In 2013, a user on Tianya Club initiated a discussion thread about "weird drinks," where netizens shared the strangest beverages they had ever tasted. Moreover, it is said that Tianya's homepage even compiled a "Top 5 Worst-Tasting Drinks" list based on this. What many didn't expect was that this unofficial "wild list" would have lasting influence, as even today many netizens can easily name them: Eastern Leaf, Red Bottle Scream, Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water, Heysong Sarsaparilla, and Qiulin Kvass. Image source: Xiaohongshu @今天项目磕完了吗 However, 11 years later, the reputation of several "bad-tasting drinks" has undergone subtle changes. In August this year, the discontinued Red Bottle Scream made a comeback and was sold in limited quantities on e-commerce platforms. Ultimately, 10,000 cases of Red Bottle Scream sold out within 3 days and ranked in the Top 3 of Tmall's "Functional Drink New Product List" for 5 consecutive days [2]. In fact, due to high demand, some Taobao merchants resold Red Bottle Scream at 35.8 yuan per bottle and still sold out. On social media, the return of Red Bottle Scream also "brought out" many "decade-old fans." It's worth noting that 10 years ago, "Red Bottle Scream fans" were a rare breed, with the most common consumer comment being "rotten grass root taste." Image source: Xiaohongshu @Edamame3 Red Bottle Scream isn't the only "bad-tasting drink" to see a reversal in reputation. Eastern Leaf, once criticized as "bitter" and "bland," has now become the top unsweetened tea brand in China [3], with predictions that its sales could reach 20 billion yuan by 2026 [4]. Nongfu Spring's Tomato Juice, which many described as tasting like "rotten tomatoes," was discontinued in 2022 but made a comeback this year due to fan demand. Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water, often described as "smelling like a musty mat," is now praised by many consumers for relieving stomach pain, earning it the nickname "miracle water." Image source: Xiaohongshu @睡不醒大漂亮 What has happened over the past decade to cause such a shift in consumer evaluations of these "bad-tasting drinks"? Besides the former "Top 5," there are now many other "bad-tasting" drinks being discussed in the market. Has "bad taste" become the secret to driving traffic for beverages?
"Bad-Tasting" Drinks Have "Turned the Tables" Years later, facing the data of 10,000 cases sold in 3 days, many post-90s still recall those afternoons 20 years ago when they were "controlled" by this drink. Some say "one sip lasts a lifetime," as a curious sip in kindergarten is still remembered at age 24. Image source: Xiaohongshu Some were "accidentally harmed" by classmates who loved Red Bottle Scream, noting that every time that classmate opened the bottle cap, the whole class would stop them. Image source: Xiaohongshu To describe the taste of Red Bottle Scream, netizens have developed a rich vocabulary, such as "like bugs and mud juiced," "like smoked water," and "rotten leaf flavor." Netizens' comments on the taste of the old Red Bottle Scream Image source: Xiaohongshu @童年备忘录、YVANPROPHETERCAi、是肉肉呀 Yet, this "blacklist product" sold like hotcakes upon its return 20 years later. On Tmall, 10,000 cases of Red Bottle Scream sold out within three days and ranked in the Top 3 of the "Functional Drink New Product List" for 5 consecutive days. Now, netizens' evaluations seem to have reversed. On Xiaohongshu, fans of Red Bottle Scream for ten or even twenty years have come forward, saying, "I've lived for over 20 years, and no one around me loves this taste as much as I do!" Others have "turned from black to pink," saying they spat it out as a child but now find the taste less intense. Image source: Xiaohongshu @lilihaohao Eastern Leaf has experienced a similar reversal. Launched in 2011, it reportedly sold poorly at first, with an insider recalling, "Half of the unsold products were pulled back and destroyed, or sold at half price for the second bottle." It wasn't until the 8th year that Eastern Leaf's product line began to turn a profit. [3] Now, Eastern Leaf has achieved a comeback under the domestic "unsweetened" trend. The turning point was in 2019, when Eastern Leaf achieved a growth rate of 28.9% and became the