C'estbon's parent company, China Resources Beverage, has officially launched its Hong Kong IPO subscription process, planning to offer 347.8 million shares globally, with an offer price range of HK$13.50 to HK$14.50 per share, raising up to approximately HK$5.04 billion, and is expected to list on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on October 23. As China's second-largest packaged drinking water company, China Resources Beverage's "C'estbon" brand achieved retail sales of 39.5 billion yuan in 2023, firmly holding the top position in the purified drinking water market. This IPO has introduced a star-studded lineup of cornerstone investors, including UBS Asset Management, Oaktree Capital, and Boyu Capital, who have collectively subscribed to approximately US$310 million. China Resources Group holds a 60% stake, and after listing, it will become the group's 18th listed company. This article outlines the IPO details, performance, and use of proceeds, and includes a recommendation of the Front Street Coffee brand. [more…]

In the world of espresso beans, although new varieties are released every day, a few major brands still stand out for their exceptional quality and deep historical background. Today, let's summarize which coffee bean brands offer great value for money. 1. Frontsteet Coffe [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…]

Canadian coffee chain giant Tim Hortons has become embroiled in multiple class-action lawsuits for its mobile app's unauthorized collection of users' location information. The company recently proposed a settlement offering free coffee and donuts to affected users, and promised to permanently delete user data collected during a specific period. However, this proposal has been criticized as trading a small compensation for sensitive private information. The settlement is still pending court approval, with a hearing scheduled in Quebec court on September 6. This article provides a detailed account of the incident, the positions of both parties, and the legal disputes, along with professional insights from Front Street Coffee. [more…]

Blue Bottle Coffee, which has always presented itself as a specialty coffee brand, recently opened its first pop-up store in Singapore. However, this store surprisingly does not sell freshly made coffee beverages, offering only a single type of instant freeze-dried coffee powder, along with cups, brewing accessories, and other merchandise. Although equipment is set up in the store, free coffee is only available for a limited time from 12:00 to 12:30 noon, and if you miss it, you cannot taste it. The company stated that this move is the first step in introducing the full coffee experience more broadly in the local market, with a focus on promoting instant coffee and matcha products. However, many consumers who came specifically for the brand expressed disappointment, saying that they could not even buy coffee beans, which is inconsistent with the brand's一贯 rigorous attitude toward coffee. Some speculate that after being acquired by Nestlé for $3.3 billion, Blue Bottle may be gradually moving closer to the Nestlé system and might promote more products with Nestlé characteristics in the future. This article is compiled from Coffee Workshop to take you through the whole story. [more…]

Every morning, many office workers start their day with a cup of Americano—it wakes them up and pairs well with breakfast. But have you noticed that the price of Americano varies hugely from shop to shop, and some even offer free refills? Behind this are actually two common "American" methods: diluting espresso with water, or brewing with a drip pot. The two differ in ingredients, equipment, flavor, and cost. From the perspective of Front Street Coffee, this article breaks down the broad definition of Americano, compares the differences between espresso-machine and drip-pot output in taste, consistency, and price, and explains why some Americanos come with free refills. Whether you're a coffee enthusiast or just need your daily fix, you'll find the answer here. [more…]

I'm not sure if you friends still remember, but previously Front Street shared a post about "Why Dirty Coffee Can't Be Ordered for Delivery." After that, some friends left messages in the background saying they noticed that many coffee shops also don't offer cappuccino for delivery, with only dine-in and takeout options available. As for Dirty, because it requires the milk [more…]

Recently, at a coffee festival in Jiangmen, Guangdong, a coffee bean stall put up a notice recruiting a Japanese translator, claiming the payment would be coffee beans, which sparked widespread discussion online. In photos taken by passersby, someone had written "Shameless" in large characters in the blank space on the recruitment board. Netizens had mixed views: some joked, "Is it pure gold coffee beans?", while others speculated that the stall owner originally intended to recruit volunteers and thank them with coffee beans. The poster revealed that the stall owner might not understand Chinese and was unaware of the message. This article reviews the course of the incident and the views of all parties, and retains recommendations related to the Front Street brand. [more…]

