Pistachio Oat Latte vs Pistachio Dirty by Luckin Coffee

After trying Luckin's Toffee Hazelnut Oat Latte, I found that oat and nuttiness were a good combination, especially for those who like or need dairy-free drinks. So I tried their Pistachio Oat Latte, especially since pistachio-flavoured cafe treats are all the rage these days. This drink officially boasts "3 pistachios and 2 cashews" per cup, so it's also a Cashew Oat Latte rolled in. (I tried their Pistachio Dirty months later when it was released. Scroll down for the comparison.)

Pistachio Oat Latte by Luckin Coffee

Visually, the oat milk portion was quite green indeed, as you can see at the bottom part of the cup. That bottom part was also where I started drinking from via the straw.

I was instantly hit with a very fragrant and sweet roasted pistachio nut aroma - creamy notes of vanilla, pandan-coconut and perhaps even slightly floral. The fragrance, especially the lush floral bits, were only noticeable on the first sip from the bottom, and it faded into the coffee by the next few sips, when the coffee and ice started to mix in.

The oat milk has a nutty and grainy element to it, which I thought balanced the pistachio's sweetness and enhanced its nuttiness.

The coffee grounded the taste with its darkness. It paired with the oat milk to come across as a dark, roasty and earthy flavour.

I didn't really understand where the cashew nuts fit in... perhaps they brought out the creaminess a bit more. Compared to other nut-flavoured drinks I've tried, such as hazelnut, this one is way more fragrant with those vanilla-pandan notes, yet without added sweetness. So it was a real treat.

Finally, I wonder if adding a dash of salt might better balance the overall taste, as in other pistachio sauces and creams. I did not notice any salt added - if they did, it was very subtle.

I chose the least sweet option, and thought it was perfect. I think some real sugar sweetness is needed to pair with the pistachio's sweet fragrance, otherwise it might taste weird. 

And with Luckin's low prices, I thought this was an absolute steal, beating many gourmet cafes in value hands-down. Not to mention that Luckin didn't charge an extra dollar for the oat milk, especially after factoring in their discounts. I think Luckin has done a fantastic job making "premium" menu items very accessible price-wise.

Personally, pistachio is one of my favourite nut flavours in almost anything - pastries, drinks, chocolate and ice cream, so this was a wonderful treat. I hope to grab it again while it lasts, or better still, I hope to see this as a regular item on their menu. 

Pistachio Dirty

Almost as if Luckin read my thoughts on the Pistachio Oat Latte, they launched a new version of this drink, called the Pistachio Dirty. This refers to the Asian or Chinese "Dirty Coffee" style of serving espresso coffee, meaning that the cold milk is poured into the cup first before an espresso shot is poured over, to be sipped from the top. See some examples of Dirty Coffee in my earlier post on Greybox Coffee's variations. For the Pistachio Dirty, it means that they pour the hot espresso over the base of cold pistachio oat milk. 

This time, however, the green was much less noticeable, possibly because they were super busy (I waited for over 20 minutes for my drink), and by the time I got there, the green seemed to have mostly mixed in. I could see it clearly, but it doesn't show up in the picture. It is a bit clearer in the 2nd picture below.

Pistachio Dirty by Luckin Coffee

This version improved on ALL the drawbacks of the original drink. Firstly, there was no ice, so it didn't get diluted. (The diluted Pistachio Oat Latte above ended up tasting a bit too grainy and nutty especially towards the end.)

Secondly, there seemed to be a bit more salt that I noticed, perhaps because it was no longer diluted. So the balance was even better.

Thirdly, with the strong coffee on top, the pistachio flavour grows stronger as you sip more, instead of fading into the coffee like for the latte version. As the salt is also in the pistachio oat milk base, the punch from it gets slightly stronger throughout the experience as well. The sweet marzipan-like nutty pistachio notes get stronger as well. (It was much less sweet than the typical marzipan from Europe though, so that was great!) 

So overall, the great thing was the lack of ice, making it thick, creamy, nutty and with a nice kick of savoury pop all the way down. 

The only drawback was that the pure pistachio oat milk base was a bit too sweet for my liking, so I stopped at around the 25% mark and didn't finish the last quarter. I suppose the dirty version is also good because if you dislike the sweetness, you can stop wherever suits you, although that does waste some drink. There is only 1 available sweetness level unfortunately.

It is somewhat like a milder and lighter version of their pandan coconut latte actually. But compared to it, this one has clearer roasty nutty notes and was less sweet. 

Finally, here's the picture where the green colour is a little bit more obvious - a thin sliver right at the bottom.

Pistachio Dirty by Luckin Coffee - green colouring

If you liked this dairy-free pistachio drink, I would also suggest checking out Luckin's Pandan Coconut Latte. It's also dairy-free, and the pandan flavour has similarities to pistachio.

Discover other interesting coffee and lattes

Luckin's snacks

Comments

Post a Comment