Chinese cafe serves latte laced with pig intestine; goes viral
What's the story
A cafe in Jiangyou, Sichuan province, China, is making headlines for its unusual coffee drink. The drink is a latte mixed with cooked pork intestines and chitterlings, according to The Cover. It costs 32 yuan (around $4) per cup and offers three levels of taste: entrance, mid, and high. The higher the level, the stronger the pork intestine flavor.
Culinary innovation
Inspired by local cuisine
Zhang Yuchi, the cafe's owner, said he was inspired to create this combination drink "to promote both my shop as well as this delicious food of our city." "Red-braised pork intestine is a popular cuisine in Jiangyou," Zhang said. The cooked pork intestines are sourced from a famous local restaurant and added to the lattes in precise amounts after multiple rounds of testing.
Owner
It has salty and sweet taste
"We add precisely 6 grams of intestine liquid into the coffee. It is an amount we decided on after rounds of tests. We want customers to taste the delicacy of intestines but we do not want to diminish the coffee flavour. We hope most people can accept it," the owner explained. Zhang said it has a salty and sweet taste, similar to that of "salty cheese."
Viral sensation
The drink has sparked a debate on social media
Since its launch, the unusual latte has become a hit with customers and quadrupled the cafe's sales. Nearly 80% of customers now order this unique drink. "I am a fan of coffee. I saw someone recommending this type of intestine coffee, so I decided to give it a try," a woman customer said. "Many people in northern China do not eat pork intestines. But I think they can accept this type of coffee," she said.
Culinary creativity
Other unusual lattes in China
This isn't the first time China's coffee culture has taken a creative turn. In Jiangxi province, a cafe made headlines for serving lattes mixed with fried chili and hot pepper powder. Meanwhile, in Yunnan province, another cafe went viral by blending deep-fried worms into their coffee. The worms include bamboo worms, grasshoppers, and earth bees.