Strawberry season has arrived, and major chain brands are rolling out seasonal limited-edition drinks one after another. Luckin has also jumped on the bandwagon with its Big Gulp Strawberry Fruit Tea, officially claiming that each cup contains 20 strawberries. However, after receiving the product, many consumers discovered that the drink was made from strawberry jam, far from the fresh fruit tea they had expected, and complaints have been flooding social media. The promotional approach of livestream hosts holding fresh strawberries stands in sharp contrast to the thick jam actually used in stores, sparking customer doubts about the truthfulness of the marketing. This article will sort through the ins and outs of the incident, present consumer feedback and the brand's response, and explore Luckin's consistent ingredient strategy for its fruit tea products. [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…]

During the National Day Golden Week, the new tea beverage market experienced a consumption boom. Sales at some outlets of leading brands such as Heytea and Nayuki grew by nearly 300% compared with before the holiday, with some stores seeing increases of as much as 500%, and fruit tea categories contributed nearly 80% of sales. Heytea's highest single-store daily fruit consumption exceeded 400 kilograms, while Nayuki's new products achieved cumulative sales of nearly one million cups. At the same time, both major brands lowered product prices, focusing on high cost-effectiveness. This article will analyze the performance and future direction of the new tea beverage industry in the holiday economy from the perspectives of sales data, supply chain layout, consumption trends, and pricing strategies. For more coffee bean news and specialty coffee recommendations, please follow Coffee Workshop and Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). [more…]

In recent years, tea beverage brands have been adding fresh fruits and vegetables to their fruit tea products in pursuit of genuine ingredients. Luckin, however, has long relied on fruit concentrates and quick-frozen dried fruit due to the limitations of its store conditions, making many tea beverage peers envious. Recently, though, some Luckin stores in Guangdong, Chengdu, and other regions have successively received new materials such as muddling sticks, cut-resistant gloves, and labels for fruit washing machine storage areas, while internal order forms also list equipment including dicers and strawberry hullers. These tools have no direct connection to the drinks currently on sale, and the appearance of a bitter melon light-body fruit and vegetable tea and a bitter melon fruit and vegetable Americano—neither of which is on the menu—in the mini-program coupons has sparked employees' speculation that Luckin may introduce fresh-cut fruit. Once freshly cut fruit enters the production process, whether Luckin stores staffed by a single person can withstand peak-hour pressure has become the most anxiety-inducing question for workers. [more…]

Last summer, Luckin made refreshing lemon tea a permanent menu item, and earlier this year it upgraded the recipe, adding quick-frozen lemon halves and lemon pulp to enrich the texture. However, the 2.0 version of the lemon tea did not win unanimous praise from consumers and staff, and the problem lay with that conspicuous piece of quick-frozen lemon. Recently there has been news that Luckin may be trying to replace the quick-frozen lemon with a fresh fruit slicer, which has sparked widespread discussion among store employees. Some worry that they will have to arrive early to wash fruit and still spend a lot of time cleaning the machine after closing, bluntly saying they "want to run away"; others think a full rollout is unlikely. Front Street Coffee continues to follow developments in the coffee and tea beverage industry, and this article will sort out the ins and outs of the incident. [more…]

Freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable teas have become the new trend in the tea beverage industry, with ingredients such as kale, carrots, and beetroot being widely used. While consumers are paying for health, some have found mud and sand in Nayuki drinks. A customer discovered stains remaining on the decorative kale leaves at the bottom of the "Slim Little Green Bottle" cup, and after wiping the stem with a tissue, obvious mud and sand were visible. The post attracted a great deal of attention, and some netizens claiming to be Nayuki employees left comments revealing that stores are short-staffed and the washing of fruits and vegetables is perfunctory. Behind the genuine ingredients of fruit and vegetable teas, food safety issues are cause for concern. [more…]

After the National Day holiday, Heytea launched the third product in its Super Plant Tea series—the Beetroot Beauty Bottle. This fruit-and-vegetable tea drink, starring beetroot, continues the previous slimming bottle line and claims to have beauty-enhancing and slimming benefits. Beetroot, an ancient ingredient originating from the Mediterranean, is rich in betalains and dietary fiber and holds a high status in European folk tradition. The new product is made from 100% freshly squeezed beetroot, combined with apple juice, pineapple juice, lemon juice, and a fragrance-free Green Yan tea base, offering a fresh and light taste. However, consumer feedback has been polarized: those who like it appreciate the balance between the slight astringency of the whole food and the tartness of the apple, while those who don't describe it as tasting like a mouthful of dirt. Heytea's previously launched Champion Slimming Bottle and Fire-Clearing Slimming Bottle both achieved impressive sales, and competition in the fruit-and-vegetable tea segment is intensifying. [more…]