top unsweetened tea brand in China [5]. From 2021 to 2023, Eastern Leaf saw year-on-year growth of over 90% for three consecutive years, and in the first half of this year, it maintained a 90% year-on-year increase. In the domestic unsweetened tea market, which is nearly 10 billion yuan in scale, Eastern Leaf's share has exceeded 70%. [6][7] Nongfu Spring's Tomato Juice, also under the same parent company, didn't make the "Top 5 Worst-Tasting Drinks" list, but controversies about its taste are common online, with "rotten tomato flavor" and "thick tomato sauce mixed with water" being the most frequent descriptions. The product was discontinued in 2022, but after discontinuation, Nongfu Spring received calls from many consumers hoping for its return. In June this year, the updated Nongfu Orchard Tomato Juice was re-launched. Old (left) and new (right) versions of Nongfu Orchard Tomato Juice Image source: Xiaohongshu @盼老板的铲屎官 Nongfu Spring Life Museum Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water, once described as "tasting like water soaked with a mat," seems to have a growing fan base. On Xiaohongshu, many netizens show themselves buying cases and stocking them in their refrigerators. Image source: Xiaohongshu @Moon Besides the acceptable taste, many are also "won over" by the health benefits of Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water. For example, several netizens say drinking it can relieve stomach pain, and others say they keep it in their cars and it works immediately for acid reflux. Additionally, some claim it has effects like relieving hangovers and heatstroke. Regardless of the truth, these evaluations are changing the product's image in consumers' minds, with many even crowning it "miracle water."
What Has Changed the Reputation of "Bad-Tasting Drinks"? "Questioning 'bad-tasting drinks,' understanding 'bad-tasting drinks,' and falling in love with 'bad-tasting drinks'"—this phenomenon reflects changes in consumer demand, brand building, and even social development over the past decade.
1. Products Have Changed, and So Have Consumers The core of the reputation shift for these products lies in the products themselves. On one hand, the products have indeed changed. For instance, the recently returned Red Bottle Scream, according to official introduction, has added ginseng powder from 5-year-old or younger cultivated ginseng compared to the old version, enhancing its health attributes. Many consumers also say the taste is lighter and easier to drink, with some even detecting a hint of sweetness, possibly an adjustment by Nongfu Spring to broaden its audience. Similarly, the returning Nongfu Orchard Tomato Juice now combines large tomatoes with small tomatoes and adds orange and lemon, which Nongfu Spring says enhances the freshness of the tomato juice. On the other hand, consumers have changed. Due to diversified beverage needs, consumers' standards for "good taste" have evolved, and evaluations of a drink are no longer limited to flavor but consider multiple dimensions. Take Eastern Leaf as an example: when it launched in 2011, sweetened tea dominated the tea beverage market. Data shows that in 2014, sweetened tea sales reached 64.3 billion yuan, while unsweetened tea was only 1 billion yuan. [8] Data source: iiMedia Research In a market dominated by sweetened tea, the unsweetened Eastern Leaf created a taste gap for consumers, naturally leading to many "negative reviews." At that time, consumers' awareness of healthy eating was still in its early stages, so its differentiated selling points like "natural flavor" and "health" were overlooked. Now, with the development of unsweetened beverage consumption habits, consumers' evaluations of Eastern Leaf's taste have shifted from "bland" to "subtle tea aroma," and its ingredient list from "simple" to "clean." Eastern Leaf hasn't changed; it's the consumers' standard of "good taste" that has changed. Although the taste of Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water hasn't become as widespread as unsweetened tea, it's precisely because of the increased health awareness in recent years that many consumers have noticed its health attributes beyond taste, leading to a reversal in reputation. In fact, when Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water was developed and launched in the 1960s, it targeted the needs of Chinese workers in Southeast Asia for thirst relief and heatstroke prevention. The Laoshan mineral water used is rich in minerals, and the extract of Hedyotis diffusa added to the water has effects like clearing heat and detoxifying [9]. Perhaps seeing the change in consumers, Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water now promotes its product with slogans like "Stomach comfortable, drink White Flower" on packaging and promotional posters. Image source: Xiaohongshu @黑仁哥哥
