TCM pharmacies start selling coffee
Baita Temple drug store, one of the long-established traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) stores in Beijing, launched its health-preserving themed coffee shop, attracting many consumers during the soft opening period.
Both Chinese medicine stores selling coffee as well as milk tea and coffee added with herbal medicine have become trendy recently. Tong Ren Tang, the largest TCM producer, has opened over ten coffee shops selling bread and coffee with herbal medicine as ingredients. Beverages such as wolfberry latte are hot-selling products.
Novel experience is the biggest selling point. Mrs. Yuan works nearby Tong Ren Tang’s coffee shop. At first, she was curious about this new type of coffee shop, but the rich and novel products made her a repeat guest. “I also buy bread with little sugar and oil but with herbal medicines such as American ginseng and Asian pigeowings, which sounds pretty healthy.”
Xu Yang, the associate chief pharmacist of Beijing Gulou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said most “healthy coffee” on the market is medicine and food homology, which should be chosen according to one’s physical condition. Xu believes that the fusion of Chinese medicine and coffee encourages people to learn more about Chinese medicine.
Source: Beijing Daily; trans-editing by Guo Yao