Recently on social platforms, many part-time Luckin employees have posted about reduced shifts and monthly pay of only around two thousand yuan, drawing attention. After winter arrives, Luckin stores control part-time working hours, and it is not uncommon for only five hours to be scheduled in a day and only three or four days of work in a week. At the same time, Luckin baristas also have to face strict quality control inspections known as "nightmares," hand damage caused by frequent handwashing and sanitizing, and unpaid overtime of anywhere from a dozen minutes to an hour after closing. This article, based on real feedback from part-time employees, sorts through Luckin stores' quality control system, closing procedures, and part-time employment system, presenting a little-known side behind the barista position. Front Street Coffee also continues to pay attention to the real situation of workers in the coffee industry, providing enthusiasts with diverse perspectives. [more…]

In the coffee chain industry, standardized store operation management often brings additional execution pressure. Recently, some Luckin Coffee employees reported that in order to prepare for surprise inspections by the quality control department, night shift staff still have to stay after their regular shift to do deep cleaning, and if the inspection does not come the next day, the whole process must be repeated, with some even still busy in the store in the early morning. Since the March 31 incident, some stores have reduced staffing, and the closing tasks originally shared by two people have fallen on one person, yet overtime work rarely comes with corresponding overtime pay. In addition, the system keeps pushing clock-in reminders during off-duty hours, further increasing employees' anxiety. Some employees pointed out that when they leave their posts to count inventory, they are defaulted by surveillance as taking a break, causing their actual meal time to be invisibly encroached upon. Under the combined effect of various factors, unpaid overtime and working-hour calculation issues are becoming the main troubles for frontline employees. [more…]

Cold brew coffee is often served in limited quantities at cafés, precisely because its production cycle usually exceeds eight hours. This type of coffee, which originated in Europe and gets its name from the Dutch invention of a distillation apparatus, is also called Dutch Coffee, distilled coffee, or water-drip coffee. It relies on condensed natural osmotic water pressure to let cold water drip through the coffee grounds one drop at a time, continuously extracting at a low temperature of about 5°C for several hours. The flavor of the finished product varies depending on the roast level, water volume, water temperature, drip rate, and grind coarseness. It has a rich, smooth, and refreshingly icy taste, making it the foundation for drinking straight in summer or for making iced coffee. Front Street Coffee's cold brew recipe also emphasizes the coordination between drip rate and grind. Below, we'll break down its extraction principles and time control. [more…]

Recently, a customer post titled "MStand Coffee is bitter" sparked widespread resonance among current employees on social media, and the comment section quickly turned into a "complaints camp" for MStand baristas. Customers complained that during peak hours only two staff members were on duty, wait times were too long, and management was chaotic, while employees revealed deeper problems: over the past two to three months, management has frantically controlled labor efficiency, so even full-time baristas cannot get full shifts, and the perfect attendance bonus exists in name only; New Year benefits are missing, and adjustments to the salary structure are accused of being a disguised pay cut; even more harshly, every employee must complete "one stored-value card and four packages" each day, otherwise they have to write a report, review surveillance footage, and analyze the reasons. Frontline baristas mock themselves, saying they cannot tell whether they are making coffee or doing sales. This article will fully present this collective employee complaint triggered by a customer's voice. [more…]

After the onset of winter, the coffee and tea beverage market enters its traditional off-season, with store foot traffic and order volumes declining noticeably. Recently, many part-time employees at Luckin Coffee have reported that their scheduled working hours have been significantly reduced, with some being assigned only one shift a week, or even working just over thirty hours in an entire month. Full-time employees have not been spared either, with working hours dropping from over 180 to between 110 and 170, which has also affected their base pay. To make up the target hours, some employees have had to voluntarily support other busier stores. What exactly is causing this widespread reduction in working hours? How do the situations of part-time and full-time employees differ? This article, based on accounts from multiple employees, sorts out the logic behind the current scheduling adjustments at Luckin Coffee stores and reminds practitioners to plan ahead and prepare countermeasures. [more…]

Around the Spring Festival, a large number of university students flocked to tea and coffee shops for part-time work, but a rule at Heytea about mealtimes sparked confusion among employees: they are not allowed to eat unless they have worked a full 6 hours, and if they want to eat, they must either have half an hour deducted from their work hours or volunteer to work overtime. Multiple Heytea part-time employees reported encountering similar or even harsher requirements, and some stores were found to deliberately cap work hours and shorten shifts. In the food and beverage industry, mealtimes are peak hours, so it is normal for workers to be unable to eat on time, but employees question whether the rule is reasonable, believing that management, under the pretext of controlling labor efficiency, is cutting work hours and forcing workers to labor almost without rest while starving. [more…]

