Tiramisu Latte by Luckin Coffee vs Buttercream Tiramisu Latte by Fore Coffee

This is not the first time I've tried this Tiramisu Latte by Luckin Coffee, but last year, I strongly disliked it so I didn't post. This year, there was a huge improvement, which I'll explain below, so I thought it worth posting about. (May 2026 update below: I also recently tried Fore Coffee's similar drink, the Buttercream Tiramisu Latte.)

First up, one thing to note is that they only have the iced version. As always, I selected the least sweet option. This is how it looked like visually. 
Tiramisu Latte by Luckin Coffee
The latte part looks like chocolate milk or hot cocoa in the colour, but even darker with what looks like extra cocoa powder sinking to the bottom to give it a thin dark brown layer below. The top looks like a typical milk foam layer commonly found in Asian or bubble tea shop drinks and is probably an imitation attempt of the creamy part of a tiramisu dessert (the mascarpone cheese part). I did not stir in the milk foam (because I'm always wary of them), so I tried both layers separately. 

If you look closely at the foam on top, there's also cocoa powder dusted over the white foam. (Click to enlarge for a clearer view of the powder.)
Tiramisu Latte by Luckin Coffee - cocoa powder on the milk foam
The latte itself was the real star and definitely worth buying again because of its low price point (just S$4 if you use a 50% off coupon) compared to similar offerings at cafes. It tasted more like a deep and rich decadent mocha as opposed to a latte, because the dark cocoa notes, chocolatey nuttiness and complementary coffee taste were quite prominent. It was like a nice thick dark chocolate mocha with strong notes of well-roasted cocoa nibs (to the point of being almost smoky but not quite), but it was not as viscous as the typical thick dark chocolate mocha, which made it a lot more refreshing and easier to drink. 

Furthermore, the least sweet version was indeed barely sweet, just the right, bare minimum amount of sugar to bring the cocoa flavour to life. This was the huge improvement over last year's version, which was just too sweet that I couldn't appreciate anything else and also couldn't finish the drink. (Back then, I would have ordered the version that had the least sugar as well, as I always do, but it's possible that they only had 1 sweetness setting then.)

The latte part beats a LOT of expensive mochas from not-so-good cafes, which have too much sugar or milk, and is probably comparable to the 8/10 or 9/10-score good mochas I've tried out there, but the price point for this is much lower than those. As mentioned, it is slightly less thick compared to the best-of-the-best mochas, and the coffee flavour might not be as complex, but it makes up for it well because of the prominent roasted cocoa nib flavour and easy-to-drink experience.

As for the milk foam or tiramisu cream part, it wasn't nice at all and I'm glad I didn't stir it in. It tasted like a typical fake non-dairy creamer milk foam. Naturally, it tasted nothing like the mascarpone cheese found in actual tiramisu desserts. However, because it wasn't salty or savoury like their Mascarpone Latte, but leaned sweet in flavour, it resembled the sweet mascarpone cheese found in tiramisu desserts a little bit more.

So overall, it was not so much like a tiramisu dessert, but probably better enjoyed as a nice dark and not-so-sweet mocha for the part without the foam. I would definitely recommend it for that. 

Between their Mascarpone Latte and this Tiramisu Latte, If you prefer something more traditional and classic, and don't mind iced coffee drinks, this tiramisu one should work for you. If you prefer something more innovative with savoury notes or only take hot coffee drinks, then go for the mascarpone one.

If you prefer a more prominent and complex coffee flavour, go for their Cloud Cold Brew instead. It is another cheese foam drink with less milk than the Mascarpone Latte and a more balanced, complex coffee taste that is a blend of nutty, fruity and rich. Although they've stopped offering it in the menu, it could come back again.

If you prefer a tea version, and love the dark indole flavour in jasmine, try their Jasmine Cloud Latte, their only cheese foam tea drink currently. I didn't like it because I didn't like the blend of jasmine indoles with savoury cheese, but if you like such flavours, it should be otherwise good and cheap compared to other cheese tea drinks.

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May 2026 Update: Buttercream Tiramisu Latte by Fore Coffee

Fore Coffee, an Indonesian cafe chain, actually launched their Buttercream Tiramisu Latte earlier than Luckin, around March 2024. Luckin launched theirs later, around November 2024, so technically Fore Coffee's version came first and would be the original if they didn't copy the concept from yet another coffee chain. But I only tried it recently, hence this update.
Buttercream Tiramisu Latte by Fore Coffee
First off, as you can see in the Fore Coffee menu below (from the Bugis Junction branch), Luckin was similar to them in that they also did not offer any hot version. Probably because of that buttercream topping.

As you can see in the photo, the drink is very similar in overall concept - there is this buttercream-type foam dusted with cocoa powder atop an iced latte. A big difference is that Luckin's is much darker brown, like a dark chocolate colour, and this also comes through in the taste.

In terms of taste, Fore Coffee's version didn't taste like tiramisu at all. Classic Italian tiramisu is very dark due to the bitter coffee, and the mascarpone cheese generally helps to complement the dark liquid and lady finger cake by adding body to the dark coffee as well as smoothness to the texture. But Fore Coffee's version tasted 100% like a simple buttercream latte with milk chocolate actually. It was super milky and creamy, as if some kind of caramel fudge, condensed milk or Cadbury-style milk chocolate was used. The coffee didn't come across as dark at all, and was quite a mellow rounded coffee in taste, except almost towards the end of the sip, near the aftertaste, where some dark roasted and smoky notes became evident.

Yet, this is also quite different from the Zus Coffee Buttercrème Latté, which came across as much more of a caramel or toffee type of flavour.

In terms of sweetness level, I asked for a 50% reduction in sugar, and thought that it was decent for a holiday type of sweet and creamy drink. It felt like a 5% sugar level (in grams per 100ml), which matches the Nutrigrade label declaration stating that at full sweetness level, it would be 10%. (See photo below.) I probably would have preferred it at 3% or 4%, but it was fine because the ice melted and diluted the sugar somewhat.

Overall, Luckin's version was much closer to an actual Italian tiramisu in overall impression, with much darker coffee and chocolate notes, as visible in the dark colouration of the coffee. It seems that Luckin took inspiration from this drink concept and improved on it by making a far darker chocolate-coffee taste, which was awesome.

In short, if you prefer a thick dark chocolate experience and like dark mochas, go for Luckin's Tiramisu Latte. If you prefer very milky, toffee-like holiday drinks, go for Fore Coffee's Buttercream Tiramisu Latte. 

If you are on a budget, wait for Fore Coffee's payday promotion where you can get the regular version for S$3 if you have the Fore Coffee app. Or else wait until Luckin sends you a S$2.99 exchange voucher.

Finally, here is the Fore Coffee Bugis Junction menu. (click to enlarge) You can see that there's no hot version. The Nutrigrade label sugar level is a bit too small to see, but it is double digit and I believe either 10% or 11%.
Fore Coffee Bugis Junction Menu (May 2026)
Also from Luckin

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