Is this the "masterpiece" of Bawangchaji? This controversial old-fashioned flavor saw a brand sell 800,000 cups of it within 5 days.

As soon as the new product went online, the comment section was immediately divided into two opposing camps.

Bawangchaji recently launched a new custom tea drink, once again bringing "mint chocolate" into the public spotlight: fans rave that "one bite is absolutely unforgettable", while people who dislike the flavor just scroll past it directly.

This summer, brands including Mixue Ice City, Molly Tea, More Yogurt, Yeeho Tea and many more have rolled out related products intensively. The total views of relevant topics have exceeded 1.1 billion, and one brand sold 800,000 cups of its mint chocolate product in just 5 days.

How does this flavor that sees new launches every year and is accompanied by constant controversies stay popular for so long?

1

Both Bawangchaji and More Yogurt are launching new mint chocolate products

Nearly half of the tea drink industry is making innovative tweaks to mint chocolate flavors

The mint chocolate flavor, which has long been a controversial pick among consumers, has recently ushered in a new wave of popularity.

On August 12, Bawangchaji launched two new products: the "Mint Ball" custom tea drink and the "Dark Chocolate Mint Gelato".

The Mint Ball uses glutinous rice green tea / jasmine snow bud as the tea base, added with natural phycocyanin to give the whole cup a clear and bright blue color. A whole mint cream ball floats on the top of the cup, paired with chocolate shavings and fresh mint leaves, creating a very memorable visual impression.

The Dark Chocolate Mint Gelato combines the cool freshness of mint with the rich mellow taste of cocoa, and also uses phycocyanin to create a strong summer vibe.

The new products quickly went viral after launch, with the views of related topics exceeding 2.2 million. Some commented that "it looks great and tastes excellent", while others said directly that "it tastes like toothpaste and I will not buy it".

This is not an isolated case. Last month, More Yogurt launched three products: the Ice Cool Mint Chocolate Yogurt Molato, Molato · Ice Cool Mint Chocolate Milk, and Mint Chocolate Yogurt Crispy Stack, combining the coolness of mint chocolate with the yogurt base.

"The sales volume in the first week exceeded 100,000 cups, and the two drinks accounted for about 60% of the total sales", the relevant person in charge of the brand revealed.

Looking further back, Molly Tea launched Jasmine Mint Chocolate, Mint Chocolate Crunchy Milkshake, and Jasmine Mint Chocolate Milk Frost, adding jasmine tea aroma to the mint chocolate flavor; Yeeho Tea launched the Mint Dessert Bowl and Mint Chocolate Ice, with total sales exceeding 800,000 cups in 5 days after launch, and later added the Mint Ice Cream Latte to its product line.

In addition, there is the "Raw Coconut Mint Chocolate" from Yee3 · No.3 Coconut, the "Mint Chocolate Mini Sundae" from Mixue Ice City, the "Mint Fruit Chocolate" from Yongmin Handmade... From leading national brands to regional local brands, from milk tea to smoothies and even fried ice, nearly half of the beverage industry is making innovative tweaks to mint chocolate products. On social platforms, the total views of topics related to "mint chocolate" have exceeded 1.1 billion.

Mint chocolate is by no means a new flavor, and it almost makes a comeback every summer as scheduled. But this year, the industry has obviously created many new interesting forms of it.

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What exactly is new about this wave of mint chocolate products?

1. From simple "mint chocolate" to "mint chocolate plus", the flavor boundary is constantly expanding

"Mint is a popular summer flavor that the public has strong demand for, but its acceptance is extremely polarized: consumers who love refreshing tastes are particularly fond of it, while people who are sensitive to the pungent coolness will deliberately avoid it," the relevant person in charge of More Yogurt said.

The common idea of brands this year is to no longer be limited to the single combination of "mint + chocolate". Instead, by pairing mint chocolate with soft ice cream, yogurt, fluffy milk foam, berry toppings and other ingredients, they add more flavor layers to mint chocolate.

The "Ice Cool Mint Chocolate Yogurt Molato" from More Yogurt uses low-temperature fried yogurt ice as the base, with pure fat dark chocolate sauce and Oreo crumbs on the top layer. The mellow taste of yogurt and the crunchy texture of the crumbs soften the pungentness of mint, making the overall flavor more full.