Since Heytea launched its Super Botanical Tea series, fruit and vegetable juice drinks have quickly gained popularity, with major brands rushing to follow suit. ChaPanda recently rolled out its "Super Veggie" series in 14 cities including Beijing and Shanghai, among which "Detox Wheatgrass" sparked heated discussion online because its main ingredient closely resembles cat grass and livestock feed. This drink pairs wheatgrass with fresh fruits such as apple, pineapple, and Shine Muscat grapes, and the company emphasizes that no concentrated juice is used. Consumers report that it tastes refreshing, but kitchen staff's workload has increased accordingly, while some customers have raised concerns about the food safety of fruit and vegetable juices. [more…]

As the winter strawberry season arrives, major chain tea brands are launching strawberry-related drinks one after another. ChaPanda has brought back its signature strawberry drink in response to fan demand, while also keeping up with the fruit-and-vegetable juice trend by launching a strawberry version of its Light & Refreshing Kale drink and a brand-new item, Divine Beauty Strawberry. Among them, Divine Beauty Strawberry is made fresh with ingredients such as roselle, strawberries, and pineapple, and has been dubbed a "natural liquid blush" by the official brand, attracting many consumers to try it. However, a production video released by an employee revealed the cumbersome and labor-intensive manual juicing process behind this drink—a full pot of ingredients can yield only two cups after manual squeezing, and the filter bags frequently burst from the pressure, prompting collective complaints from staff. The inefficient production method has also led some netizens to worry about hygiene conditions. [more…]

Last spring, Heytea's guava series of fruit teas captured a large number of consumers with their refreshing taste, and their removal from the menu after the season became a regret for many. On the eve of this year's Valentine's Day, the guava series finally returned amid widespread calls for it, and as soon as the Refreshing Guava Grape Tea was launched, it flooded social media, with store orders packed. However, while fans were raising their cups for photos and check-ins, Heytea employees in the back kitchen were facing baskets of fresh guavas, wanting to cry but unable to shed tears. Manually squeezing fruit puree, peeling green grape flesh, and long hours of repetitive labor caused many staff members to develop health problems such as frozen shoulder, tenosynovitis, and hand allergies. Behind a cup of seemingly simple fruit tea, what exactly is hidden in terms of the production process and labor intensity? This article takes you to understand the real working conditions of milk tea workers. [more…]

Recently, a netizen exposed that the well-known fruit tea chain brand 7FenTian uses quick-frozen mango chunks in its beverage preparation, and that this food has a shelf life of up to 24 months, sparking widespread concern. The brand is known for its signature product Yangzhi Ganlu, and both its ordering mini-program and offline stores advertise the use of fresh mangoes and freshly cut soft and glutinous mangoes, but the expose revealed that the stores actually use quick-frozen fruit chunks. 7FenTian customer service confirmed that the quick-frozen mango chunks are uniformly ordered and delivered by the company, and the shelf life is indeed 24 months, but regarding why quick-frozen fruit chunks are still used when fresh mangoes are available, customer service said it could not explain. At present, the expose post has been deleted, and the brand has not yet made a public response regarding issues such as the proportion of quick-frozen mango use and the failure to clearly inform consumers of the type of ingredients. As coffee enthusiasts, understanding the true situation of beverage ingredients is equally important. Front Street Coffee continues to follow industry developments and brings you objective reporting. [more…]

In the scorching summer, iced drinks are back in the consumer spotlight. To stand out in fierce competition, new tea beverage brands keep reinventing their marketing tactics—from early niche fruits and co-branded limited editions to today's popular milk tea scratch cards, blind box draws, and even giveaways of gold, lottery tickets, and cars. Suguo Fresh Fruit Tea uses its new yellow skin (wampee) product to promote "scratch for real gold," Heytea and Nayuki use puns plus tear-open cards and lottery tickets to grab attention, while Chagee uses high-end lipstick blind boxes to precisely target female customers. Behind these gimmicks is the thrill and sense of participation brought by "eliminating uncertainty." Of course, for those who just want to quietly enjoy a good coffee or milk tea, returning to the product itself may be the lasting way forward, and Front Street Coffee has always advocated focusing on flavor and quality. [more…]

Tea Baidao's classic mulberry fruit tea "Wu Qi Ma Hei" returns this year in an upgraded form, alongside the new release "Triple Berry Good Night Cup." The official promotion claims the new version focuses on freshly peeled and freshly squeezed same-day ingredients, with a stronger juicy pulp burst, and consumers are buying into it. However, for the workers in the store kitchens, this upgrade has turned into a nightmare—switching from frozen mulberry pieces to fresh mulberries turns one step into many, multiplying the prep difficulty and workload. Complaints flood social media, with employees exclaiming "peeling until crazy" and "prepping until insane." This article takes you behind the production changes and frontline employee feedback for this seasonal limited-edition drink. [more…]

Tea Baidao has been rolling out new products frequently lately—wheatgrass juice, bell pepper fruit-and-vegetable tea, and the gorgeous strawberry have all taken turns on the menu. Now it has been revealed that the chain is requiring its stores to purchase woks and stock tapioca starch, having staff hand-roll the balls and stir-fry the pearls fresh. As soon as the news broke, milk tea fans were full of anticipation, but frontline workers were wailing in despair, saying outright that "my heart is dead" and "I want to escape." Can freshly made pearls really improve the taste? How can the contradiction between a brand's pace of new launches and store staffing be resolved? This article takes you through the uproar caused by pearls. [more…]

