The 3 Biggest Surprise Social Media Beverage Trends Right Now
84% of Gen-Z reports to be open to trying new trends because they saw them on social media, especially because of FOMO.
1. Bringing a Pumpkin to Starbucks for your Latte
People are carving mini pumpkins, walking into coffee shops, and asking for their latte to be poured straight into the pumpkin. It is a prop that screams Autumn and it looks shocking (AKA scroll-stopping) on camera. You get the pour, the steam, and a quick reaction shot from a friend or a barista. That is enough to carry a vertical clip and earn likes, comments, shares, etc.
Fresh posts this month show the stunt in real stores, which signals the bit has jumped from one creator to a wider wave.
This trend is growing because it is seasonal, cheap, and messy in a way that reads well on video. A small pumpkin costs a few dollars. You do not need a recipe or special gear. Anyone can try it on the way to work and get a one take clip.
#PumpkinCup is an emerging and seasonal trend with 1,357 posts on TikTok to date and the top 5 videos on search have a bit less than 200,000 views right now.
People add whipped cream, cinnamon sprinkles, carved faces, or a caption joke about food safety. That gives a second round of clips that feel new enough to watch. You also get a broader pumpkin halo, since official pumpkin content is hot right now and pulls extra traffic into related stunts.
Some viewers love the creativity. Others call it unsanitary. Disagreement drives replies and replies drive reach. For brands, the safer angle is to post the look without the mess. A reusable pumpkin cup or pumpkin shaped tumbler keeps the visual and avoids food safety pushback.
2. Cold foam at home
Cold foam is everywhere in short video and grocery right now. It is a cafe look you can make at home. The base is fat free milk or a lower fat dairy, frothed to an airy foam. Creators flavor it with pumpkin spice, caramel, vanilla, or fruit notes like banana, then crown iced coffee or cold brew. The appeal is simple. It looks premium, it records well in a top down shot, and it takes under a minute with a handheld frother or a mason jar shake.
The top 5 videos on TikTok have about 430,000 views, with several breaking the 100K view mark. There are 63,500 posts for #ColdFoam alone on TikTok, almost all are people showing off their homemade recipes.
Gen Z is driving the shift to cold drinks, flavor experimentation, and at home builds. Brands are responding with ready to pour foams and seasonal flavors, while coffee chains keep pushing new cold foam modifiers. This fall even added protein cold foam options in stores, which says the modifier is mainstream enough to get line-item menu space. That helps creators because the ingredients are in more fridges and the language is familiar.
On platform, you see recipe variants from Greek yogurt to functional soda mashups. The pattern is the same. A clean pour, a foam crown, a quick close up stir, and a sip line. For brands, this is a low cost content machine.
3. Homemade Healthy Soda
Homemade healthy soda is the at-home swap for regular soda. Creators mix fizzy water with simple flavor bases like fruit syrup or a splash of vanilla extract, then add better-for-you twists like kefir for probiotics.
The top 5 videos showing up on TikTok search for #HealthySoda averaged more than 100,000 views, with one video reaching almost 350,000. What’s notable about TT’s algorithm – that it serves up small videos at the top of search results too, not just the biggest, to increase discovery.
The hook is a quick side-by-side. Typically, a video starts by showing a can of cola or an energy drink and says “Put this down.” Then it will say “Pick this up” and show things like a mason jar with bubbles, fruit, or a clean label sweetener. Your eye gets a clear win on sugar and a nod to gut health. Your ear gets the pour and fizz. It films in under a minute with ingredients from any supermarket.
It spreads because you can see the benefit in one frame and make it in one or two steps using ingredients people usually have at home (well, maybe not kefir). Syrup plus seltzer for flavor control. Vanilla for a round finish that feels like cream soda. Kefir or yogurt whey for a probiotic kick and a light foam head.
Creators add quick overlays like less sugar, more probiotics, same vibe. That makes the claim easy to share without sounding preachy. The format also invites riffs. Citrus peel syrup for a bitter edge, ginger honey for a cola-adjacent bite, berry shrub for a sweet-tart profile, etc. Each one reads as a small upgrade that still satisfies the urge to drink soda.
A lot of space with this one for brands to make DIY kits or to take the viral “pick this not that” angle for positioning other healthy products.