How Luckin, Cotti and other Chinese coffee chains are eating Starbucks’ lunch amid inflation

A coffee Cold War is brewing in the Big Apple.

Once poised to take over the New York caffeine scene, Starbucks’ star appears to be fading in the Northeast, with the Seattle-based coffee giant shuttering a whopping 42 of its locations across the Big Apple in recent months — as part of a purge that eliminated 400 branches nationwide amid flatlining sales.

Among other factors in their recession, including inflation-fueled price hikes and declining desk jockey patronage following the pandemic, it appears that Gotham brewdogs are forgoing the corporate fueling station — favoring instead newer, flashier spots that offer better bang for your cup.

There’s Gregory’s Coffee, founded locally in 2006 and now popping up all over the metropolitan area, as one relatively new favorite with the masses — and for something with even more style and polish, there’s California transplant and Nestlé-owned Blue Bottle, boasting 18 shops in NYC alone and charging just 30 cents more for a much better cappuccino than Starbucks could provide.

But all that’s just a warmup for the real new guard, it seems — currently gunning for the siren’s starry crown are a group of quick-serve Java juggernauts from China, known for their quick rollouts, near total-automation, and cups of Asian-inflected people diesel costing as little as $1 or $2, ordered typically via easy-to-use apps.

Luckin Coffee, Cotti Coffee and Mixue — the latter known as the largest fast-food brand in the world, but mostly still unknown to Americans for the moment — are hanging out shingles all over the city that never sleeps, and many local java junkies are welcoming their new Joe-verlords, or at least grasping the appeal of the new arrivals.