Starbucks Creates Pork Latte Because The World Deserves To End

The new coffee released by Starbucks is called the “Abundant Year Savory Latte,” and the brand describes it as having a rather interesting flavor. The name stems from the Chinese belief that eating meat means prosperity in the coming year—hence the “abundant year” part—while the savory part comes from the fact that the drink combines Dongpo Braised Pork Flavor Sauce with espresso and steamed milk.

There’s also extra pork sauce and pork breast meat for garnish. This peculiar drink is priced at 68 yuan, or some $9.45.

The pictures posted on the Chinese social media platform Weibo—the same one that circulates fake news regarding the Texas civil war—show a drizzle of pork sauce atop a latte foam, with a square slice of pork resting on the mug’s rim. Starbucks stated that its aim with the pork latte is to create unexpected savory and sweet flavors, but mixing the traditional New Year customs into coffee, such as braised pork, which, admittedly, seems very tasty if you’re eating meat as a part of your diet.

Lunar New Year is one of the biggest holidays in Asia, and people across mainland China often travel back home to celebrate the holiday with their families. The food served during the holiday mostly varies by region, but braised pork is one of those dishes that have become universal holiday food across China, so it’s not really surprising that Starbucks decided to add it as a flavor to its repertoire. Natively called Dongpo Rou, the dish is named after an ancient poet, painter, and statesman, Su Dongpo.

It’s typically made from braised pork belly, rock sugar, soy sauce, yellow wine, and other seasonings, like star anise and oyster sauce. It’s a very flavorful and extremely tender pork cut in caramelized sugar that can be easily pried apart with chopsticks, and now, thanks to Starbucks, you can actually drink it. And sure, this might sound like a gimmick, but the Chinese really love their coffee and their pork, so mixing the two together is actually a very sound practice.

China is the world’s biggest branded coffee shop market, having taken over the US in 2023. Starbucks, one of the worlds world’s biggest coffee shop franchises, opened 785 of its outlets in China, which is one of the company’s biggest and most important growth drivers, its second-largest worldwide market, and a top overseas market.

It’s quite easy to imagine Starbucks as the largest coffee shop chain in China, especially considering the aforementioned stats, but the truth is that the company faces stiff competition from local coffee chain shops, such as Luckin Coffee.

The competition is much more reasonably priced compared to Starbucks, but they don’t actually offer such “exotic” flavors, including a jujube macchiato inspired by New Year’s rice cakes.