(Squeamish content below!)
Forget your basic oat or pumpkin spice latte. China’s coffee landscape thrives on the wonderfully weird, pushing boundaries from boozy Moutai infusions to numbing Sichuan pepper lattes. But a new contender from the Beijing Insect Museum is truly testing palates: Cockroach Coffee. Yup… This 45 RMB brew, part of the museum’s audacious “Insect Coffee series,” is more than a novelty. The museum is pushing it as a bold statement designed to challenge perceptions about insects.
The drink features edible cockroach powder—sourced from GAP-certified farms—and roasted mealworms. Through his peculiar pick-me-up, the museum’s director aims to demystify Periplaneta americana, highlighting its medicinal properties. Reports describe the coffee as having a roasted, slightly sour profile, with journalists likening the “cockroach sauce” texture to coconut jelly and the dried bits to crispy biscuits.
While China has embraced other unconventional sips like earthy penny bun mushroom lattes, health-boosting Traditional Chinese Medicine concoctions, and vibrant tea-coffee fusions, the introduction of actual insect powder takes the cake for sheer audacity. Cockroach coffee stands as a testament to China’s endlessly experimental and daring coffee culture, capturing the attention of an audience constantly seeking the next viral, boundary-pushing experience.
