Chinese cafe goes viral over coffee drink laced with cooked pig intestine
A cafe in southwestern China has been thrust into the limelight thanks to its newly launched coffee, which is made with cooked pork intestines.
The unconventional drink sold in the coffee shop in Jiangyou, a small city in Sichuan province, includes latte mixed with cooked pork intestine liquid and chitterlings, The Cover reported.
It sells for 32 yuan (US$4) per cup and has three levels of taste: entrance, mid and high. The higher the level, the stronger the intestine taste.
'Red-braised pork intestine is a popular cuisine in Jiangyou,' Zhang Yuchi, owner of the coffee shop, was quoted as saying.
'I thought of combining it with coffee to promote both my shop as well as this delicious food of our city.'
They buy the cooked pork intestines from a famous restaurant in the city, then mix the intestine liquid into the latte, said Zhang.
'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,' said Zhang.
He said it has a salty and sweet taste, like that of 'salty cheese'.
Since the drink went viral online in early June, the shop's sales have more than quadrupled, with 80 per cent of customers trying out the unusual 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 who travelled from Chengdu, Sichuan, told the media.
Another customer, from northern China, said it tasted just fine.
'Many people in northern China do not eat pork intestines. But I think they can accept this type of coffee,' she said.
Many people on mainland social media were fascinated by the story.
'It is not a bad idea. I want to try it,' one online observer said.
But another person said: 'It is ridiculous. I am OK with both coffee and pork intestines. But not a combination of the two.'
Creative coffee drinks often make headlines in China.
A coffee shop in eastern Jiangxi province raised eyebrows by putting fried chilli and hot pepper powder in their lattes.
A cafe in Yunnan province, southwestern China, also trended on social media by mixing deep-fried worms with coffee. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
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