Pork-flavoured coffee emerges as China’s new love amid Lunar New Year celebrations
Image of pork-flavoured coffee.
China's Lunar New Year celebrations have got a new flavour as citizens are falling in love with pork-flavoured coffee which has been introduced by Starbucks, one of the largest coffee chains in the world.
The drink, which is strangely becoming everyone's favourite, has a combination of Dongpo Braised Pork Flavor Sauce with espresso and steamed milk and also contains extra pork sauce and pork breast meat for garnish. The drink is being sold across China at a price of ¥68 ($9.45).
Taking to Weibo, the coffee shop wrote, "Eating meat means prosperity in the coming year". It said that the drink brings "traditional New Year customs into coffee," and creates "unexpected savoury and sweet flavours."
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Across Asia, Lunar New Year is celebrated as one of the biggest annual holidays. People in China travel back home to celebrate the festivals with their families during this time.
According to government data, around 474 million trips were made within China during this year's travel season.
And although the foods served at the feasts during New Year vary region by region, braised pork makes a frequent appearance.
Pork latte or real braised pork? Chinese make a tough choice
The pork latte gained quick popularity on Chinese social media as the topic received more than 476,000 views on Weibo by the time it was published.
Some of the users expressed curiosity regarding the drink while others remained sceptical as they even pointed to the high price and questioned why should they not eat real braised pork and rather drink the latte.
"For 67 yuan, I could eat a plate of braised pork then go to Luckin and drink two lattes," said a Weibo user.
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Another user said, "I would allow both (pork and coffee) to exist in my stomach at the same time, but not in my mouth at the same time."
Jiupai News, which is a site affiliated with the state-run Changjiang Daily, said that the drink was sold out at one of the stores in Wuhan, as customers claimed that the flavour was "unique" and gave a dense, smooth mouthfeel.
(With inputs from agencies)