Molly Tea Launches Floral Tea-Coffee Again: A Tea Brand's Alternative Take on Coffee

At a Glance (China Coffee Network): On September 10, Molly Tea (Moli Naibai) launched two floral tea-coffee new products—Needle King & Vienna and Magnolia & Vienna—nationwide. Coinciding with Teachers’ Day, the brand gave away 470,000 cups to teachers, adding nearly 100,000 new members in a single day.

On September 10, Molly Tea’s two floral tea-coffee new products—Needle King & Vienna and Magnolia & Vienna—launched simultaneously across national stores. Falling on Teachers’ Day, Molly Tea introduced a teacher-exclusive benefit: presenting a valid teaching certificate earned a free new-product cup in store. Nationwide stores gave away 470,000 cups, and nearly 100,000 new members were added in a single day. In that day’s drink sales ranking, the two floral tea-coffee new products topped the list. On social platforms, many teachers shared their redemption records, spontaneously posting “warmed by a cup of coffee,” with queues at stores across cities. More notably, many users returned the next day after the benefit to repurchase—the holiday goodwill is turning into real consumption behavior.

Molly Tea floral tea-coffee new products — Molly Tea’s floral tea-coffee launch (Source: public channels)

This is not Molly Tea’s first coffee. In April this year the brand launched its coffee series for the first time. Five months later, the floral tea-coffee series officially debuted, continuing the brand’s consistent “floral tea” logic from naming to flavor structure.

Floral tea as the base, coffee as the extension

The starting point of both new products is the floral tea base Molly Tea has built for years. Needle King & Vienna is grounded in a seven-scenting gold-award Jasmine Needle King—jasmine from Hengzhou, Guangxi, with fragrance deep in the bone and a clear, sweet, fresh broth; Magnolia & Vienna uses a roasted green tea base from Leshan, Sichuan, with Magnolia’s ethereal, secluded aroma blending with the coffee’s milky notes—clean and translucent. The coffee part uses 100% Arabica SOE beans from Honduras, fermented in whiskey barrels, carrying compound aromas of Baileys, champagne and vanilla.

Floral in front, tea sensation in the middle, coffee to finish. Molly Tea’s logic in making coffee is not to start from scratch, but to extend the “floral tea” product logic into the coffee category. Coffee is not the protagonist; the floral tea base is the root.

Molly Tea floral tea-coffee cup — The floral-forward, coffee-extended recipe (Source: public channels)

In that day’s drink sales ranking, the two floral tea-coffee new products took the top spot. On social platforms, many teachers shared redemption records, spontaneously posting “warmed by a cup of coffee,” with queues at multiple stores. More notably, many users returned the next day after the benefit to repurchase—the holiday goodwill is turning into real consumption behavior.

Molly Tea store crowd — Crowds at Molly Tea stores during the launch (Source: public channels)

From product to public good: giving coffee warmth

This launch also carried forward the “Molly Tea Public-Welfare Farmer-Support Action.” In the first month of the new products, for every cup sold the brand will donate ¥0.1, directed to training Yao women in Banbanqiao Village, Jinping, Yunnan in tea-plant care and processing, helping them improve tea-garden management and tea-processing skills. From Hengzhou jasmine to Yunnan tea plants, from flower farmers to tea farmers, Molly Tea’s public-welfare path in origin protection is continuing.

Teachers’ Day honors the “bean planters”; public welfare supports the “tea planters.” The two are linked at the bottom by the same care—attention to the real people behind every cup.

From floral tea to floral tea-coffee, Molly Tea is using floral tea as the origin to keep extending the product boundary of “Oriental Modern Tea.” Floral as the base, coffee as the extension. In an era where everyone makes coffee, letting coffee grow into its own shape is itself an answer. (Xianning News Network)

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