Recently, a short video showing raw drunken hairy crabs being added to milk tea cream and eaten quickly spread on social platforms, sparking widespread discussion. In the video, the blogger tasted this self-created drink at a popular milk tea shop, but it was later confirmed that the blogger had brought the crabs themselves for the staged video, and the shop did not sell the product. Netizens had mixed opinions on this behavior, while experts explicitly reminded the public not to imitate it, as eating frozen milk tea together with raw crab doubles the irritation to the stomach and intestines, and misleading the public for traffic is highly inadvisable. This incident also reflects the current situation in which the new tea beverage industry frequently engages in cross-sector innovation, but if innovation loses its boundaries, especially when food safety is involved, it is worth deep reflection. [more…]

The innovations in the new-style tea beverage industry lately seem to be getting more and more baffling. From goji berry milk tea that lets you enjoy both health and happiness, to completely unrelated concoctions like snail rice noodle milk tea and Chongqing hot pot milk tea, to even more off-putting ones like roast duck milk tea, Lao Gan Ma milk tea, fish mint and cilantro lemon tea, and even raw-marinated hairy crab milk tea... These drinks not only feature bizarre ingredients, but some also let you choose the broth base, toppings, and spice level, as if a whole dish has been packed into a cup. Faced with these wildly imaginative combinations, we can't help but ask: Is the bottom line for beverage innovation really just that you'll survive after drinking it? Isn't it nice to just enjoy a normal milk tea with toppings? [more…]

Recently, a coffee shop launched a signature drink called "Chaoshan Poison," sparking heated discussion online. In Chaoshan cuisine, "Chaoshan Poison" has long been synonymous with raw-marinated seafood, yet this coffee, priced at 45 yuan, is primarily made with cold brew coffee and green olive juice, garnished with Chaoshan aged medicinal kumquat and bamboo-salt wampee—a far cry from public perception. Chaoshan netizens have voiced their displeasure in dialect, arguing that the name misleads consumers and that the shop lacks understanding of local food culture. This article will review the course of events and explore the boundary between creative local specialty coffee and naming. [more…]

Indonesian President Joko Widodo revealed at the 2024 BNI Investor Daily Summit that the government is considering banning the export of unprocessed agricultural products such as coffee and cocoa to advance its resource downstreaming strategy. If implemented, this policy will directly affect the export volume of the world's fourth-largest coffee-producing country, thereby driving up international coffee prices. It is worth noting that Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee had a similar precedent, but it was eventually relaxed due to trade liberalization. Indonesia's domestic consumption is robust, with exports accounting for more than half, and whether the deep-processing policy can be smoothly implemented remains in question. This article reviews the policy background, historical cases, and market impact for the reference of coffee enthusiasts. [more…]

The core difference between organic tea and conventional tea lies in whether it has been certified by an authoritative body. EU organic regulations prohibit genetic modification and synthetic inputs, and require animals to be raised in ways that suit their species characteristics, and are regarded as the strictest threshold in the tea industry. Certifications such as Switzerland's IMO, France's Ecocert, the US USDA, Japan's JAS, India's, Canada's, China's, Australia's, and Germany's Naturland each have different emphases, with significant differences in scope of application and difficulty of obtaining them. Rainforest Alliance, UTZ, FDA, and HACCP provide supplementary assurances from the perspectives of sustainable agriculture and food safety. This article systematically sorts out the rules, authority, and market applicability of major certifications, helping coffee and tea lovers accurately identify the true meaning behind labels when making purchases. [more…]

It's not unusual to see tea eggs sold at roadside stalls, but have you ever heard of eggs braised in coffee? Recently, a creative snack called "coffee eggs" appeared at the Qingdeng Market in Wenzhou. The vendor simmered coffee powder together with five-spice braising ingredients, then soaked the eggs in a hot Americano broth to absorb the flavor, selling each for 5 yuan. This move quickly sparked heated discussion online, with some worrying about a bitter taste, others questioning hygiene, and coffee enthusiasts even joining in the experiments, using Panama Guarumo Washed Geisha that costs 2,000 yuan per kilogram to boil eggs, with the coffee alone costing over a hundred yuan. When everyday ingredients meet specialty coffee, what kind of taste experience will it create? Front Street Coffee takes everyone to find out. [more…]

