After experimenting with wasabi and mustard, the 31-year-old shop owner eventually settled on black peppercorns as the main ingredient.

Declining to be named, he told AP News: “We would like to make a flavour that reminds people that they still have to persist in the protest movement and don’t lose their passion.”

One impressed customer said: “It tastes like tear gas. It feels difficult to breathe at first, and it’s really pungent and irritating. It makes me want to drink a lot of water immediately.

“I think it’s a flashback that reminds me of how painful I felt in the movement, and that I shouldn’t forget.”