What's the Big Deal with Specialty Coffee! It's All Turning Into Fruit Tea Anyway

Coffee cultivation researchers never expected that after decades of hard work helping consumers distinguish between Arabica and Robusta coffee, and understand the difference between dark cocoa flavors and bitter notes in coffee—just as everyone was entering the single-origin coffee era—a wave of specialty coffee cocktails would "blow" the trend off course, and the development of specialty coffee would enter a realm of "returning to simplicity"...

Evolution of Coffee Orders

Previous orders: A black coffee, with milk and sugar.

Earlier orders: Tall cup, double shot, change milk to skim milk, extra hot, served in a mug.

Recent orders: Pour-over Yirgacheffe, not bitter, at room temperature.

Future orders: A cup of "whatever" – Yirgacheffe cold brew base, orange juice with zero-calorie sugar, add liqueur, add dried orange, whole large ice cubes, with a slice of pepper wood.

What changes is that in simple times, complexity always emerges for a few years, then returns to simplicity, only to become complex again in this continuous cycle. What remains unchanged is the determination, competence, and professionalism revealed in each generation of coffee professionals! Regardless of the era or the type of coffee, each cup is received with small sips, experiencing all the flavors of life within.

Coffee's Creative Transformation

First there were milk tea with eight treasures, now there's coffee fruit tea—specialty coffee has gradually learned "bad habits" from milk tea... Previously, competition was fierce only regarding coffee growing regions, coffee flavors (inherent expressions), and brewing methods... Specialty coffee, which relied on intuition to detect flavors, suddenly became competitive in terms of direct taste.

Baristas who once hoped customers would guess the coffee flavors now directly recommend: "Why not try our specialty drinks? We have elderflower, grape (ababilibala...), they're our signature products!"

Previously, coffee competition was mostly limited to lattes. From competing over latte art patterns, it gradually evolved to competing over milk—from oat milk to various plant-based milks, from pure milk to purified milk, from fresh milk to flavored milk cooked at low temperatures with various ingredients.

Later, simply changing the type of milk wasn't enough, so people started adding Chinese elements to lattes. After a round of conventional operations with fermented glutinous rice and osmanthus fermented rice, they began adding Maotai and Wuliangye. As the saying goes, "coffee with white liquor, the more you drink, the longer it lasts." After a cup of white liquor coffee, you start dancing before it's even dark. Morning C and evening A is nothing anymore—morning and evening CA is the correct way to go.

How could people stop at CA on the path of stimulating demand? China's eight major culinary traditions must all be arranged. Based on the risk that adding milk might strengthen intestinal peristalsis, everyone started targeting black coffee! Spicy Sichuan peppercorn Americano, sausage cold brew, saltwater duck coffee—balanced with meat and vegetables for complete nutrition.

Of course, what was mentioned above is still niche creativity. When it comes to the major trend of specialty coffee cocktails, it must be coffee + fruit. Why? Because coffee itself is part of the fruit, and what harm could come from adding fruit to fruit? Fruit platters are also meant to help people more clearly taste the flavors in specialty coffee, bringing out the coffee's flavors through the food itself.

Why Coffee Is Becoming More Like Fruit Tea

Why is coffee becoming more and more like fruit tea? Because specialty coffee appreciation has barriers—from taste buds to leisure time to wallet, none can be lacking. For many people, the ability to appreciate specialty coffee is no simpler than cultivating the ability to understand symphony music. Those coffee flavors that excite professional coffee enthusiasts are nothing more than sour and bitter to ordinary coffee drinkers. For consumers who have been drinking coffee for a long time, coffee just shouldn't be too sour or too bitter.

But the emergence of fruit coffee is different. Ordinary people can also taste the described flavors, feel the changes in flavors and the layers of coffee, instantly enhancing the experience and creating stronger memorable points.

Although many specialty coffee beans can now exhibit fruit tea-like qualities in their original flavors, such beans are not inherently low in cost... Hence the emergence of fruit coffee. Whether it's creative coffee with added fruit and sugar or the inherent flavors of specialty coffee beans, both ultimately move in the direction of fruit tea.