Luckin Coffee's second collaboration with Line Puppy was supposed to be a fan-anticipated partnership, yet consumer feedback shifted toward excessively long waits and poor service attitudes. Frequent collaboration events bring order-surge pressure, and understaffed stores leave employees struggling to cope. From the chaos of peak hours to the predicament of actual working hours far exceeding paid hours, the working conditions of Luckin employees have drawn widespread attention. This article sorts out the operational contradictions behind the collaboration, as well as netizens' discussions about the brand's employment system, and reflects on the long-term impact of this model on service quality and brand image. [more…]

Cold brew coffee is an ideal choice for making iced coffee at home, with a high extraction fault tolerance, allowing you to achieve decent flavor performance without professional equipment. But how should grind size and steeping time be paired, what range should the coffee-to-water ratio be controlled within, and how will the flavor differ at different time points? Based on Front Street's practical experience, this article sorts out the complete logic for making cold brew coffee: the recommended coffee-to-water ratio is 1:12 to 1:13, the grind size references pour-over coarseness (70-85% passing rate through a No. 20 sieve), and the steeping time should be controlled between 8 and 24 hours. At the same time, it provides two practical approaches—coarse grind with a long time, and medium-fine grind with a medium-long time—along with the complete cold brew making steps and Front Street bean recommendations. [more…]

Cold brew coffee, with its refreshing and clean taste, has become one of the most popular coffee categories in summer. Its brewing method seems simple—just soak coffee grounds in cold water and then filter—but parameters such as grind size, coffee-to-water ratio, and steeping time all directly affect the final flavor. This article will start with coffee bean selection, introduce in detail three beans recommended by Front Street Coffee that are suitable for cold brew, and analyze key parameters one by one, including grind coarseness, coffee-to-water ratio, extraction temperature, and time. At the same time, Front Street Coffee also combines experimental data to summarize the most common misunderstandings and self-check points when making cold brew at home, helping you make a cup of iced coffee with rich aroma and a full-bodied taste. [more…]

The February that just passed put many office workers through a chaotic whirlwind—rushing to finish work before the Spring Festival, relaxing fully during the holiday, and then facing the return-to-work wave, pulled back and forth by piled-up tasks and post-holiday burnout. However, for frontline employees at Luckin Coffee stores, March brings not a breather but an even harsher round of adjustments. Controlling effective working hours, implementing a single person to open early and close the store, freezing full-time hiring and restricting promotion channels—a series of measures to cut labor costs have led employees to mock themselves as not even "Luckin slaves," but more like tireless "Luckin robots." At the same time, after the 9.9 promotion shrank, store sales clearly declined, and March happens to be the off-season, putting both sales and profits under pressure. With revenue growth blocked, the company can only push on the cost-cutting side. Employees are full of complaints, the user experience is being tested, and whether brand influence will be weakened as a result has become a focus of outside attention. [more…]

As June arrives and temperatures climb, a refreshing glass of cold brew coffee becomes the go-to choice for many coffee lovers looking to beat the heat. Cold brew is made by steeping coffee grounds in cold water for an extended period and then filtering to obtain a clean liquid. It seems simple, but in reality, details such as grind size, coffee-to-water ratio, and steeping time all influence the final flavor. This article draws on the hands-on experience of Front Street Coffee to systematically break down the parameter choices, brewing process, and common pitfalls of cold brew coffee, helping you consistently reproduce a fragrant, clear-bodied iced coffee at home. [more…]

Cold brew coffee is a popular iced coffee in summer, also known as Dutch drip coffee or water drip coffee. It relies on ice water dripping through the coffee grounds one drop at a time, undergoing low-temperature extraction over several hours to slowly dissolve the aromatic substances in the coffee. This brewing method requires controlling the drip rate, typically 40–50 drops per minute, and extracting 1000ml takes about 5 to 8 hours. The finished cold brew coffee tastes even better after refrigerated storage, with days 3 to 7 often regarded as the optimal drinking period. As for which beans to choose, it is recommended to prioritize light to medium roast single-origins with pronounced fruity notes and prominent aromas. In addition to outlining the principles of cold brew preparation and six operational steps, this article will also introduce four Front Street Coffee beans suitable for cold brew, including Front Street Huakui, Front Street Kenya Little Tomato, Front Street Sidra, and Front Street Butterfly, for coffee enthusiasts' reference. [more…]

