“全冰雪山”咖啡刷屏，半杯浓缩，半杯冰沙，Grid又出爆款The "All Ice Snow Mountain" coffee has gone viral, with half a cup of espresso and half a cup of smoothie. Grid has released another explosive produc

This year, brands are making efforts on "ice" one after another

This year, the coffee industry has finally begun to seriously study "ice".

Last year, everyone rolled beans, rolled milk, and rolled flavors, but this year we suddenly started rolling ice: all ice with water, diamond ice, soccer ice, tea ice, coffee smoothie

Ice has gradually become one of the most important experiences of a cup of product from a default supporting role.

This year's coffee has started to seriously study "ice"

Recently browsing social media, it's hard not to be attracted by Grid Coffee's new product.

The snow-white butter milk smoothie at the top is piled up directly to the rim of the cup, and only a dark concentrated section is faintly visible at the bottom. From a distance, it doesn't even look like coffee, but more like someone putting an iced milk dessert into a coffee cup.

Grid Coffee officially calls it "Concentrated Cappuccino Greek Ice".

The inspiration comes from the classic Greek coffee Frappe and Freddo Cappuccino: the former is responsible for the richness of espresso, the latter is responsible for the lightness of milk froth, and Grid has stuffed in the most needed thing this summer - smoothies.

The biggest difference between this cup of iced coffee and traditional iced coffee is that it does not aim to reach its optimal state with the first sip.

When it is first made, the upper layer is a fluffy and dense butter milk smoothie, and the bottom is Yegashefe espresso. The boundaries between the two are clear, like two drinks stacked together.

Wait for the smoothie to slowly melt, then stir it evenly and drink it. The smoothie will not become weaker and weaker like regular ice cubes, but will slowly release the aroma of milk and butter. The originally sharp concentrate will be gradually wrapped up.

The richness and bitterness of coffee, the softness of milk, and the coolness brought by smoothies constantly change in just over ten minutes.

A consumer described, "The smoothie in my mouth hasn't melted yet, but the aroma of espresso has already caught up." Another netizen commented, "The milk aroma is very strong, but also very light

Similar product logic also appears in the recently launched Soft Snow Star Bingle by Starbucks.

It also does not treat "ice" only as a cooling tool, but instead uses the dense texture of Gelato to to make ice drinks into a semi solid dessert that can be sucked and dug up. "Ice" itself has become the core of the product's taste.

This year's iced coffee seems to no longer pursue "drinking on ice", but instead has begun to make the melting process of ice a part of the experience.

From ice to water, to coffee smoothies, innovation rolls onto 'ice'

If we turn back the clock to two years, few people would seriously discuss the ice in a cup of coffee.

Even if occasionally brought up, the topic mostly stays at "what if the ice melts too quickly". The biggest task of ice cubes in a drink is only one: to cool down.

But this summer, the situation is starting to change: "Ice" is becoming a new entry point for innovation in the industry.

Luckin Coffee has officially included the "All Ice Water" game played by netizens in its menu; Kudi and Manner quickly followed up; Even the ice form of "diamond ice", which no one would have paid attention to before, can spark discussions on social media.

At the same time, more and more brands are beginning to let ice itself take on the role of flavor expression.

Wuhan brands are looking for tea to freeze the tea soup directly into tea ice, hoping to solve the old problem of "the more you drink, the lighter it becomes"; As the ice melts, the tea aroma will continue to be released.

During the World Cup, Bi Xing even made football ice hockey. As the ice hockey slowly melted and the coffee liquid gradually released, one ice hockey could simultaneously serve as a flavor and social topic.

Naixue recently launched a new "Ice Brick Coffee", which freezes espresso into ice cubes. It went viral as soon as it was launched, selling over 200 cups per day in a single store.

Espresso Granita, produced by Matassa Coffee in South Korea, also freezes espresso directly into smoothies and covers them with milk or cream. The smoothie gradually melts and seeps into the milk, and the entire drink is constantly changing.

Grid, this cup of Greek ice, is essentially the same idea. In the past, brand research focused on "what to add to coffee", but this year more and more brands are starting to think about "what to freeze coffee into".

After all, in the hot summer, a cup of iced coffee to cool off and quench thirst is already a basic requirement.

When "ice" is no longer just a cooling tool, but begins to affect the flavor, taste and drinking rhythm of a drink, it has also become a part of new product innovation from a supporting role.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Kamen Club" (ID: Kamen Club). The author: Kamen, 36 Kr, is authorized to release.