China's Coffee Market Development

Although the coffee industry has developed rapidly in China, the level of coffee consumption is not yet high enough. A consumer trend insight report once showed that the annual per capita coffee consumption in mainland China is only 9 cups, and at least 4 of those 9 cups are fruit-flavored coffee.

The beginning of coffee consumption among domestic consumers is inseparable from the rapid expansion of local coffee brands and the democratization of prices. Moreover, 8 out of 10 product innovations from these coffee brands feature fruit flavors. This also means that for most modern consumers, their first cup of coffee starts with fruit coffee.

Just as many people add Sprite when first trying red wine or order cocktails when first trying spirits, unusual flavors always need a bit of sweetness to balance them. After drinking enough, one learns to appreciate the taste of the beverage itself, and the same applies to coffee. Only by adding fruit and sugar to coffee to create higher sweetness can it meet the tastes of consumers. This is the current situation and will remain so for the next few years.

Many coffee professionals are unwilling to see anything added to specialty coffee, but little do they realize that the coffee flavors people pursue are gradually evolving toward fruit and tea notes. Those who have tasted good Geisha will find that washed Yirgacheffe lacks enough floral and tea-like qualities afterward; those who have experienced anaerobic processing will find that the fermented fruit aromas in honey-processed coffee are not prominent enough afterward.

Perhaps fruit + coffee seems unprofessional now, but this trend became popular as early as 10 years ago. Creative coffee is also an important segment in barista competitions. To highlight the layers in coffee, competitors choose lightly roasted coffee beans with obvious acidity and floral and fruity aromas, pairing them with fruits of corresponding tones, striving to leave a deep impression on judges. Coffee competitions are the weather vanes of specialty coffee, and changes in specialty coffee will ultimately lead the market. Is creativity part of specialty coffee? Absolutely.

It's just that with more people doing it, more choices emerged, creativity is no longer creative, and everyone began to see it as unprofessional. Since 2020, various coffee DIY methods have been inseparable from fruit coffee because of its varied styles, high playability, and ease of preparation. In the eyes of many young people, coffee is not some antique with standardized appreciation—the key is whether the process is interesting enough.

The Future of Fruit Coffee

"These flashy things, how long can they last?" Indeed, it now seems that domestic coffee consumers are gradually making coffee a daily beverage, and people may prefer coffee without excessive additives. Coffee consumption will also become more professional, with increasingly high demands for coffee flavors and quality.

However, China has numerous consumers, and many people have not yet been exposed to coffee. These people will be attracted to creative coffee with added fruit, then come to know and love coffee, which is a good thing for the spread of specialty coffee culture.

The Art of Creating Fruit Coffee

However, it's worth noting that not all random pairings can create good fruit coffee! In the innovation of specialty coffee cocktails, we first need to consider whether the ingredients can coexist harmoniously, then consider the visual effects.

Have you ever experienced this scenario: A specialty coffee cocktail that looks extremely appealing, but once in your mouth, the flavors fight each other on your tongue... First very sour, then suddenly the bitterness of coffee emerges, followed by an overwhelming sweetness... Regarding distinct layers, if done well, please don't do it again next time.

The essence of creative coffee is coffee!

While increasing complexity and enriching sensory experiences, maintaining the subjectivity of coffee is not as simple as everyone thinks. If a creative coffee is served as the signature drink in a specialty coffee shop, it should even more demonstrate the barista's understanding of coffee. By understanding coffee beans and the characteristics of coffee flavors, the choice of added fruit is determined—not adding coffee to juice and sugar.

If coffee is a field of study, then creative coffee is a derivative born from the profound coffee culture heritage. Although ordinary consumers don't纠结 whether a cup of coffee has professional flavors, the pricing of creative coffee is not cheap. Since the pricing is so high, coffee shops should even more demonstrate their professional side.

Deception cannot lead to healthy industry development. To get more people to experience specialty coffee, understand it, and接触 more pure specialty coffee, we should start by doing well with products that ordinary consumers can accept.

Image source: Internet

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