Among the many tea gardens in Darjeeling, Castleton is undoubtedly the most renowned. It was personally planted by Dr. Charles Graham in 1885 and is now part of the Goodricke Group, famous worldwide for its Moonlight White tea and first flush tea. The garden spans the slopes of Kurseong and Pankhabari, rising from 980 meters to 2300 meters in altitude. Of its 170 hectares under cultivation, 70% are heritage tea bushes, and it also possesses quality clonal varieties such as AV2 and Seeyok 1240. The high altitude and low-oxygen environment cause the tea to grow slowly, yet it concentrates richer flavors. Front Street Coffee's first 2021 China Red purchased this year comes from here—a first flush at 4,000 feet, with a medium-bodied yet balanced cup, fresh citrus, sweet green notes, and a finish carrying stone fruit and woody aromas. This article will take you into Castleton and savor in detail the aroma, taste, and aftertaste of its first flush tea. [more…]

In the season when bayberries hit the market, tea beverage brands are rolling out limited-edition drinks to capture the market. ChaPanda's new offerings this year, "Bayberry Yogurt Shake" and "Bayberry Popping Ice," use the selling point of "about 9 real bayberries per cup" to attract many consumers to try them. However, for frontline store employees, this bayberry craze has become a veritable "calamity." To preserve the fresh fruit texture, the brand requires stores to peel and pit the fruit on-site, but without specialized tools, employees can only do it bare-handed, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to injury. Morning shift staff are already busy brewing tea, cutting fruit, and making drinks, and now they have this new task added on, leading many to complain that the R&D department is out of touch with reality. This article will take you through how ChaPanda's workers are coping with this bayberry prep challenge. [more…]

Using beverages in cooking is nothing new—Coca-Cola chicken wings have long been a household name. But recently, a group of wildly creative netizens have brought freshly made milk tea and fruit tea into the frying pan—Mixue Bingcheng's "Bangda Fresh Orange" is used to braise pork ribs, iced fresh lemonade replaces dipping sauce, and Four Seasons Spring milk tea is kneaded into dough to steam buns. This "Mixue Bingcheng goes into the kitchen" trend quickly went viral on social media, racking up tens of thousands of likes, with official accounts also joining in the interaction. Some see it as dark cuisine, while others who tried it exclaim it's surprisingly delicious. Is incorporating freshly made drinks into cooking actually reliable? And what intriguing details lie behind it? This article will take you on a deep dive. [more…]

Nayuki recently launched a new product, the "Double-Antioxidant Little Red Bottle," featuring freshly squeezed Yunnan tree tomatoes paired with blueberries, cherry tomatoes, lemons, and other fresh fruits. It is advertised as sweet and tangy, rich in vitamin C and lycopene. However, not long after its release, the first wave of curious consumers began complaining: a large amount of fruit peel and seeds settles at the bottom of the cup, and one sip fills your mouth with grit—some people even nearly choked on a lemon seed. Staff responded that filtering the fruit puree was not required during preparation, and the final product varies due to differences in technique. Interestingly, netizens are divided on the issue—some suggest adding a filtration step, while others believe the fruit residue is precisely proof of "genuine ingredients." Behind this controversy lies the challenge of balancing taste and health in fruit-and-vegetable teas. [more…]

In the height of summer, wampee, a niche southern fruit, has become a popular partner for homemade iced coffee thanks to its sweet-and-sour juiciness and uniquely fresh aroma. Through repeated testing, Front Street Coffee has put together three distinctly different wampee iced americano recipes: the original wampee sparkling americano uses sparkling water to amplify the fruit aroma and add a more refreshing layer; the jasmine tea wampee americano blends homemade jam with a cold-brewed tea base for a soft fragrance; and the wampee preserved plum iced shaker americano targets those who dislike sweetness, using preserved plum water and a shaker to create a sugar-free version. All three recipes use Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun espresso blend, extracting 40g of coffee liquid from 20g of grounds in 31 seconds. Below, we break down the ingredients, steps, and production details one by one to help you find the cup that best suits your taste. [more…]

In coffee bean flavor descriptions, the term "bergamot" appears frequently, especially in washed beans that emphasize fresh floral notes and bright fruit acidity. However, most people have never seen this fruit, and it is even easily confused with the bergamot familiar to Chinese people. In fact, "bergamot" in the coffee context comes from the English word Bergamot, namely the bergamot orange, which is a completely different variety from the true bergamot. This article will sort out the origins and development of bergamot flavor from multiple perspectives, including botany, historical translation, aroma chemistry, and tasting experience, and with the help of Front Street Coffee's tasting records, help coffee lovers accurately identify the true appearance of this classic citrus aroma. [more…]