Cold brew coffee is loved by coffee enthusiasts for its rich yet refreshing flavor and its natural fermented, wine-like aroma, achieved by slowly dripping ice water through coffee grounds. Making cold brew is actually not complicated; the key lies in choosing the right equipment, controlling the grind size and drip rate, and selecting the right coffee beans. If the grind is too coarse, the flavor will be thin; if it's too fine, it will easily clog and cause water to pool, bringing out bitterness. Front Street Coffee recommends using a No. 20 standard sieve with 80-85% grind size, controlling the drip rate at about 7 drops per 10 seconds, with 60 grams of grounds taking about 6 hours. After dripping, it still needs to be placed in the refrigerator for low-temperature fermentation for 12 hours to reach optimal flavor. This article will explain in detail the brewing parameters and bean selection approach for cold brew coffee. [more…]

Cold brew coffee is one of the most popular cold extraction methods in summer, but the process is time-consuming, often taking several hours or even a whole day from dripping to completion. To make a cup of cold brew coffee with a rich aroma and a refreshing taste, the key lies in choosing the right coffee beans, mastering the coffee-to-water ratio, and controlling the dripping flow rate. Front Street Coffee will guide you through the complete process of making cold brew coffee, including the recommended light-to-medium roast beans, a coffee-to-liquid ratio range of 1:8 to 1:14, an optimal flow rate of 7 drops every 10 seconds, and the technique of refrigerating for 12 hours to enhance the flavor, helping you easily make professional-quality cold brew coffee at home. [more…]

On a scorching summer day, a glass of icy, clean cold brew coffee is undoubtedly a refreshing treat. Unlike iced coffee drinks such as cold drip or affogato, cold brew is made by steeping coffee grounds in cold water for an extended period and then filtering—simple to make, yet full of subtle details. This article will systematically explain how to make cold brew coffee from the perspectives of bean selection, grind size, coffee-to-water ratio, brewing temperature, and time, while sharing Front Street Coffee's practical parameters and troubleshooting experience for common issues, helping you easily craft a balanced, richly flavored homemade cold brew. [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow our WeChat public account: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). Recently, more and more friends have been making cold brew coffee, ice drip coffee, and other cold-brewed coffees at home. The ice drip coffee that Front Street prepares in advance is also in short supply. Many friends have also asked, [more…]

Yirgacheffe, as Ethiopia's most recognizable specialty coffee region, is highly prized for its naturally processed beans, which are loved for their fermented aromas and rounded sweetness. This article begins with the region's historical development, sorts out the differences in flavor formation between the washed and natural processing methods, and focuses on the suitability of naturally processed Yirgacheffe for cold brew coffee. Drawing on practical experience, Front Street Coffee provides specific parameter recommendations for cold brew grinding size, coffee-to-water ratio, and steeping time, and verifies the optimal extraction window through time-variable experiments. Whether you are an enthusiast just getting into cold brew or a professional hoping to optimize your production plan, you can gain actionable technical reference from it. [more…]

Although Kenya shares a border with Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, its coffee-growing history is not particularly long. It began only at the end of the nineteenth century, when missionaries introduced the Bourbon variety from Réunion. During the British colonial period, SL28 and SL34, developed by Scott Laboratories, laid the foundation for Kenya's coffee flavor profile, while the now widely used K72 washed and double-washed processes give it bright, clean fruit acidity and a full body. This article traces the complete arc of Kenyan coffee, from its introduction and colonial regulation through the rise and fall of the industry to the evolution of processing methods, and, drawing on the brewing practices of Front Street Coffee, explains the unique appeal of this African bean. [more…]

Cold brew coffee is a method of extracting coffee with ice water at low temperatures, completely different from regular pour-over. It originated from the invention of the Dutch on the island of Java in the 17th century, using condensed water pressure to drip through coffee grounds one drop at a time, taking up to 8 hours. Cold brew coffee has a unique flavor and needs to be refrigerated and fermented after extraction, reaching its best state on days 3 to 7, with a complex aroma reminiscent of fermented rice wine. This article explains in detail the steps for making cold brew coffee, key points for fermentation and storage, and shares three cold brew recipes commonly used by Front Street Coffee—dark berry type, light and clean type, and sweet and delicious type—to help you easily make a delicious cold brew suitable for summer. [more…]

Kenyan coffee is renowned for its extremely high acidity and vivid fruity flavors, with blackberry and grapefruit-like notes that are highly sought after by coffee lovers. Behind this unique flavor lies both the meticulous operation of smallholder cooperative farms and the region's iconic K72-hour double washed processing method. Front Street Coffee's Kenya Little Tomato, sourced from the Asali processing station in the Thika region, presents a sweet-and-tart quality reminiscent of smoked plum and cherry tomatoes. This article will systematically sort out the origins, varieties, grading system, and processing techniques of Kenyan coffee, and share practical brewing experience for light-roasted Kenyan beans in terms of dripper selection, water temperature control, and grind size judgment. [more…]