Iced Americano has been reinvented in increasingly wild ways by netizens in recent years, from mixing Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid into an Americano to today's jaw-dropping oyster iced Americano—the boundaries of creative coffee are being pushed further and further. For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style). For more specialty coffee beans, please add our private WeChat account Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex. This article will walk you through how this iced Americano called "Oyster Bitter" came to be, as well as the increasingly absurd creative trends in today's specialty coffee drinks, and explore the balance between chasing hype and preserving the essence of coffee in creative coffee. [more…]

Once dismissed as "black water," iced Americano has now become a top trend in the coffee world. Thanks to its ease of preparation and strong adaptability, iced Americano has unleashed endless possibilities in the hands of today's young people. From simple pairings with juice and sparkling water, to visually striking drinks like waterfall iced Americano and lava iced Americano, and even eye-catching creative combinations such as cilantro Americano and Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid iced Americano, the boundaries of iced Americano are constantly being pushed. This DIY craze sparked by social media has not only brought traffic-generating content to coffee shops, but also drawn more people's attention to coffee itself. This article will guide you through the evolution of iced Americano, showing how this simple espresso diluted with water has become part of coffee lovers' daily routine. [more…]

Starting in July 2024, all beverage bottle caps on containers under 3 liters within the EU must remain attached to the bottle body, as a directive dating back to 2019 aimed at reducing the environmental impact of plastic products officially takes effect. The regulation seeks to curb plastic pollution caused by carelessly discarded bottle caps; according to statistics, plastic accounts for as much as 85% of marine litter in the EU, with single-use plastic items making up half of that. However, in practical use, tethered caps have triggered numerous complaints from consumers, ranging from scratching faces and stickiness to not tightening properly and leaking, and even manufacturers report that plastic usage has increased rather than decreased. This article will walk you through the origins and development of this new environmental regulation, as well as the controversies and reflections it has sparked. [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…]

The coffee cup and saucer—a pairing we now take for granted—actually hides a fascinating history spanning hundreds of years. Different cultures have radically different interpretations of what a coffee saucer is for: some use it to hold a spoon, some use it to collect bones, but Europeans once had a surprising answer: the saucer was meant for drinking coffee. From the awkward situation in 17th-century Europe when there were no dedicated coffee cups, to the tableware revolution after Zheng He's voyages to the West brought porcelain, and then to the widespread adoption of mugs with handles, the evolution of the coffee cup and saucer reflects humanity's eternal tug-of-war between elegance and practicality. This article takes you back through this amusing history, complete with hilarious comments from netizens and a hands-on test by Front Street Coffee. [more…]

Right after the May Day holiday, the "three-way battle" among food delivery platforms sent tea beverage stores into another order explosion frenzy, and Heytea's move to drop the price of some drinks to single digits drew in a flood of orders. Yet for back-of-house staff, this was a nightmare—the newly switched imported green grape "Sweet Globe" variety has firm flesh and is extremely hard to peel. Employees peeled until their gloved fingers wore through, their right hands covered in medicated patches, and some even felt nauseated at the sight of fruit with skin on. Although some tried using peelers or small round spoons to improve efficiency, the output speed still could not keep up with store demand. Why not equip stores with peeling machines? Employees admitted frankly that the high loss rate and difficulty of cleaning make them worse than peeling by hand. This article takes you into the real daily life of Heytea's peelers, along with Front Street Coffee's attention to industry trends. [more…]

After Liu Yifei endorsed the Light Jasmine Light Milk Tea, Luckin Coffee continues to double down on the tea beverage track, launching its first raw coconut light milk tea — Raw Coconut Ceylon Light Milk Tea. The new product uses raw coconuts imported from Southeast Asia, with freshly squeezed coconut meat juice and coconut water accounting for no less than 38%, paired with Ceylon black tea, and claims to be 0 lactose. Luckin's move is intended to deepen its "coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon" all-scenario layout. However, many consumers on social media have reported that the product is too sweet, with the tea aroma and coconut flavor being rather weak, and professionals have also pointed out that the balance between tea and milk is less than ideal. This article will provide a comprehensive analysis of the new product's features, market strategy, and consumer reviews. [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…]

