Banana Milk Latte Guide: How Korea’s Convenience Store Drink Became a Must-Try

The banana milk latte, often built around Korea’s familiar Binggrae Banana Flavored Milk, has become one of the most specific drinks to look for on a K Convenience Store Tour. The basic idea is simple: combine banana milk with coffee, and in some CU settings, follow store recipe cards for variations such as “Ttungba Latte.”

For travelers, the value of this trend is that it is not only a cafe-style drink. It is tied to convenience-store shopping behavior, foreign tourist demand, and dedicated DIY drink zones at CU’s Seongsu Dessert Park store.

What a Banana Milk Latte Is

banana milk latte DIY Korea convenience store guide

The Korean convenience-store version is a mixed drink made by combining banana milk with coffee. Financial News described the related “banana-flavored milk coffee” as a social-media spread pairing of banana-flavored milk with hazelnut coffee, which helped make it a Korea visit tasting item among foreign visitors.¹

The drink is also known through the name “Ttungba Latte,” a combination associated with CU’s Delaffe and banana milk. Newdaily Economy reported that CU’s Seongsu Dessert Park store displayed banana-flavored milk prominently for foreign visitors and mentioned “Ttungba Latte” as a combination that became popular among foreigners.²

The trend is not limited to one recipe name. Dealsite Economy TV reported that the DIY zone at CU Seongsu Dessert Park included recipe cards for convenience-store combination drinks such as “Ttungba Latte,” “Get Ttungba Latte,” and peach jelly milk.³ That matters for visitors because the drink can be approached as a simple convenience-store mix, not as a fixed cafe order with one official formula.

Why It Belongs on a K Convenience Store Tour

The strongest reason to look for banana milk latte ingredients is the performance of banana-flavored milk among foreign tourists. Financial News reported that, based on 2025 purchase data from CU and GS25 foreign tourist customers, Binggrae Banana Flavored Milk was counted as the top-selling product.¹ That gives the banana milk latte a clear place in a convenience-store itinerary: it builds on a product foreign visitors were already buying heavily.

Search interest also supports the drink’s rise. Yelp’s official Instagram stated that searches for banana lattes were up 1,573% year over year as of June 2025.⁴ Herald Economy also cited that 1,573% figure and reported that, in Spate data, searches for “banana milk latte” in the third quarter of 2025 rose 143% from the previous quarter.⁵

The drink has also moved beyond Korean convenience stores. Herald Economy reported that banana milk latte became known among overseas tourists as a drink made in Korean convenience stores and had appeared on cafe menus abroad, including in Panama.⁵ For readers planning a Korea-focused food stop, that overseas attention is a useful signal: the convenience-store version is the reference point behind a broader cafe trend.

There is also a product-side explanation for why exports differ from domestic distribution. Herald Economy quoted a Binggrae official saying that domestic products have an average shelf life of 15 days, and that exported products are sterilized and placed in sterilized containers.⁵ In practical terms, visitors should not assume every overseas banana milk product is identical in distribution format to what is sold domestically in Korea.

Where to Try the Convenience-Store Version

A standard convenience-store approach is to look for banana-flavored milk and a coffee product, then mix them. The source material specifically mentions banana-flavored milk with hazelnut coffee, and CU’s Delaffe with banana milk.¹² If a store does not have a recipe card, the available facts support only the general combination, not an exact ratio.

For a more guided setting, CU Seongsu Dessert Park is the clearest source-backed location. Reports describe it as a store with foreigner-targeted displays, a beverage zone, and a DIY zone.²³ Newdaily Economy reported that CU framed differentiated product competitiveness as part of its 2026 management strategy, quoting a CU official: “strengthening the competitiveness of differentiated products” was the year’s strategic direction.²

Dealsite Economy TV described the same type of store experience as a move beyond simple purchasing into customer participation, with recipe cards available for combination drinks.³ That makes the Seongsu model useful for visitors who want instructions rather than guesswork.

Another useful detail is that CU has also sold a private-brand item called “Park Daeri’s Matjeom Coffee Banana Latte,” produced by Binggrae, as reported by Herald Economy.⁵ This is separate from the DIY mixing approach, but it shows how the banana latte idea has also been packaged as a ready-to-buy convenience-store product.

Quick FAQ

Is banana milk latte the same as Binggrae Banana Flavored Milk?

No. Binggrae Banana Flavored Milk is the core product often used in the trend, while banana milk latte refers to a mixed drink combining banana milk with coffee. The reported convenience-store versions include banana-flavored milk with hazelnut coffee and CU Delaffe with banana milk.¹²

Is there one official banana milk latte recipe?

The available sources do not provide one universal official recipe. They describe several convenience-store combinations and CU recipe-card examples, including “Ttungba Latte” and “Get Ttungba Latte,” so visitors should treat it as a flexible DIY drink rather than a single standardized menu item.³ The banana milk latte is useful because it is easy to understand, easy to search for, and closely tied to actual convenience-store behavior by foreign visitors. For a practical Korea convenience-store stop, start with banana-flavored milk and coffee, then look for CU recipe-card versions if you want the most guided version of the trend.