瑞幸咖啡上线酒精特调 茶饮品牌纷纷布局“微醺经济”Luckin Coffee launches alcohol special tea drink brands, one after another, to layout the "mild drunkenness economy"

Changsha Evening News Full Media Reporter Jia Kaiqing

On May 18th, Luckin Coffee announced the launch of two annual special drinks - "Scarlet Moonlight" and "Coco Vienna" - in its stores nationwide, both priced at 13.9 yuan. Among them, Crimson Moonlight has specially launched an alcohol version, which can be purchased for an additional 2 yuan.

What is the market logic behind chain coffee and tea drinks entering the slightly tipsy market? Recently, the reporter conducted a visit and investigation.

Two special notes each have their own emphasis, and the alcohol version is only available for adults to purchase

At noon on the 21st, there were already many special drinks waiting to be collected on the counter of Luckin Coffee Poly Central Plaza store. Ms. Yang, a citizen, came to check in on the new product, but actively avoided the alcoholic version: "I want to try the new flavor, but I have to work in the afternoon, so I didn't order the alcoholic version

The reporter opened the Luckin Coffee app and saw that both "Scarlet Moonlight" and "Coco Vienna" are 355ml in size and only offer dine in versions. Among them, the alcohol version of "Scarlet Moonlight" clearly states that the alcohol content is greater than 0.5% vol, including London dry gin. When purchasing, consumers need to confirm that they are "of age" and self pick up offline.

According to the national standard "Terminology and Classification of Alcoholic Beverages" (GB/T17204-2021), alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of 0.5% vol or higher are defined as "alcoholic beverages". A Luckin Coffee staff member told reporters that the alcohol version is only available in some stores. If a customer chooses, they will confirm in person that the customer is an adult and remind them not to drive a motor vehicle after drinking.

Two special drinks each have their own emphasis: "Scarlet Moonlight" adds grape, lychee juice, and jasmine tea, and is topped with cherry blossom jasmine clouds, visually presenting a pink and tender gradient effect. And 'Cocoa Vienna' incorporates cocoa, milk, and vanilla flavors, topped with cocoa powder, presenting a classic coffee brown appearance.

Due to the complicated process of making special drinks, the serving time for both drinks is about 5 minutes, slightly longer than regular coffee line drinks. In addition, two special drinks are specially paired with limited edition cup holders and beverage business cards, creating a sense of ceremony.

Tea drinks dominate the market, with a preference for light drinking among young people due to the 'slightly tipsy economy'

As a chain coffee brand, this is not Luckin Coffee's first time selling alcohol.

In 2023, Luckin Coffee and Maotai jointly launched the "Sauce flavored Latte", instantly triggering a consumer trend. Although this latte contains Feitian Maotai liquor, it strictly belongs to the category of beverages rather than alcoholic beverages due to its alcohol content being less than 0.5% vol.

In July 2024, Luckin Coffee launched the Triumph Wheat series with non-alcoholic beer added to its Shenzhen store, but the alcohol content was still controlled below 0.5% vol.

Why is Luckin so obsessed with "selling alcohol"? The answer lies in the blue ocean market of the slightly intoxicated economy.

According to data, from 2020 to 2025, the size of China's low alcohol liquor market will climb from 38 billion yuan to 65 billion yuan, with a five-year compound growth rate of 11.3%. The China Alcoholic Drinks Association predicts that it is expected to further expand to 75 billion to 90 billion yuan by 2026.

In fact, besides Luckin Coffee, other tea beverage brands are also trying to launch alcoholic beverages. Cha Yan Yue Se has launched the "Day Night Poetry Wine Tea" brand, and its subsidiary Yuan Yang Coffee also specializes in "Day Tea Night Wine"; HEYTEA launches a special blend of oolong tea, green tea, rum, and gin for whiskey tea; On the first day of "Drunken Walking on the Road", the sales of Tea Hundred Road exceeded 100000 cups

Industry analysis suggests that coffee and tea beverage brands have a high concentration of foot traffic during the day, with alcoholic beverages filling the business gap from evening to night, extending business hours, and improving store floor space efficiency. The current trend of mild drunkenness economy is due to the combination of multiple factors such as emotional stress relief, self indulgent consumption, and diverse scenarios. Young people are bidding farewell to traditional table drinking and turning to a new way of mild drunkenness that is low alcohol, controllable, and light social.

It should be noted that although slight drunkenness is pleasant, excessive drinking is harmful to physical and mental health, and may even pose safety hazards. Rational and moderate consumption, avoiding excessive drinking and drinking, healthy living is the long-term way.