Is The Viral Cracking Latte Really Worth All The Extra Effort?
There's a do-it-yourself coffee trend floating around social media right now called the "cracking latte." This make-at-home latte earned its name because the cup you use for the drink is coated with a layer of chilled and hardened chocolate, which shatters and cracks when you squeeze it. This video from creator @cafewithmel_ is a good example of the trend:
@cafewithmel_ made the viral cracking latte! super easy and fun to make. recipe: add melted chocolate chips to the plastic cup. use more than you think. freeze for 10 minutes. assemble latte with ice, milk, and espresso. #homecafe #homebarista #coffee #coffeetok #athome #coffeerecipes #coffeelovers
The sound of crackling chocolate is fun and all, and certainly makes for some attention-grabbing content (I'm sure fans of ASMR videos are having a field day with it). But just like with many social media food trends, we have some culinary reservations.
That's because while the whole cracking activity is entertaining, there are a lot of problems with making this thing and consuming it that aren't addressed in the videos, likely in favor of racking up views. I think these issues mean this drink is a waste of effort unless you're really bored and have the components on hand. I firmly believe your time and ingredients are valuable, so here are the compelling reasons why, in my opinion, this particular drink is not all it's cracked up to be.
You need a disposable cup to make this drink
One of the key parts of the cracking latte is the drinking vessel itself. That's because you need a see-through cup you can squeeze, which allows you to crack the layer of chocolate within it.
The squeezable cups shown in all the viral videos are disposable clear ones, the kind you get from a cafe when you order an iced drink. While I can't presume to know what's in everyone's cupboards, it's highly unlikely that most people keep this type of disposable cup on hand. You can get one by going to a cafe, ordering a drink, and saving the cup and lid when you're finished, or by asking if you can just get an empty one.
But @cafewithmel_ did something else entirely. In the comments section under their video, they responded to a commenter who asked where they got the cup they used. "I got them at my local u.s chef store! it's like a bulk food store with cups, groceries, syrups, and other stuff!" @cafewithmel_ wrote. If you're not familiar with the restaurant supply stores @cafebymel_is referring to, they're stores where restaurant operators get bulk ingredients, cooking equipment, and things like giant boxes of these very cups with lids. I doubt that most people would need a bulk box of disposable cups and lids for home use, so this trend could contribute to a lot of plastic waste, not to mention the inconvenience of buying all those cups and finding someplace to store them.
The chocolate lining doesn't make any sense
The "cracking" component of the cracking latte is a thick layer of melted chocolate that's wiped onto the inside of the disposable plastic cup. All the videos instruct you to melt chocolate and spread it all over the interior of the cup, to the point where you can't see into it.
Once the chocolate's been smeared inside the cup, you're supposed to put it in the freezer for 10 minutes to harden. Afterwards, you pull the cup out, fill it with ice, and pour your cold milk of choice in along with a shot of espresso. At this point, if you have a lid, I'd recommend you put it on, because things are about to get messy.
This is where the fun part happens, and you get to squeeze the sides of the cup, causing the inner chocolate shell to crack in a gratifying manner. You'll watch the shards of chocolate peel away, but this is where the fun ends. Since the chocolate is solid and the drink is ice cold, it won't melt, and its flavor won't incorporate into the beverage much (if at all). Unless the chocolate has been completely pulverized, you can't suck it up through your straw either. Instead, you'll have to fish it out with a spoon, avoiding pulling ice cubes out with it.
TikTok doesn't always have the best drink recommendations
Some of the beverage recommendations we've previously seen on TikTok haven't been great. There was the time a user mixed balsamic vinegar with LaCroix, claiming it tasted like Coke. It definitely didn't replicate Coke, and a diluted vinegar beverage is known as a shrub, which isn't anything new.
Then there was the time we tried mixing green onions into a latte (again, because TikTok was doing it, it was terrible). We also tried masking the taste of tequila with apple juice because TikTok users swore by it (another failure).
The cracking latte is impressively both impractical to create and impossible to drink. If you're aiming to make internet content, go right ahead. But if you're looking to enjoy a coffee treat, you'd be way better off trying something that doesn't involve going to a restaurant supply store to buy hundreds of cups or making icebergs of chocolate that you can't actually drink. Oh, and if you need an idea — we're partial to the caffe freddo, a refreshing mix of sparkling water and espresso.