Luckin Coffee's Sugar - It's Apparently Free!

Recently, the R&D department at Luckin Coffee has been up to something new again.

The summer sky inspired Luckin's beverage development team to create a drink that captures blue skies and white clouds in a cup. Building on the previously popular Coconut Cloud Latte formula, they adjusted the recipe and sprinkled a layer of sky-blue powdered sugar on top, transforming it into the beautiful Blue Sky Cloud Latte.

As soon as the product launched, it immediately caught the eyes of many netizens! People rushed to try this cup of liquid summer. However! It was just too sweet!!!

Some customers reported that when ordering this new product, knowing that all coconut-containing products at Luckin tend to be excessively sweet, they wanted to choose no additional sugar, but this option wasn't available. So they wrote in the order notes to use as little sugar as possible... However, the final product was still sweet enough to make your throat feel sticky, with an overwhelming coconut sugar flavor that completely masked the coffee taste.

According to internal employees, the coconut milk base itself is already very sweet, then syrup is added, the milk foam on top is also very sweet, and finally the blue powdered sugar sprinkled on top is extremely sweet... Even choosing "less sweet" makes little difference.

Because the "less sweet" option only reduces the base syrup, while the sweetness of other ingredients cannot be reduced. The blue powdered sugar mixes with the already very sweet milk foam, so even with a no-sugar option, this drink remains overwhelmingly sweet no matter how you drink it. Therefore, it's recommended to request no sugar when ordering and stir well before drinking.

Beyond the product's inherent sweetness, some customers noted that while the promotional images show the blue powder sprinkled very evenly, what they received had clumps together... Not only was the appearance compromised, but the flavor distribution was also very uneven.

In response, many Luckin baristas expressed that they want to cry too!! The blue powder used in this new product clumps very easily! Before sprinkling powder for customers, they have to pound it until their hands hurt (to break up the clumps), but they still can't achieve even distribution. Using a spoon to sprinkle also doesn't work well. Additionally, these sugar powders tend to scatter everywhere during application, and if not cleaned promptly, they easily attract insects.

Coconut Mille Crêpe Frappé

In addition to the Blue Sky Cloud Latte, Luckin also launched a Coconut Mille Crêpe Frappé. Although it appears drizzled with caramel sauce, it has received much better feedback than the Blue Sky Cloud Latte!

Customers noted that while this new product is still very sweet, perhaps because it's made as a frappé, the overall flavor integration is more even. As it melts, the drink's taste gradually becomes more enjoyable. However, you must stir the caramel sauce well before drinking, otherwise you might get an unexpectedly sweet sip that hurts your brain! For those who don't like sweetness, you can choose half sugar/no sugar, but definitely don't reduce the caramel sauce!

Final Thoughts

While sweetness is appealing, not all products are suitable for having their original flavors completely masked by sweetness. Perhaps consumers want a cup of sweet coffee rather than a drink where the sweetness completely covers the coffee flavor.

When Luckin develops new products in the future, while considering visual appeal, they should also give more consideration to sweetness levels, storage conditions for ingredients, and usage containers. Because sugar really attracts flying insects, which not only increases hygiene risks but also adds to the cleaning difficulties for baristas.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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