2. The Victory of Brand Effect Among the aforementioned "bad-tasting drinks," three are from Nongfu Spring, indicating that brand effect plays a crucial role in the reputation reversal. First, brand effect provides financial and channel support for "bad-tasting drinks." Eastern Leaf was able to survive eight years of losses exceeding profits, not only due to founder Zhong Shanshan's persistence but also because of Nongfu Spring's brand strength, with its packaged water business providing financial support. Nongfu Spring's prospectus shows that in 2019, its packaged drinking water sales reached 14.35 billion yuan, with a market share of 20.9% [10]. Moreover, because Nongfu Spring's packaged water had established a mature channel network, Eastern Leaf never disappeared from retail terminals during its low-sales period. The large fan base accumulated by the Nongfu Spring brand also provides traffic support for "bad-tasting drinks." Even as Red Bottle Scream and Nongfu Orchard Tomato Juice gradually faded from the market, they maintained a certain level of discussion on social media. The return of both products was partly due to Nongfu Spring noticing fans' calls for their return and the discussion heat. After exiting the market, netizens still created parody videos and reviews of Red Bottle Scream Image source: Bilibili @红的友人 Communication between brands and fans is usually two-way. When Nongfu Orchard Tomato Juice returned, the brand proactively contacted netizens who had called for its return on social media and sent them a case of the new version. Image source: Xiaohongshu @🍄 Scream, on the other hand, interacted with fans through "official self-deprecation." In the promotional posters and videos announcing its return, Scream took the opportunity to highlight its "bad taste." This self-deprecating marketing gave the brand a sense of relaxation, bringing it closer to consumers. Image source: Xiaohongshu, Bilibili @尖叫SCREAM Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water has also mastered this self-deprecating marketing technique, using large fonts to emphasize "bad taste" in multiple promotional posters. "Bad taste" has become a distinct "brand symbol." Image source: Xiaohongshu @Eric要冷静
3. "Bad-Tasting Drinks" Have a Bigger "Stage" From another perspective, even if most consumers disliked these "bad-tasting drinks" back then, there must have been a minority who could accept or even enjoy their taste, as evidenced by the "twenty-year fans" who emerged after Red Bottle Scream's return. However, in an era when the internet was less developed, the views of a small group were hard to see. The decentralized nature of the self-media era gives everyone a voice, making evaluations of "bad-tasting drinks" more diverse. Positive comments can further influence other netizens to try the products again or change their attitudes. Meanwhile, the development of e-commerce has broken regional restrictions on sales, allowing consumers in more areas to purchase these drinks, expanding the potential audience base. For example, Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water was mainly sold in Shandong for a long time, but it was only after streamers like Luo Yonghao and Dong Yuhui promoted or tasted it in their live streams that consumers across the country began buying it through e-commerce platforms. Luo Yonghao promoting Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water Image from the internet "Bad taste" is a subjective evaluation, so "bad-tasting drinks" may never have been truly "bad," just controversial in taste. The internet has simply made it easier for us to see the other side of the controversy.
