Coffee culture

Coffee Shop Syrup Mistaken for Hand Sanitizer! Barista Forced to Post Sign, Accused of Being Stingy

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee
Last Updated: 2026/01/27, For more professional coffee knowledge exchanges and coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). For more premium coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat: qjcoffeex. Recently, a netizen shared that a KFC store's coffee area had posted a notice about syrup stating: "No

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For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

KFC Coffee Syrup Incident Sparks Online Discussion

Recently, a netizen shared a notice posted on a syrup bottle at a KFC store's coffee station that read "Cannot wash hands," which sparked heated discussion among netizens!

KFC syrup bottle with 'Cannot wash hands' notice

Perhaps because customers were using the syrup as hand sanitizer, and after the incident occurred multiple times without being able to stop it, the staff gave up struggling and posted a "Cannot wash hands" notice on the syrup bottle. Regarding the shared photo, many netizens only realized that this was actually coffee syrup!

Many netizens shared that they had experienced using syrup to wash their hands... Because some coffee shops place the syrup next to the coffee machine, but this is also where customers pick up their orders, so there have been experiences of mistaking syrup for hand sanitizer...

Coffee syrup bottle placed near pickup area

Some baristas also shared their experiences, saying that customers would rush to the syrup area after entering the store and pump a dose of syrup... Although they tried to stop them, it was too late... The customer would just stand there frozen (this might be why the KFC staff posted the notice).

Impact of Pandemic Habits

A few years ago due to the pandemic, everyone developed the habit of washing hands/using alcohol-based hand sanitizer before eating. During those years, many coffee shops experienced similar incidents...

Some people mistook the bar counter's syrup for hand sanitizer, while others mistook the hand sanitizer in the self-service seasoning area for syrup. For this reason, coffee shops posted notices indicating whether these bottled liquids were syrup or hand sanitizer... But this still failed to prevent customers from ignoring the warnings and continuing to use hand sanitizer as syrup...

Notice distinguishing between syrup and hand sanitizer Another notice about syrup and hand sanitizer confusion

Public Reaction and Suggestions

Regarding the "Cannot wash hands" notice on syrup bottles, some netizens thought it would be better to directly write that it's syrup, because the current notice makes them feel the store is stingy and not providing hand washing facilities.

Suggested alternative notice for syrup bottles

Other Common Mistakes in Coffee Shops

Besides syrup, many baristas mentioned that coffee filter papers on their bar counters are often mistaken by customers as tissues. Customers would pick them up and wipe their hands while commenting why the tissues are so small, strangely shaped, and rough to use... There have even been cases where customers complained about poor dining experience after using filter paper to wipe their mouths.

Therefore, many coffee shops post "This is coffee filter paper! Not customer tissues" notices around the filter paper holders on their bar counters, but there are still customers who pick them up and wipe, which is truly frustrating.

Notice about coffee filter papers not being tissues

In addition, the filtered water sink at the bar counter is often used by people as a place to wash their faces and hands... Many customers will enter the bar area without permission and use internal equipment, despite signs indicating "Staff only" and notices stating this is filtered water not for washing, which still fails to stop some customers from barging through.

Final Reminder

When visiting coffee shops, everyone must look carefully before using anything! Also, the bar counter and food preparation areas are off-limits to non-staff in all restaurants and beverage shops~ If you need anything, please ask the staff first!

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473

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