It has been a while since I last wrote an article. I was sick for quite some time and didn't have the mood or thoughts to write. Today, feeling a bit better, I want to write about several new products that Luckin Coffee has recently launched. Undoubtedly, I will have to memorize the recipes again, but fortunately, Luckin's recipes follow a formula: a certain amount of syrup or flavoring plus milk up to the measurement line, which is quite friendly for someone like me who isn't very quick-witted. The following new products are reviewed based on my own taste, so please don't criticize if you don't like them.
The first new product I want to introduce is Luckin's Christmas Canelé Latte and Christmas Sweetheart Latte. Both of these were launched during Christmas. At first, I was wondering what a Canelé Latte was, but it has a strong caramel aroma. After searching, I found out that Canelé is a small dessert from France, with spices like vanilla and rum, baked to have a rich caramel scent. Luckin's method is to use this Canelé-flavored syrup combined with milk, topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips.
The Canelé gives me a strong aroma, which might even be too strong for me since I rarely drink things with syrup. However, if you usually enjoy baked goods, you might want to try this new product. As for the Christmas Sweetheart Latte, you can tell from its color that it is related to strawberries, and it is also made with flavored syrup. The preparation methods are quite similar, but the Sweetheart Latte has a more appealing color because the Canelé is overall yellow, making the pink more attractive, although the flavor profiles are quite different.
There are also two new products related to oranges: one is the Orange Americano and the other is the Chucheng Latte. First, let's talk about the Chucheng Latte. It's funny that I really have no cultural knowledge and didn't know how to pronounce "Chucheng," initially reading it as "Zhu." Later, a colleague told me it is pronounced "Chu." Luckin's slogan is "Wish for Orange," and the official introduction states that it is made with selected rock sugar oranges to create the syrup, then combined with cheese thick milk. The cup I had was hot, and compared to the cold version, it had more milk, so the orange flavor wasn't very strong. It had a good blend because the sweet and sour of the orange balanced the richness of the milk, giving a refreshing feeling.
Then there's the Orange Americano. If you often drink Luckin, you might find it familiar. Isn't it like the Orange C Americano's sibling? Actually, that's correct; even the preparation method is the same, using concentrated juice mixed with water and coffee. Since the launch of Orange C, it has received great reviews. I also enjoy drinking it during work, but I don't add much coffee liquid because orange juice is sour, and coffee is bitter; combining the two can be strange, but adding sugar solves that. However, oranges are more sour than oranges, so many people still prefer Orange C.
Luckin has always had a tea coffee series, featuring some well-known Chinese tea varieties, including Biluochun and Tieguanyin. However, Luckin has launched a new product called the New Year Red Oolong Latte. I think it should be black tea. If we talk about the most famous black tea in Guangdong, it should be Yingde black tea, famously known as Yinghong No. 9. But this time, they used red oolong tea, which is not brewed tea leaves but a flavored syrup of red oolong tea. It seems that as long as Luckin has syrup, they can launch dozens of new products.
The Red Oolong Latte feels like a Hong Kong-style Yuanyang, but the tea flavor in Hong Kong-style Yuanyang is very strong. This red oolong has a taste more akin to the tea we usually brew, and the milk flavor is not as strong as in Yuanyang, as Yuanyang uses evaporated milk, which is much richer. However, it does have its own sweetness, so it doesn't feel as rich as Yuanyang; instead, it has a smooth texture. A colleague mentioned that if you don't add coffee, it really resembles a cup of milk tea, and adding some tapioca pearls would make it a real milk tea.
The last new product I want to mention is the Sauce Aroma Chocolate, which was launched after the Sauce Aroma Latte. I still remember the enthusiastic response when the Sauce Aroma Latte was first introduced, which made Luckin go viral. Luckin even had a special red cup for the Sauce Aroma Latte. Although you often hear about Luckin's 9.9 yuan price, not all coffees can be 9.9 yuan. The price of the Sauce Aroma Latte has remained quite firm, so there are now very few people buying it. During my work hours, there are hardly any cups of Sauce Aroma Latte, and even the special sauce aroma cream is no longer made; they reverted to the original cream.
Luckin might be thinking of clearing out the inventory of the white wine-flavored thick milk, so they launched a new product called the Year of the Dragon Sauce Aroma Chocolate. The preparation is also quite simple: chocolate pre-mixed liquid combined with white wine-flavored thick milk and milk. The taste is dominated by chocolate, while the white wine flavor is not very prominent, resembling the feeling of eating a chocolate with a liquor center. For me, it is quite sweet and rich. While many tea beverage industries are starting to reduce sugar, Luckin is going against the trend. However, it probably won't reach the height of the Sauce Aroma Latte.
On a positive note, handwashing is no longer required every hour; it has been changed to every two hours, which seems to indicate that public pressure has had some effect, although there isn't much difference overall. As for the new products, the flavors are subjective, but there is also a new single item, the Bean Rose Summer, which is quite good. However, the small black cup basically has no discounts, and the single bean espresso still feels a bit lacking. Interested friends can give it a try. In the next article, I plan to discuss Luckin's year-end activities.