The More "Bad-Tasting," the Better They Sell? The popularity of several former "bad-tasting drinks" easily reminds one of the noticeable increase in new products with controversial flavors over the past year, many of which have sparked heated discussions and some have achieved good sales. For example, in April this year, Huiyuan launched 100% cilantro juice, which received a flood of negative reviews like "stronger than fermented bean juice!" "Devil's child drink," and "it's like squeezing a ladybug into juice for me to drink," but in contrast, within a week of launch, sales exceeded 8,000 orders, related Douyin videos garnered nearly 40 million views, and it made it to hot searches multiple times. [11] Huiyuan 100% Cilantro Juice Image source: Huiyuan official KFC's K Coffee recently launched "Original Recipe Chicken Latte," which led many to post "avoidance tips" after tasting, but that hasn't stopped many from trying it. Within less than a week of launch, the topic "Original Recipe Chicken Flavor Latte" on Xiaohongshu had 1.878 million views. Controversial flavors have also expanded from beverages to dairy and snacks. Some products use inherently controversial ingredients like durian, houttuynia, or cilantro, while others mix unrelated ingredients. Regardless of the method, "bad taste" or "bad flavor" comments are common, but at the same time, social media is flooded with tasting review videos or posts. Image source: Xiaohongshu @斯巴达三百标兵、啊呜一口吃掉你、🍉 This phenomenon, combined with the comeback of "bad-tasting drinks," raises the question: has the beverage industry truly become "the worse the taste, the better the sales"? It's important to note that the "bad taste" of recently launched drinks is a marketing angle, which is fundamentally different from the "bad-tasting drinks" that have "turned over," like Eastern Leaf. As is well known, today's young consumers are willing to pay for emotional value, and the novelty of exotic flavors is a form of emotional value. Spending about 10 yuan on a bad-tasting drink might not seem worth it, but paying 10 yuan for an emotional value that triggers dopamine can easily feel like a great deal. At the same time, exotic-flavored drinks serve as "social currency," naturally generating buzz. Through consumer discussions, brands achieve word-of-mouth communication. However, it's foreseeable that "bad taste" as a marketing tool is like fireworks—it can quickly ignite topics but also cool down quickly. For example, Huiyuan's 100% NFC cilantro juice, despite its strong first-week sales, was taken off the shelves after a month due to poor sales. [12] While using controversial flavors as a marketing tactic to attract traffic is understandable, it also raises the question: how do you create a truly long-lasting "bad-tasting drink"? Returning to the "Top 5 Worst-Tasting Drinks": Eastern Leaf invested 1 billion yuan in R&D and equipment before its product line became profitable, and it's said that until 2015, Zhong Shanshan personally tracked many product details like taste, process, and packaging. [3] Laoshan White Flower Snake Grass Water was developed in the 1960s by Laoshan Soda Factory in collaboration with Qingdao Medical Research Institute and Qingdao Sanatorium, using pure Laoshan mineral water rich in minerals and Hedyotis diffusa with heat-clearing and detoxifying effects. Red Bottle Scream added functional ingredients to the drink 20 years ago, anticipating the health trend among young people... Perhaps, whether "good-tasting" or "bad-tasting," product strength is the most important factor in a product's ability to withstand the test of time.
References: [1] "China's Top 5 Worst-Tasting Drinks" but Fascinating to Foreigners, April 2016, Global Times [2] "The Worst-Tasting Drinks in History" Are Quietly Selling Well, September 2024, Food Industry Expert [3] From "Worst-Tasting Drink" to No.1 in Unsweetened Tea Market Share: Why Did Eastern Leaf Become Popular?, March 2024, Yicai YiMagazine [4] Guo Peng, Eastern Leaf Emerges, Will Become the Next 20 Billion Yuan Product, March 2024, The Time Weekly [5] Eastern Leaf Growth Rate Nearly 70%, 85 Times the Industry Average, "Betting" on the Future 10 Years Ago to Pioneer the Unsweetened Tea Market, August 2022, Changjiang Business Daily [6] Analysis of China's Unsweetened Tea Market Size and Industry Development Prospects in 2024, September 2024, China Business Intelligence Network [7] Eastern Leaf Continues to Grow, Nongfu Spring's Tea Beverage Year-on-Year Growth Nearly 60% in First Half, August 2024, The Time Weekly [8] Tea Beverage Industry Data Analysis: It Is Predicted That China's Sweetened Tea Market Sales Will Reach 82.1 Billion Yuan in 2024, August 2021, iiMedia Research [9] "Hedyotis diffusa" Entry, Jointly Created by National Medical Products Administration and Baidu Health Encyclopedia [10] CITIC Securities: Detailed Data Interpretation of Nongfu Spring's Prospectus, May 2020, CITIC Securities [11] Besides Being Expensive! Contemporary Fruit and Vegetable Juices Have No "Shortcomings," August 2024, Blue Whale Finance [12] "100% Cilantro Juice" Taken Off Shelves After One Month, May 2024, China Economic Net