The Latest Absurd TikTok Coffee Craze? Coffee In A Bucket. – CoffeeTalk

Buckets, once used for holding paint, mopping water, or hauling fish, are now being used for something else entirely. Equipped with straws, the vessels are replacing the standard to-go cups used for iced coffee and lattes, and they are racking up views on TikTok along the way. Some coffee lovers have decided that a simple 12-ounce drink will not cut it anymore. Some have repurposed Weck jars or old pasta sauce containers. But a handful of cafes are leaning into the absurdity by serving iced coffees and lattes in 34-ounce buckets, often with handles. The trend is drawing a crowd.

Dulce Vida, a Mexican-inspired cafe in Tulsa, Okla., debuted “La Cubeta,” its 34-ounce version of a latte, last month after the trend gained traction on social media. Tiffany Rodriguez, the cafe’s founder, quickly embraced it as a way to differentiate from corporate giants like Starbucks and Dunkin’. Drinks of this size now make up more than 30 percent of orders at Dulce Vida. Other indie shops are following suit. Wicked Southern Coffee, a roadside window near Gardner State Park in Salem, Conn., is pulling long lines of visitors eager to try its version.

For smaller businesses, it’s a low-lift way to tap into something viral. In Imperial, Mo., Brittany and Chris Stier run a coffee cart, Noctua Coffee, that offers oversize lattes without having to introduce new flavors or add any trimmings to summon crowds to their stand at their local farmers market. The larger size also encourages splitting a drink with a friend, as they believe in community and connection.

Andrea Hernández, a cultural commentator and the writer of Snaxshot, a newsletter on food trends, said that the trend played well on social media but also reflected a broader shift in attitudes toward caffeine. Consumers have become skeptical of wellness hype and are leaning hard in the opposite direction.

For some, it’s more about the novelty than the buzz. Aileen Gonzalez, 24, an accountant based in Placentia, Calif., recently drove through an hour of traffic with her sister and nephew to reach a woman’s house in West Covina after spotting her bucket coffee business on Instagram.

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