The other product "Ice Cool Mint Chocolate Milk" adds jasmine tea extract to the mint ice milk base, using the fresh aroma of jasmine to balance the coolness of mint, making the taste much lighter and more refreshing.

Similar ideas can be found in Bawangchaji's use of glutinous rice green tea and jasmine snow bud tea flavor to balance the freshness of mint, Molly Tea's addition of jasmine floral aroma, and Yee3 · No.3 Coconut's addition of coconut milk to the formula.

In essence, brands are using the "mint chocolate plus" combination to lower the acceptance threshold of this controversial flavor, and adapt to the taste preferences of more consumers.

Image from Xiaohongshu blogger: Enna! Authorized for use

2. Break out of single drink products, evolve into a full mint chocolate product matrix

This year, brands are no longer limited to making a single cup of tea drink, but expand mint chocolate into a complete product matrix covering tea drinks, desserts and ice products.

Bawangchaji launched custom tea drinks and gelato at the same time, extending the mint chocolate flavor from cup drinks to the ice cream dessert track; Yee3 · No.3 Coconut launched three products at once: Raw Coconut Mint Chocolate, Mint Chocolate Coconut Fried Ice, and Ice Cool Mint, building a full product series with coconut base as the core.

More Yogurt has deployed both drinks and crispy stack desserts; Yeeho Tea covers multiple forms including smoothies, dessert bowls and ice cream lattes.

From gelato to fried ice, from dessert bowls to yogurt, mint chocolate is evolving from "a single flavor" to "a whole product series".

3. From "tasty" to "good-looking and photo-worthy", the product structure comes with built-in social communication potential

In addition to flavor iteration, the new mint chocolate products in this round continue to innovate in visual presentation and form, which are highly suitable for social media sharing. In particular, the "plus gelato" combination has become a huge traffic password.

Bawangchaji's Mint Ball uses natural phycocyanin to create a highly recognizable clear bright blue color, with a whole mint cream ball, chocolate shavings and fresh mint leaves on the top of the cup. The layers are distinct, creating a far more memorable visual effect than products launched in previous years.

For mint chocolate gelato coconut water, the lower layer is clear coconut water, and the upper layer is mint chocolate gelato. There are two different textures in one cup, which immediately creates a rich visual hierarchy.

The Mint Chocolate Ice from Yeeho Tea and the Mint Chocolate Coconut Fried Ice from Yee3 · No.3 Coconut also create visual highlights through carefully designed toppings and shapes.

From "tasty" to "good-looking and photo-worthy", this year's mint chocolate products have put great effort into appearance, layered presentation and sense of ritual.

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How long will the mint chocolate trend last?

From the early days when mint was only used as a decorative topping, to the time when brands like Yeeho Tea developed the flavor and proved it could support a hit product, to today when multiple brands enter the market together and launch innovative products in multiple categories and forms, mint chocolate has gone through a clear evolution path in the new tea drink industry.

Whether this flavor can continue to be popular depends on two signals: the maturity of the supply side and the discussion heat on the consumer side.

On the supply side, leading brands have raised the raw material standard to the level of "fresh leaf cold chain", and natural mint extraction is gradually replacing cheap artificial flavors, which lowers the entry threshold for latecomers.

On the consumer side, labels like "picky mint chocolate lover" and "mint flavor fanatic" have become identity tags for young consumers. When a flavor has its own loyal fan group, its life cycle will never be just a fleeting trend.

But this does not mean that any brand that makes mint chocolate products can achieve success. The mint chocolate flavor has a very high degree of recognition, and consumers have extremely clear preferences for it, which requires brands to strike a good balance between authentic flavor restoration and general public acceptance.

Judging from the actions of brands in this round, mint chocolate will evolve in three directions in the future:

In terms of flavor, brands will enrich the variety of mint, pair it with fruit aroma and light milk flavor, to balance the richness of cocoa and the coolness of mint. In terms of form, products will be more segmented, launching differentiated products such as smoothies, thick milk versions and light versions for different consumption scenarios. In terms of raw materials, the formula will be cleaner, with natural extraction and low-sugar formulas becoming the mainstream.

This article is from WeChat official account "Kamen" (ID: KamenClub), author: Wu Yue, published with authorization from 36Kr.