Introduction:Luckin Coffee recently trialed an intelligent tea-brewing machine in some of its stores, aiming to improve the efficiency of milk tea preparation. However, feedback from frontline staff revealed issues such as complicated cleaning procedures and the device's inability to brew more than one type of tea at a time, resulting in a brewing process that sometimes takes even longer than manual methods. Based on the real usage experiences of employees in Guangzhou, this article takes an in-depth look at the actual performance of the device, helping readers understand the challenges and limitations faced when implementing intelligent tea-brewing technology.
Since September, when reports emerged that Luckin Coffee planned to roll out intelligent milk tea machines and tea-brewing machines across all its stores, the move has attracted significant industry attention. Recently, the trial installation of tea-brewing machines in some Guangzhou stores unexpectedly sparked strong feedback from frontline staff. Many employees pointed out that the device is not only bulky and takes up valuable workspace, but also—due to its limitation of processing only a single type of tea at a time, coupled with complex cleaning and disinfection procedures—the overall efficiency is actually lower than traditional manual brewing methods.
According to on-site employees, the tea-brewing machine consists of three layers: a tea brewing bucket, a filter, and a tea collection bucket, making it noticeably larger than most standard equipment. This adds to the already limited counter space. Before and after each use, all components must be disinfected, dried, and put back in place, and the interior of the machine must be carefully cleaned with a special red disinfectant cloth to prevent tea stains from accumulating and forming stubborn residue.
A more practical issue is that the device can only brew one type of tea at a time per operation. If a store needs to prepare multiple types of base teas—for example, jasmine tea and Ceylon black tea—staff must repeat the entire cleaning and brewing process. Additionally, according to Luckin’s quality control standards, any tea that is not used within four hours of preparation must be discarded and remade, which often leads to the same steps being repeated multiple times, significantly increasing the workload.
In terms of time cost, brewing jasmine tea takes approximately nine to ten minutes, while Ceylon black tea takes even longer—about twelve to thirteen minutes. After each brew, the utensils need to be soaked in disinfectant water for five minutes. However, the machine’s accompanying sink has a limited capacity, usually only accommodating one large bucket and an ice scoop, meaning the entire cleaning process takes at least ten minutes. Overall, a single complete operation takes at least thirty-two minutes, which is quite tight during early morning preparation or peak hours.
Aside from operational efficiency concerns, many employees in the Guangdong region have also reported quality control flaws of the new device on social media platforms—for instance, metal parts showing signs of rust even before formal use—which raises questions about its durability and hygiene safety.
Currently, Luckin is only piloting these intelligent tea-brewing machines in the Guangzhou area, and the initiative is still in the testing phase. Whether it will be expanded to stores nationwide depends on initial user feedback. However, based on the real experiences of on-site employees, many remain skeptical about the practicality of the device—especially under conditions of staff shortages and heavy cleaning demands—it remains to be seen whether it can effectively improve overall operational efficiency.
Based on comprehensive testing feedback, although this intelligent tea-brewing machine is designed to be automated and standardized, it still faces challenges in real-world application scenarios such as lengthy cleaning processes, limited single-batch output, and high maintenance costs. For coffee professionals or franchise owners who are concerned about extraction parameters and operational efficiency, these on-the-ground insights provide valuable reference.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
