Chen Siqi

vankochensq@163.com

WHEN Luckin Coffee and Kweichow Moutai jointly unveiled their alcoholic latte Monday, it quickly became a trending topic on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.

Luckin Coffee’s official Weibo account announced that the “sauce-flavored coffee” sold 5.42 million cups, generating sales of over 100 million yuan (US$13.69 million) on its launch day. Priced at 38 yuan, the coffee was available at a discounted rate of 19 yuan.

Moutai, known as China’s national liquor, is a potent, colorless spirit that is usually served at banquets in China. Drinkers have likened the flavor and aroma of Kweichow Moutai’s version to that of soy sauce.

A citizen surnamed Wang, who works in the Jingtian area in Futian District, was excited to try the new product. When she received her cups of coffee yesterday morning, the deliveryman told her that if she had placed the order a bit later, the lattes would have sold out.

By yesterday afternoon in Shenzhen, the Luckin Coffee app showed that buyers would need to wait for over an hour to pick up their drinks, a significant departure from the usual wait times of just a few minutes.

This distinctive coffee aroused the curiosity of a Shenzhen resident surnamed Chen, who normally doesn’t consume coffee but was intrigued by the constant WeChat posts about this new offering. Curiosity led Chen to place an order and give it a try. “It tasted good, but the alcohol flavor wasn’t very pronounced,” Chen said.

Chen’s colleague, surnamed Yang, added, “When I sipped the coffee, I felt half-asleep and half-awake. It was an intriguing blend of alcohol and coffee.” However, Yang noted that she would not try it again due to its excessive sweetness.

Chinese social media users shared videos of themselves picking up cups of the drink and being cautioned by sales staff not to drive after consuming it. Nonetheless, the companies clarified that the latte’s alcohol content was less than 0.5% of its volume.

Some users humorously requested the removal of ice, coffee and milk when placing their orders, keeping only the alcohol. An internet influencer even calculated in a post that consuming 138 cups of Luckin Coffee’s sauce-flavored coffee would be equivalent to finishing a 500-milliliter bottle of Moutai.

Kweichow Moutai, a renowned baijiu selling at an average market guide price of 1,499 yuan, has been exploring ways to become more accessible and pull in a new generation of consumers.