The Defining Cocktails and Drink Trends of TikTok in 2024

Looking back at the year in DrinkTok, compared to last, you might find that the minds behind Big Trending Drink are losing a little steam. Last year’s viral cocktails seemed to spring up out of thin air (like the Parm Espresso Martini, though we cracked that case). But now that the platform is weathered, social-strategized and subject to the same marketing budgets as the rest of the world, it’s found itself caught in some of the same inescapable monoculture taking place off the app. Brat is a cocktail, Wicked is a boozy hot chocolate, and so on. (The internet as a whole has had quite a green year.) But rest assured, there was still a lot of weird going on, and we’re here to let you know what you missed. (Sorry.)

Some say 2024 was the Year of the Batanga, at least on TikTok, celebrated during Batanga Week. The Coca-Cola-and-tequila highball was deemed “a TikTok drink that’s actually good.” That is likely because it’s not a TikTok drink—it’s nearly 70 years old—and because its virality is thanks to actual bartenders championing the simple recipe. Refreshing!

Similarly not new but “rediscovered,” the Lone Ranger had a moment as it vied for Drink of Summer status, while the soufflé Espresso Martini was a winter favorite, though technically it debuted at the end of 2023.

Outside of cocktails, coffee (and hot chocolate) had a big year on the platform. See: scallion-topped lattes. The global yearning for Korea’s ice cup culture. The Dunkin’ employee calling out DoorDash drink orders. And the fact that, while we weren’t looking, bone broth snuck into hot chocolate.

Other winners: Gatorade and Monster, and the concept of plopping one or both into something with alcohol. (See: Gatorwine, a mashup of the sports drink and wine, and Gonster, combining the energy drink and Guinness.) Speaking of Guinness, the drinkers of TikTok also descended on pubs around the world to split the G—also, there is now an app for that. And because every generation loves dirty cocktails and dare drinks (this year’s included the Malört-packed “Chicago Snorkel”), there was plenty of that going around, too. So, yes, DrinkTok is still the Wild West.