Shanghai's new viral hit "Hand-drawn Lamb" accounts for 70% of its total revenue, and it is being replicated all across the internet.

"I flew all the way to Shanghai just for this little sheep matcha drink!"

Recently, a small shop named Matcha Wang in Shanghai has been overwhelmed by foreign tourists. Its daily average passenger flow stays stable at around 1,000, and its signature product has sold over 20,000 cups in less than 5 months since launch, contributing 70% of the store's total revenue.

Overseas netizens have even turned "eating the little sheep" into a viral meme called "Sheep Slaughter Plan", attracting overseas celebrities to visit the store and check in. Nowadays, beverage shops in Beijing, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other cities are all scrambling to replicate this popular product.

A new wave of creative beverages is strongly emerging from Shanghai.

20,000 Cups Sold in 5 Months, the "Hand-drawn Little Sheep" Trend Is Spreading Across the Country

Recently, Matcha Wang located on the first floor of HAI550 on Huaihai Middle Road in Shanghai has become a new popular check-in spot for many young people.

The product that made the store a hit is a special matcha drink named "Little Sheep Lili": On the turquoise matcha drink, 6 little sheep with black faces are hand-drawn with milk foam and black sesame paste, looking like a group of sheep walking from the grass, leaving an extremely impressive visual memory.

Check-in and sharing posts on social platforms keep popping up on feeds:

Image sourced from Xiaohongshu: Courtesy of Yizhi Congcong, authorized for use

"I flew to Shanghai specially just for this little sheep matcha drink!"

"I finally got to taste the little sheep that's been all over my Instagram feed."

Who can resist this! Even the hardest heart will be melted by how cute this drink is!

"Little Sheep Lili" is priced at 34 yuan, made with Madagascar vanilla seeds paired with hand-beaten matcha to reduce excessive sweetness, highlight the pure and mellow aroma of matcha, and is available in multiple versions including vanilla seed milk, vanilla seed oat milk, and jasmine milk.

On overseas social platforms, the little sheep matcha drink is especially popular, and has become a must-try item for foreign tourists visiting Shanghai. The act of eating the milk foam little sheep has been playfully called the "Sheep Slaughter Plan" by netizens, and related topics quickly went viral, even attracting overseas celebrities such as Tom Holland and Zendaya to visit the store specially to check in.

Many domestic netizens joked: "I never thought that one day I would be recommended a popular local drink by foreign tourists."

According to the person in charge of Matcha Wang, the store's daily passenger flow is stable at 900 to 1200 people, with a high proportion of foreign tourists. "People start queuing as soon as we open at 10 a.m., and the line lasts until we close at night. At peak times, there are 40 to 50 people crowded in the waiting area outside the store, and customers have to wait nearly an hour after placing orders."

Since its launch last December to April this year, the total sales of this product have exceeded 20,000 cups, accounting for about 70% of the store's revenue.

With its growing popularity, the little sheep design has gone beyond Shanghai, and beverage shops in cities like Beijing, Shenzhen, Nanjing and Hangzhou have followed suit one after another.

The new wave of creative beverages is coming, what new ideas does it bring?

A New Wave of Creative Beverages Is Coming, 3 New Ideas for Topping Innovation

The viral success of the little sheep matcha essentially only got one thing right — capturing emotional value. The soft, cute and healing design turns a cup of drink into a social material that is photo-worthy, memeable, and has inherent communication power.

This logic is not new, but as the autumn and winter season approaches, the focus of this wave of creativity is increasingly concentrated on one part: the top of the cup.

The logic of autumn and winter beverages itself features rich, heavy tastes, which just leaves the maximum space for topping innovation. After sorting out, there are mainly 3 directions.

1. "Solidification" of Toppings: Turning Beverages into a Dessert

This year, beverage toppings are visibly becoming more and more "solid".

