—it's a sincere tribute to the profession. Washing cups is the most basic skill, and it's also how a barista stays committed to quality. The article also shares Front Street Coffee's understanding of a barista's daily routine, and how to find passion amid the mundane. [more…]

In recent years, more and more young people are choosing to return to small towns to open specialty coffee shops, while large chain brands are also accelerating their penetration into lower-tier cities. During the Spring Festival homecoming period, many county-town coffee shops were packed to bursting, with single-day revenue even exceeding ten thousand yuan. Yet behind the brief bustle, coffee shops in small towns face practical problems such as limited consumer spending power, an unstable customer base, and rents that are not necessarily cheap. Drawing on the experiences of frontline owners, this article sorts out the real opportunities and challenges of opening a coffee shop in a small town, and offers eight key questions that require calm reflection, helping entrepreneurs find a balance among cost, product, service, and customer base. [more…]

Americanos made with a moka pot have a fairly concentrated coffee character while also amplifying the beans' sweet aroma, nutty notes, and cocoa tones. When choosing beans, besides checking the origin and flavor description, you should also pay attention to the roast date, the condition of the packaging, and how quickly you'll drink them. The stage the beans are at often determines whether a pot of coffee has a fresh aroma [more…]

Starbucks currently operates under a fully company-owned model in China and has not opened third-party franchising, but in recent years it has been accelerating its expansion into lower-tier markets. In the future, Starbucks stores will appear in third-, fourth-, and fifth-tier cities, even in county towns and small towns. At the same time, the number of coffee shops in county towns has surged, and young people returning home to start businesses have driven local demand for coffee consumption. Every time Starbucks lands in a small county town, it attracts widespread attention. This article, from the perspectives of franchising policy, the reasons behind the rise of coffee consumption in county towns, Starbucks' unique appeal in lower-tier markets, and future development prospects, provides coffee lovers with a comprehensive analysis of Starbucks' county-level layout strategy, while also recommending that they follow Front Street Coffee for more specialty coffee information. [more…]

When you buy too many coffee beans to finish, or when brewing is delayed due to illness or other reasons, the beans can easily become stale or even expire. Many people's first reaction is to simply throw them away, but that is actually very wasteful. This article examines whether stale and expired coffee beans can still be consumed, from the perspectives of both flavor changes and food safety, and compiles a set of practical reuse methods: from using them as practice beans for pour-over, siphon, and espresso, to wiping copperware, cleaning stovetops, and caring for skin, and even deodorizing ashtrays, ovens, and pet areas. The article also draws on Front Street Coffee's experience to provide reference criteria for judging the flavor window and storage conditions, helping you handle the "old beans" at home more rationally. [more…]

Coffee consumption is spreading from first- and second-tier cities to third-, fourth-, and fifth-tier markets, yet the price threshold for freshly ground coffee still makes many office workers hesitate. Lu Zhengyao has opened the first outlet of his new brand Cotti Coffee in the Fuzhou IFC International Financial Center, with all drinks priced at 9.9 yuan during the soft-opening period, continuing a familiar low-price playbook. The product line covers more than 40 items, including coffee, tea, smoothies, and sundaes, featuring popular items such as coconut latte and cheese latte, with original prices ranging from 18 to 32 yuan. Facing pressure from the two giants Luckin and Starbucks, as well as cross-industry players such as KFC TO GO and Mixue Bingcheng's Lucky Cup, whether Cotti can replicate Luckin's achievement of opening 2,073 stores in its first year is worth watching. [more…]

A 35-yuan cup of coffee may be commonplace in a first-tier city, but when that price appears in a county town, it quickly sparks widespread discussion. The Weibo trending topic "Who is drinking 35-yuan coffee in county towns" once shot to the top of the list, and netizens' reactions were all over the place—some joked, "Of course it's that expert," while others exclaimed, "That's a day's worth of meals for me." Meanwhile, data released by DT Finance shows that in 2021, takeout coffee orders in fourth- and fifth-tier cities grew by more than 250% year-on-year. Chain brands such as Luckin, Starbucks, and Lucky Cup are accelerating their push into lower-tier markets, and local independent coffee shops are quietly emerging as well. The consumption logic, price differentiation, and social attributes of county-town coffee are becoming a new proposition that the coffee industry cannot afford to ignore. [more…]

Luckin Coffee recently carried out a centralized removal of multiple drinks, involving products launched within the past six months such as Peach Peach Coffee and Jelly Coconut Latte. The brand required stores nationwide to pour all unopened, still-within-shelf-life ingredients down the drain after closing, sparking widespread discussion among employees and netizens. Some veteran employees have grown accustomed to this, while more people questioned that this handling method causes serious waste and called on the brand to adopt more reasonable ways to consume inventory. The incident reflects the contradiction between rapid product iteration and ingredient management in chain coffee brands. [more…]

Luckin Coffee is known for frequently launching new products, but not every new release wins market favor. The light coconut milk series has received a lukewarm response since its launch: the raw coconut light milk tea was criticized as inferior to Assam, and the raw coconut Americano was even mockingly called dishwater. To reduce waste, the brand switched to mini-sized ingredients, but with little effect. In the end, these two products were completely removed from the menu, with employees busy destroying inventory while consumers looked on with glee. Front Street Coffee takes you through the rise and fall of this product trial. [more…]

