Has TikTok Triggered the Fourth Wave Coffee Movement?

Yes, honestly, we think it has. Fourth wave coffee is the industry’s shift towards “commercializing specialty” – making genuinely good, ethically sourced coffee mainstream instead of a niche hobby for people with a $3,000 setup. But the reason it’s happening now comes down to one unexpected driver: social media.

TikTok (and Instagram, and anywhere else drinks look good on camera) turned coffee into content. This pushed cafes to design drinks for the photo first and the flavor second (and is now being replaced by the more visually striking matcha). Our busy lifestyles mean ready-made drinks and iced coffee are more appealing than ever. And information about coffee growers and bad ethics is put in front of everyday drinkers. The actual impact of this depends entirely on what’s in the cup.

Any time the coffee industry goes through a big shift in how it’s grown, sold, and drunk, it’s called a “wave”. We’re standing in the middle of the 4th wave and seeing big changes in the types of drinks people are consuming (iced and ready-to-drink coffee), and people taking sustainability and fair treatment of growers seriously. In our view, the thread connecting these is TikTok. Here’s why:

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If there’s one thing coffee nerds love, it’s a good debate (ourselves included). So there are a lot of arguments about whether “fourth wave coffee” is even a real thing or if it’s just another marketing fad. We land on yes, it’s real, but it’s less a single idea and more like 3 trends happening at once.

The International Trade Centre’s Alliances for Action put it well when they called it “commercialising specialty”. In their 2021 report titled ‘The Coffee Guide’, they said:

[Fourth wave coffee] means moving away from the ‘passion project’ characteristic of the third wave and towards a more commercial focus that can yield long-term profit.

International Trade Centre

In other words, it’s about taking the quality and ethics of third wave coffee and actually making it accessible at scale, rather than gatekeeping for the wealthy coffee nerds.

This includes expanding the sales of specialty coffee to much of the global south. For too long, trade has been almost exclusively from “south to north”. We spend a large part of the year traveling and are very excited by how much more high-quality specialty coffee stays in the countries it’s grown as local demand soars.

My favorite part of the movement, however, is breaking down the pretentiousness of specialty coffee and making it more mainstream.

For as long as humans have been drinking coffee, it’s been social. What’s changed is that social also means visual, shareable, and built for an audience.

Call me an old grump, but a drink that tastes great but photographs badly doesn’t stand a chance on TikTok. But a drink that looks incredible, even if it tastes awful? That’s a viral sensation waiting to happen.

Consumerism and the ever-growing demands on our time mean that pre-made drinks and wild coffee creations are more readily available. They’re quick to make and look great on camera. That’s ticking a whole lot of boxes.

That pushes coffee shops to become “photo spots” first and coffee shops second, which pushes the trend further still.

On top of that, there’s simply more access to information about where coffee comes from and how growers are treated. As far as I’m concerned, the growing interest in the ethics of coffee can only be a good thing alongside all the whipped, layered, multi-colored coffee recipes.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good coffee trend as much as the next person and regularly take inspiration from CoffeeTok. Some are straight up delicious. But a lot of coffee recipes lean entirely on sweetness, syrups, and the flavor of the month, with the actual coffee element taking a back seat. Like instant coffee foam. Nobody actually wants to drink that, no matter how pretty it might look. If you could swap out an espresso shot for cold black tea and not notice the difference, it’s not a good coffee recipe in my book.

So yes, TikTok is absolutely driving this wave. But it’s not always driving it towards better coffee – just more visible coffee.

Cold drinks have taken over

Cold coffee drinks are hot business these days, with Gen Z leading the charge.

Iced coffee now makes up around 60% of Starbucks’ international beverage sales (source). So this is a global trend, not just tied to one region. And, according to the National Coffee Association data, cold brew consumption has climbed 162% since 2016 (source). This isn’t a niche preference anymore; it’s the default for a huge chunk of coffee drinkers.

It’s not just at coffee shops and global coffee chains, either. Ready-to-drink coffee products such as canned lattes and espresso are increasingly popular too. And we’re seeing an increasing number of super-automatic espresso machines that have iced drinks or “cold brew” available at the push of a button.

CoffeeTok is the classroom

Mintel’s research puts the figure at around 49% of Gen Z coffee drinkers learning about coffee on TikTok (source) – recipes, gear, and brewing habits. Just do a quick search for #CoffeeTok, and you’ll see the overwhelming amount of content in this field.

And it’s not slowing down: “proffee” (protein coffee) generated over 20 million related posts on TikTok in early 2025 (source), combining the latest wellness obsession with protein.

Trends change quickly, and TikTok is always on hand to capture (catapult?) it.

Honestly, I kinda love the bottom-up approach to trends where individual influencers and content creators shape the future of coffee rather than the big corporations.

That said, the reward for vivid, photogenic drinks that are easy to riff on means that iced lattes are slowing down and iced matcha is taking over.

Responsible coffee drinking

The vast amount of information available at our fingertips means there’s greater awareness of our impact on the environment and coffee-growing communities. This focus on quality and sustainability started in third-wave coffee and, thankfully, is becoming more widespread.

Coffee growers are being increasingly adversely affected by climate change. It has the potential to decimate the global coffee supply if the social and environmental impact of our coffee choices aren’t taken into consideration.

So transparency within the supply chain will only become more and more important in the coming years.

Home coffee brewing driven by budgets

Not just hobbyism.

Around 35% of consumers say they’re making more coffee at home specifically because of rising prices, per Mintel’s US Coffee and RTD Coffee report (source). There’s less “I saw a barista’s setup and wanted one” and more “coffee shops got too expensive.”

The market for home espresso machines is ever-growing, ever-developing, and, thankfully, becoming ever more affordable. (Like these great espresso machines, all under $1000).

First Wave (1700s to 1970s)

During this period of coffee’s history, coffee spread as a global commodity and became a household staple. It started with coffee houses springing up all over Europe and big commercial brands emerging like Folger’s, Maxwell House, and Nescafe.

Quality wasn’t a focus. It was all about mass-produced, mass-market products that were affordable. So filter and instant coffee were the most popular forms – espresso as we know it today wasn’t even invented until the 1940s.

Second Wave (1970s to 2000s)

Quality started to matter. Consumers were willing to pay more for ethically sourced coffee, especially for better flavor.

Starbucks and Peet’s turned coffee into an experience by automating the coffee house model and making it mainstream, not just for intellectuals. They did 2 things:

1. Developed unique drinks using syrups and flavored creams in addition to espresso
2. Created a comfortable environment to drink your coffee in

It was also during this time that the phrase ‘specialty coffee’ first appeared and the Specialty Coffee Association of America was founded.

Third Wave (2000s to now)

The focus shifted to the fine details: origin, roast, unique flavor profiles. Basically, the craft of making coffee (from the farmer to the barista).

Coffee roasters started marketing key information about their coffee varietals with greater transparency and traceability.

The brewing methods changed too: AeroPress and pour over (like V60 and Chemex) became hugely popular as these styles of coffee makers can highlight the distinct flavors in various coffees.

So, has TikTok triggered the fourth wave? We think yes, more than any other single factor. Not because a coffee app appeared out of nowhere, but because social media changed what a “good” coffee drink needs to do: it needs to perform, not just taste good. That’s dragged the whole industry towards drinks that photograph well and stories that sell (grower ethics included), for better and for worse.

But please don’t let the algorithm pick your coffee for you. Try the viral drinks if they look fun; we certainly do. But don’t mistake “trending” for “worth drinking.” Some of the best coffee we’ve had this year has never been anywhere near a For You page.