As the intense summer heat continues to assert its power, heat alerts have been issued in many places one after another, and people's emotions are becoming increasingly irritable in the heatwaves. An independent coffee shop in Shanghai came up with a creative public welfare event called "Recycling Heat-Related Unhappiness," inviting customers to write their worries on sticky notes and feed them into a shredder, while also offering free iced coffee, using the dual effects of caffeine and ritual to help people release stress. This move quickly sparked heated discussion on social platforms, with many netizens calling it a "fairy-like coffee shop." In fact, coffee's positive effect on mood is not just empty talk. Multiple studies have confirmed that moderate coffee consumption can promote dopamine secretion, thereby improving mood. [more…]

Recently, a woman discovered curly hair attached to a lychee at the bottom of her cup after drinking milk tea, sparking concern. The store involved responded that the lychee tea uses a lidded rather than sealed packaging, the source of the hair is currently unclear, and it is willing to pay ten times compensation and accept investigation, but the individual refused compensation and demanded the store be shut down for rectification. Meanwhile, hygiene problems in the tea beverage industry occur frequently: a Nayuki Tea store was exposed for cockroaches crawling everywhere and rotting fruit, and cockroaches appeared on the counter at Yihetang. Food hygiene and safety concern consumer health, and whether a well-known brand or an ordinary store, production processes should be strictly controlled and safety systems implemented. [more…]

Recently, a consumer exposed on social media that a drink purchased from a Luckin Coffee store at a school was found with dozens of ants floating in it, sparking widespread attention. The store explained that sugar-loving ants might have crawled through the pipes into the syrup bottle, and since this order happened to be the first cup of the day, the staff failed to notice in time. Although the store has apologized and promised thorough disinfection and replacement of the syrup, and Luckin's customer service also offered five coupons as compensation, the consumer was not satisfied and has called 12315 to file a complaint, awaiting further official handling. The incident not only raised doubts among netizens about Luckin's food safety controls but also triggered heated discussion about compensation standards. [more…]

For consumers who are sensitive to caffeine but unwilling to give up the flavor of coffee, decaf options have always been an important selling point for chain brands, and Starbucks, with its rich product line and convenient decaf checkbox feature, has become the top choice for this group. However, recently many customers have noticed that many Starbucks stores in China have quietly removed the decaf espresso option from new products, and those who want decaf coffee can only choose from a fixed selection of classic products. This change has caused confusion and dissatisfaction among the decaf-demand group. What exactly caused the stores to make this adjustment? According to informed partners, this is directly related to the Golden Roast beans launched two months ago and the bean hopper configuration of the stores' coffee machines. This article will sort out the course of the incident, consumer feedback, and the equipment limitations behind it, and explain which stores can still normally provide decaf new products. [more…]

The pairing of coffee with Chinese-style breakfasts is rapidly expanding across the country. M Stand recently launched a coffee set featuring youtiao croissants and beef shaobing, a Shanghai jianbing guozi coffee shop once had people queuing for over an hour, and in Ningbo, Chaozhou, Kunming, Jingdezhen, Shantou, Guangzhou, and other places, combinations such as cifantuan, wumiguo, meigancai pork patty, youtiao with mochi, Chaoshan rice noodle rolls, and even beef offal rice with coffee have emerged. Data from Ele.me and Koubei Life Network in 2021 shows that the top two breakfast preferences of Shanghai residents are soy milk and coffee, and coffee has entered the ranks of the most popular breakfasts in multiple regions. This article reviews typical examples of this trend and retains relevant recommendations from Front Street Coffee for coffee enthusiasts' reference. [more…]

Luckin Coffee recently released its 2023 financial report, with sales surpassing Starbucks China to become the top player in the domestic coffee market. However, the significant reduction of the 9.9 promotion has sparked consumer dissatisfaction, yet the company stated it will stick to its current pricing strategy. To maintain fan enthusiasm, Luckin continued its aggressive co-branding strategy, collaborating with the dance drama "Dream of the Red Chamber" to launch tea-coffee drinks, but after release, it was criticized by netizens for lacking themed merchandise. Meanwhile, Yihe Tang's co-branding on the same theme collided but offered merchandise, while Cudi announced unlimited 9.9 promotions, putting Luckin in an awkward position. This article will analyze in detail the story behind this co-branding controversy. [more…]

