From cracking lattes to Einspanners, there’s no shortage of viral trending coffee drinks. But according to Yelp Trend Tracker, the standout coffee trend this summer has been banana coffee.
In June, Yelp saw a 6,267% increase in searches for banana bread latte compared to June 2024, as well as a 1,573% increase in searches for banana latte, a 600% increase for banana cold foam and a 348% increase in banana coffee.
“Coffee is going bananas, literally,” according to Yelp Trend Tracker. “Banana milk, a longtime Korean pantry staple, is inspiring a wave of banana-flavored drinks showing up on cafe menus.”
The Food Institute reports the rise in banana coffee popularity in the U.S. can be traced to South Korea. While chocolate and strawberry are popular flavors of milk in the U.S., banana is the overwhelming favorite in Korea. It all started in the 1970s, when the federal government asked company Binggrae to create banana-flavored milk in an effort to encourage citizens to drink more milk. Bananas were considered an exotic fruit, and Biggrae’s banana milk became exceedingly popular.
Banana milk became the third best-selling flavored milk product on Amazon in June 2024, in part due to K-pop star Jung Kook drinking it, according to The Food Institute.
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Utilizing Korean banana milk
One eatery that recently began offering espresso with Korean banana milk is Matko in San Francisco, Calif., which specializes in homestyle Korean food.
“I grew up in Korea, (and) I came to the States when I was 20 years old,” said Ina Lee, owner of Matko. “So this banana milk, everybody drinks it growing up. … It’s part of life in Korea.”
In April, she launched a drinks line at Matko called Dream In Banana in an effort to introduce Korean Binggrae banana milk to those who may not have tried or heard of it. Lee’s banana coffee drink features a whole pack of Binggrae banana milk, espresso, milk foam, crumbled Korean banana cake on top, a dusting of cocoa powder and an optional Korean banana popsicle.
“When you make coffee, you normally add milk anyway … and so the banana milk already has that creaminess that can balance really well with coffee,” she said.
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Crafting housemade syrups with fresh bananas
In addition to combining coffee with pre-made banana milk, a variety of cafes are utilizing fresh bananas to create craft coffee drinks, including Laidrey Coffee Roasters in Los Angeles, Calif. Named after owner Gacia Techejian’s three kids, Laidrey has offered a banana brown sugar shaken espresso since the beginning of summer.
“Our coffee from Papua New Guinea is really chocolatey and smooth … and we wanted to make a drink that was complementary to that chocolatey, smooth flavor, but gave you a hint of summer and didn’t really overpower the coffee itself,” Techejian said.
The banana brown sugar shaken espresso features a housemade banana syrup and is topped with housemade Vanilla Cloud, made from vanilla beans, heavy cream and mascarpone. Beans are roasted in-house at Laidrey and are organic and sourced from coffee farms that provide women leadership and equity opportunities.
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Topping lattes with banana cream
Also in Southern California, a Vietnamese coffee chain has been crafting banana lattes featuring a sunshiny yellow banana cream top since January. Born in Westminster during the pandemic, Da Vien Coffee has since expanded to six cafes.
“Ever since we launched the product, it has been one of our top sellers,” said Sue Bui, the opportunity development lead for Da Vien Coffee.
Da Vien hopes to expand across the nation and “become the next Vietnamese Starbucks,” Bui said.
Elsewhere, boba tea franchise It’s Boba Time introduced a line of cream-topped lattes in June, including a banana version made with fresh bananas. While not all 94 locations offer this specialty beverage, “it’s been a corporate initiative for them to get it through every single store,” said Danielle Perea, a PR representative for the company.
It’s Boba Time, founded in Koreatown, Los Angeles, in 2003, is often inspired by Asian and Korean trends, Perea said. For example, the company has offered sweet corn lattes and Dubai chocolate frappes.
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The next coffee trend
Justin Guerrero, a franchise owner of It’s Boba Time, thinks the Dubai chocolate craze hasn’t died out yet and might be the next big craze.
Bui from Da Vien thinks savory or herb-infused coffee, such as rosemary cold brew, will grow in popularity.
As for Techejian from Laidrey, she thinks the prevalence of cream tops will slow down and simplified drinks will become more popular.
“I think going back to single-origin coffees and drinking them plain without many ingredients added to it is going to be something that becomes more of a trend,” she said.
And while Lee from Matko doesn’t have a specific answer to the future of coffee, she encourages people to think outside the box.
“Why not kimchi? Adding a probiotic to a shot of espresso,” she said. “The thing is, nowadays, you can pop a shot of espresso anywhere.”