Tea Savior Planet recently launched the "Hong Kong Style Condensed Milk French Toast Crushed Ice", with a layer of silky brûlée condensed milk French toast directly laid on the top of the cup, paired with the base of brown sugar caramel Hong Kong milk crushed ice, to replicate the taste layers of Hong Kong-style desserts.

The Chaoshan Old Tangerine series from Damachafang features old tangerine flavor paired with substantial toppings such as raw chocolate and salty cheese, which tastes salty, sweet and mellow. It is also thoughtfully equipped with a spoon, allowing consumers to dig and eat first like eating a cake before drinking.

The matcha brûlée cake pearls of Shuyi Grass Jelly are sold with a thick layer of brûlée cake sauce as the selling point. The related topics on Xiaohongshu have more than a million views, and "dig to eat, stir to drink" has become the standard for check-in posts.

When the "first sip" of a beverage changes from "drinking" to "digging", the consumption experience is upgraded from quenching thirst to satisfying a craving. It not only enriches the taste layers, but also naturally comes with check-in and social communication attributes.

2. "Tea-based" Flavor: Bringing the Signature Tea Base to the Cup Top

In the past, milk foam was all about cheese, sea salt and milk aroma. Nowadays, more and more brands extend the flavor of the tea base itself to become the leading role of the toppings.

The Golden Brick Hong Kong Milk Tea of Chali Yishi freezes the original Hong Kong milk tea soup into ice bricks, with both tea aroma and milk aroma solidified, slowly melting as you drink.

Nayuki's "Rich Matcha Guava Smoothie" first presents the mellow aroma of matcha milk foam when you take a sip, followed by the sweet and fresh taste of guava pulp, with sour and sweet layers unfolding gradually. Guming's "A Wisp of Longjing Spring" directly pairs matcha milk foam with Longjing spring tea, extending the fresh and brisk taste from the tea base to the rim of the cup.

From the tea base to the rim of the cup, the flavor expression of tea beverages is being reorganized.

Upstream enterprises have also made layouts. At this year's Hotelex Shanghai Exhibition, supply chain enterprises launched the "Milk Foam Flavor Wheel", covering 11 flavors including cheese, fermented, floral and fruity, nut, tea and coffee categories.

3. "Visualized" Handcraft: Drawing Little Sheep, Rubbing Orange Peel, the Production Process Becomes a Selling Point

This year, another obvious change in topping innovation is that the production process itself has become a selling point.

From the hand-drawn little sheep of Matcha Wang, to the on-site hand-rubbed orange peel of Tiger Stripe Orange Latte, to the cat head coffee of Guming, the production process of more and more products is being seen, watched, and filmed.

For consumers, the visible craftsmanship and tangible ritual sense turn a cup of tea from a static visual experience into a complete multi-sensory experience.

Image from @tonecoffee_melb

In the past, brands pursued extreme standardization and tried their best to simplify the manual operations at the bar counter; starting from this year, more and more brands actively retain the on-site handcraft links, and complete the final finishing step of the product in front of customers.

Creativity That Understands Emotional Value Is Easier to "Be Noticed"

The more fierce the competition and the more limited the investment, the more it is a time to compete on creativity.

Many creative products have emerged in the consumer market this year, such as the recently popular super-long egg tarts and super-long cheese sticks. They create visual impact with exaggerated sizes, amplify their popularity through social communication, and finally become viral hits.

The same logic applies to beverages. Creativity that can go viral is often better at capturing the emotional value of young people.

Young people have become aesthetically fatigued with regular new products, but they are still full of enthusiasm for things that "can trigger social discussions". Products that can make people stop and take a second look are always in short supply.

The top design of the cup, the production process, and the cup body design, every link can become a creative breakthrough point. Young people expect to encounter more "surprises" in a cup of beverage, and are willing to actively share and spread the word for this surprise.

Which creative beverage has impressed you recently? Welcome to leave a comment and share in the comment section.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Kamen" (ID: KamenClub), written by Wu Yue, published with authorization from 36Kr.