A coffee shop in Ganzhou, China’s Jianxi Province, has found success with a bizarre but innovative drink that combines the traditional ice latte with dried chilies and chili powder.

Jingshi Coffee launched its now-famous ‘hot ice latte’ back in December, as a tribute to Jianxi Province’s famously fiery cuisine, but the drink proved a big hit and the café is now selling it at a rate of 300 cups per day. Viral videos doing the rounds on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok), show café pouring the lattes in plastic cups before infusing them with dried chili and topping off the drink with chili powder. Those brave enough to have tried it claim that the drink is a bit more spicy than regular lattes, but definitely not unpleasant.

“I don’t think it is very spicy. On the contrary, it tastes fine,” one Jingshi Coffee employee said, adding: “This coffee is not as weird as people might think.”

“The new pepper latte is not bad. It tastes slightly spicy and a little sweet,” one satisfied customer wrote about the drink.

The people of Jianxi Province consume the hottest food in all of China, so the new hot ice latte is definitely at home there, but there are still many locals who don’t dare try the unusual beverage.

“It is creative, but I dare not try it because I fear it might upset my stomach,” one person said.

 

“I guess there might be back-end issues after consuming the spicy stuff,” someone else jokingly commented.

The new chili-infused ice latte costs 20 yuan ($2.80) and is expected to become a permanent fixture on the Jingshi Coffee menu.