A trending topic about food safety in milk tea shops has sparked widespread concern: The Market Supervision Administration of Fengxian District, Shanghai, conducted surprise inspections of several well-known milk tea stores in Baolong Plaza, and the results showed that all five brands—Yidian Dian, ChaBaiDao, 7FenTian, CoCo, and XiongJi—had problems, involving incomplete health certificates, chaotic raw material management, and unsanitary operating environments. The incident quickly surpassed 500 million views, with netizens exclaiming, "I dare not drink it anymore." At the same time, the article also reviewed food safety cases in recent years involving Burger King, 85°C, IKEA, and others, reminding the food and beverage industry that it must strictly abide by operating standards. [more…]

Recently, many consumers have noticed that once-affordable milk tea brands have been raising their prices one after another. From Yidiandian to Mixue Bingcheng, and then to CoCo都可, the wave of price increases among mid- to low-end tea beverages has drawn widespread attention. At the same time, Coca-Cola, the ever-green player in the beverage world, has also been rumored to be considering a price hike. Behind this round of price adjustments lie not only the cost pressures brought by the pandemic but also deeper changes facing the tea beverage industry. As consumers become more price-sensitive and competition from mid- to high-end brands intensifies, how tea beverage companies find a balance between quality and cost will be key to determining their future development. [more…]

At the start of 2022, office workers lost both their milk tea freedom and coffee freedom in quick succession. But then new-style tea drink brands proactively cut prices, with Heytea and Nayuki even offering cups for 9 yuan, while coffee brands such as Starbucks and Luckin raised prices one after another due to rising raw material costs. Behind this divergence—one cutting prices, the other raising them—lies the reality that consumers are returning to rationality, the traffic dividend for new-style tea drinks is fading, and the coffee market is still in its early stage of expansion. This article sorts out the logic behind the price divergence between the new-style tea drink and coffee industries, and looks ahead to the future market landscape. [more…]

Recently, ChaPanda once again became the focus of public opinion due to food safety issues. On the evening of October 9, the brand's official Weibo posted two statements in succession, responding to the incidents of "using expired raw materials" and "a Ningbo customer complaining about finding a spider in a drink." Regarding the spider incident, ChaPanda said the source of the spider in the video was unknown and difficult to verify, and explained that the 600 yuan compensation was a response made by store employees to settle the matter, but this response did not calm netizens' doubts. A week earlier, ChaPanda had just apologized after a blogger's undercover investigation exposed the use of expired materials with replaced labels. In fact, since the beginning of this year, ChaPanda has been found multiple times in surprise inspections by market regulatory authorities in various places to have issues such as incomplete health certificates and expired raw materials. Although the brand emphasized that it had investigated and rectified stores nationwide, the frequent food safety hazards still make consumers worried. [more…]

Starting in January 2024, Heytea quietly lowered the prices of several popular products, including Cheese Strawberry, Pure Grape, Pure Milk Tea, and Pure Green Tea, with reductions ranging from 3 to 7 yuan, and the cheese milk cap also became 1 yuan cheaper. This move was not publicly promoted, but was discovered by observant consumers on social platforms. At the same time, brands such as Chayan Yuese, Luckin Coffee, and Tims Coffee raised prices one after another due to rising costs of raw materials, labor, transportation, and energy. Why could Heytea cut prices against the trend? Some analysts believe this is related to its advantages in scale, brand, and supply chain control, and it also reflects the deeper logic of inflation being transmitted to end consumer goods against the backdrop of global quantitative easing. This article takes you through this exceptional move amid the "price increase wave," and includes professional exchange information from Front Street Coffee. [more…]

Many consumers avoid black tea or raw Pu-erh due to stomach discomfort, but the problem may not lie with the tea type itself. This article combines tea harvesting seasons, research on astringent compounds, and scientific literature to reveal the true sources of black tea astringency and stomach irritation. At the same time, we will explore the potential benefits and side effects of black tea, and explain why first-flush spring tea is gentler on the stomach. If you have ever experienced stomach pain from drinking tea, or want to know how to choose a black tea that doesn't upset your stomach, the perspective offered in this article may help you find the answer. Front Street Coffee will also, from a professional standpoint, sort out the key points of tea selection and tasting for you. [more…]