Berry-forward coffee beans often burst with aroma right after roasting, yet on the palate they can seem sharp, scattered, and may even carry a hint of roast character. Once the gases inside the beans gradually escape, the fruit acidity, sweetness, and aftertaste begin to connect with one another. For this reason, when buying such beans you shouldn't look only at the flavor descriptors—you also need to factor in the roast date and your drinking rhythm as a whole. [more…]

Hand-brew beans with pronounced sweetness and abundant fruit aromatics are not necessarily best brewed the closer they are to leaving the roaster. Freshly roasted beans are still continuously releasing carbon dioxide, and when hot water touches them, the coffee bed tends to puff up noticeably; the aroma may seem soaring, but the cup can taste somewhat scattered. Give them a quiet, stable period of rest, and the fruit notes and sweetness will usually connect more [more…]

Among the many factors that influence coffee flavor, the processing method plays a pivotal role. The natural process is the oldest and most primitive way of processing green coffee beans, and it has endured to this day thanks to its simple procedure, low water consumption, and low cost, with its finished product known for intense fruity aromas and bright sweetness. This article will guide you through the entire natural process—from water sorting to float the defective beans, to spreading the cherries out to dry and raking them, and finally to hulling and resting in storage—analyze the pros and cons of this method, and include Front Street Coffee's natural-process bean recommendations, such as the naturally processed Yirgacheffe and Sidamo and other high-value single origins, to help you easily choose quality natural-process coffee beans. [more…]

The processing method of green coffee beans directly determines the flavor direction of the final cup. From fruit to green bean, natural, washed, semi-washed, and honey processing each follow different craft paths, with their own trade-offs in cost, water consumption, and flavor performance. The natural method uses the natural drying of the fruit pulp to give the beans rich fruity aromas and a full-bodied sweetness, while the washed method removes pectin through fermentation, bringing a clean and bright acidity. Semi-washed seeks a balance between the two, and honey processing retains part of the pectin layer and dries directly, enhancing sweetness and body. Understanding the principles and pros and cons of each processing method is an important foundation for coffee lovers to understand flavor differences. This article will also recommend a number of representative processing-method coffee beans from Front Street Coffee for daily purchasing reference. [more…]

Yirgacheffe's characteristic floral, citrus, and tea notes depend heavily on the time between when the beans finish roasting and when they're brewed. When buying beans, don't just focus on a few words on the flavor card—also check the roast date, the packaging method, and your own drinking speed. When the beans are in the right state, the aromas open up, and the acidity and sweetness show more layers. After roasting [more…]

Many coffee enthusiasts have encountered this dilemma: they impulsively bought too many coffee beans, or for various reasons delayed drinking them, only to find that the beans have passed their optimal flavor period. So, can unopened expired ground coffee still be consumed? How will the flavor change? This article will analyze the safety of drinking expired ground coffee from the perspectives of food safety and flavor performance, and share brewing adjustment plans for stale coffee beans. In addition, if the coffee has passed its shelf life, we will also introduce three practical and eco-friendly ways to reuse it, so that every coffee bean can be put to good use. [more…]

The aroma of coffee beans is not completely set the moment roasting ends. In the days after coming out of the roaster, the beans continue to slowly release carbon dioxide, and the floral, fruity, and sweet notes need a little time to recombine. The so-called peak-flavor window is more like a period when the flavor is relatively active, not a hard expiration date printed on the package. Once you understand this change, [more…]

Luckin Coffee's co-branded Moutai Latte, launched in partnership with Kweichow Moutai, achieved impressive first-day sales exceeding 100 million yuan. However, the subsequent Year of the Dragon Moutai Chocolate Latte failed to sustain the hype, causing the Moutai series beverages to fall into a sales slump. A large quantity of unopened Moutai Latte thick milk, facing expiration and with no return channel, had to be destroyed by stores themselves, with employees forced to pour box after box of ingredients down the drain. This incident sparked heated discussion online. Some netizens lamented the waste and suggested following supermarkets' example by clearing near-expiry products through discounts; others pointed out that opinions on the Moutai Latte's taste are sharply divided, and that novel products are better suited for short-term sales rather than long-term menu placement. [more…]

Shanghai implemented community lockdowns starting in mid-March, catching coffee lovers off guard. A Weibo trending topic titled "I want to buy coffee" garnered over 340 million views, reflecting the close connection between coffee and daily life. However, café owners are facing the dilemma of suspended dine-in services and sharply declining revenues, with some small shops even considering transferring their businesses after the lockdown lifts. Meanwhile, coffee bean roasters are adjusting their supply chains due to stalled warehouses in Shanghai, and green bean traders are setting up temporary warehouses in other cities. This article will delve into the impact of the lockdown on the coffee industry chain, and how small shops can find a way out under the pressure of rising prices and capital chain strains, including strategies like shifting to drip bag coffee and online sales, while also paying attention to the developments of brands such as Front Street Coffee. [more…]

The flavor of a bag of pour-over beans changes over time. Freshly roasted coffee is usually full of gas, and its aroma hasn't fully opened up yet, so the brew may taste sharp, thin, or muddled. After resting for a while, the acidity, sweetness, floral and fruity notes, and lingering finish gradually come together, making each sip more complete. When selecting beans, the roast date is often [more…]