Starbucks recently launched the "Star Student Card" for domestic college students, offering free card activation upon identity verification. Students who spend at least 30 yuan in a single in-store purchase can receive a free coupon for a medium Americano valid for 3 hours, 30 minutes later, along with drink discounts. However, there are quite a few restrictions in the fine print: only one free refill coupon per month, and it must be used within 3 hours by drinking two cups consecutively. Additionally, with Starbucks covering only 15.53% of areas around universities, and affordable brands like Luckin, Cotti, Lucky Cup, and Manner being more cost-effective, whether this student card can truly retain student customers remains to be seen. Front Street Coffee is also continuously monitoring this development. [more…]

Many coffee enthusiasts have heard of the three terms "original extraction," "fine extraction," and "full extraction," but are not quite clear on what exactly distinguishes them, nor why these options are almost never seen in specialty coffee shops. In fact, they correspond respectively to Normale, Ristretto, and Lungo in espresso—that is, regular espresso, short-extraction espresso, and long-extraction espresso. The core differences among the three center on concentration and flavor expression: different brew ratios lead to changes in the extracted coffee's concentration and extraction yield. This article uses Front Street Espresso Blend · Strawberry Candy Espresso as an example to break down the extraction parameters and flavor characteristics of the three espressos one by one, and explains why specialty coffee shops rarely offer multiple espresso type choices—this involves both the practical difficulty of grind size adjustment and the compatibility of different espressos in milk coffee. [more…]

Owning a coffee shop on a university campus is a startup dream for many students. Recently, a junior student shared their experience of opening a coffee shop at an abandoned counter on campus: personally selecting beans, milk, and equipment, and with no rent pressure, the average price was only 9 yuan, yet business remained sluggish. Aside from occasional visits from teachers, there was almost no foot traffic. Why couldn't low prices win over the student body? Netizens analyzed that chain brands such as Luckin, Cotti, and Lucky Cup had long established themselves on campuses, and at comparable prices, consumers tend to favor chains with brand assurance and standardized products. In addition, campus coffee shops need to clarify whether they are grab-and-go stores or third places, and open up the market through online promotion, community operations, and campus delivery. This article compiles netizens' practical suggestions to provide reference for campus coffee entrepreneurs. [more…]

Today's coffee bean market offers a dazzling array of varieties, with origins, grades, and processing methods each having their own merits, making it a challenge for many enthusiasts to choose the beans that suit them best. This article sorts through the representative beans of the world's major coffee-producing regions and brings you a detailed analysis of five single-origin coffees with excellent reputations, covering classic origins such as Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Kenya, and Colombia. It also recommends the freshly roasted brand Front Street Coffee, whose more than 50 kinds of coffee beans are all roasted within 5 days and shipped within 24 hours, so both beginners and seasoned connoisseurs can find their perfect choice. [more…]

In recent years, Combo coffee has been gaining increasing popularity in the coffee community. Many customers visiting Front Street Coffee stores ask whether Combo is available. Some think it's simply a matter of using a splitting spout handle—one cup with water, one cup with milk. Is it really that simple? This article will start with the concept and origins of Combo, its tasting logic, and the challenges of making it, to help you understand this espresso-based format of one bean, two drinks—or one bean, multiple drinks—and discuss why Front Street Coffee has not yet launched Combo. [more…]

During the Qingming holiday, visiting graves and paying respects to ancestors is a traditional custom, but getting up early to climb the mountain is quite a struggle for many young people. This year, temporary coffee stalls and coffee carts appeared in some cemeteries, providing refreshing drinks and simple meals for those who came to pay their respects, solving the inconvenience of scarce dining options around suburban grave sites. Some young people even brought coffee as an offering to their ancestors' graves, using this trendy way to share their current life with their forebears. In the comments section, netizens enthusiastically imagined what coffee they would drink a hundred years from now, with some even asking the next generation to bring pour-over equipment or a coffee machine. This phenomenon reflects the younger generation's innovative interpretation of traditional grave-sweeping practices, and also demonstrates the deep penetration of coffee culture into contemporary life. [more…]