30 Most Instagrammable Drinks in the World

They don't just look great.

30 Most Instagrammable Drinks Around the World

Instagram is the perfect place for the perfect drink. And no single drink has cornered the market on what makes the perfect drink picture to share with your followers.

There are old staples of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks that we know and love. Some come with modern twists. Others are recognizable right away. There's also a good mix of new drinks that will blow people away.

These are the most Instagram-worthy drinks around the world today.

Bubble Tea

Place of origin: Taiwan

Bottom line: There is no other way to put it — bubble tea is blowing up worldwide. The bubble tea industry is expected to grow from $2 billion globally to $4.3 billion in the next six years, and it's easy to see why.

The drink, invented in Taiwan in the 1980s, mixes either tapioca or fruit jelly bubbles in organic soy milk, green tea or fruit juice mixes and is infinitely customizable.

There are hundreds of flavors of bubble tea to enjoy. How many have you tried?

Kombucha

Place of origin: China, Russia or Eastern Europe

Bottom line: While there's some debate over where kombucha originated from, there's no debate about the global popularity of the fermented black or green tea. Heck, most people know at least one person that makes their own.

There's also quite a debate about the health benefits (or adverse effects) of kombucha, but we can now get it in almost any kind of flavor we want, and there's more than enough brands of kombucha to specify what kind of 'bucha experience you want to have.

'Clean' Wine and Champagne

Place of origin: Hollywood, California

Bottom line: The big question here is how in the world do you make wine and champagne devoid of any sugars? And why would you do that?

The answer is that we don't really care because there's not really a more Instagram-worthy drink right now than showing you're hip to the latest trend of "clean" wines and champagnes. This trend is being brought to us by a bevy of Hollywood stars led by Cameron Diaz, John Legend and Brad Pitt — with a big focus on the pink rose versions of the drinks.

Instagram influencers are drawn to celebrity more than quality, so who really cares how it tastes? Right?

Water Kefir

Place of origin: Mexico or Tibet

Bottom line: Water kefir is similar to kombucha in that both drinks are fermented. Water kefir actually comes from water kefir grains mixing with fruit and being fed by the sugars in the fruit, creating a refreshing drink that is strikingly low in sugar.

What's great about water kefir is that if you're making it, you're pretty much on the cutting edge of trendy drinks. The biggest thing you'll need to do is get your hands on some water kefir grains from a cactus.

Those kefir grains will run you about $20 online.

Tepache

Place of origin: Mexico

Bottom line: If you've ever been to Mexico, you've probably seen someone selling tepache on the street. It's made out of pineapple rinds and peels, sweetened with brown sugar, seasoned with cinnamon and served ice cold. Preferably with a light beer mixed in.

It's starting to catch on at juice bars in the United States, but let's hope they're not selling it how they usually do in Mexico, where it's usually served up in Ziploc bags.

The hipster crowd probably isn't going to like that. Anybody got a mason jar?

Boxed Wine

Place of origin: Australia

Bottom line: If you grew up in the 1980s, there's a good chance you got the impression that boxed wine was a cheap way to drink wine — probably an E&J Gallo specialty that your mom kept in the fridge for when friends came over.

Over the last three decades, the view of boxed wine as "less than" has largely faded away because of quality and the appreciation for the sheer quantity you get in the box compared to the bottle.

It's also way easier to keep and preserves the wine better. Don't buy into the idea that premium wine is so much better than boxed wine. Sales have gone through the roof for boxed wine in the last year as well. So get it on your Instagram before all your friends do.

Horchata

Place of origin: Nigeria and Mali

Bottom line: Admit it. You probably thought Horchata originated in Mexico. It did not, my friends, but it was definitely perfected there and in the United States over the last 30 years.

The tasty, rice-milk drink originated as something called kunnu aya in West Africa in the 11th century (and maybe as far back as 2400 B.C.), made its way to Spain, then leaped across the Atlantic to Mexico, and finally to the U.S. sometime later.

Now, it's a staple of taco shops across the country and is just a perfectly satisfying drink experience. Get your horchata on your Instagram account the next time you grab tacos.

Matcha Green Tea Shake

Place of origin: China

Bottom line: This isn't the last time you'll see Matcha Green Tea in some form on this list. Only this particular version of the pick-me-up is unique in that it comes in the form of a shake.

In order to track down this caffeine-packed version of green tea, you're probably going to have to hit a specialty grocery store in your town — or an ultra-hipster drink spot — but it's perfect for the summertime when it's just too darn hot for actual hot tea.

Canned Cocktails

Place of origin: Connecticut

Bottom line: We started seeing canned cocktails enter the market in 2013, and they didn't really pick up steam until the last few years, when large hotel chains have begun to serve up versions of the "hard seltzer" to overheated summer guests by the pool.

What's changed in the canned cocktail game in the last few years is the inclusion of ready-made cocktails in cans (not just White Claws or Trulys), like the High Noon line of drinks that have low calories and low alcohol content.

The formula is being perfected, and it's taking over the marketplace. And Instagram accounts.

Vietnamese Egg Soda

Place of origin: Vietnam

Bottom line: Don't be scared away by the contents of Soda Sua Hot Ga — Vietnamese egg soda — because it's actually delicious. And, yes, it does come with a raw egg.

Some crazy drink geniuses in Vietnam perfected the balance of sweet condensed milk, raw egg and club soda to come up with this beautiful, tasty drink that you need to make sure you stir up quite a bit.

Or make sure your hipster bartender whips it up nice and good because the club soda will curdle the egg slightly.

Cafe de Olla

Place of origin: Mexico

Bottom line: There are going to be some cold days, so you might as well mix in some cafe de olla to warm them up in the most delicious way possible.

The key to cafe de olla (which means "pot coffee" or "coffee from a pot"), almost even more so than the ingredients, is making sure you have a clay pot available to brew it in. It's also a great way to wake up if you're ever in Mexico and want something different than the normal brew.

Cafe de olla is marked by having cinnamon, cane sugar, orange peel, anise and cloves mixed up in the brew.

French Press Coffee

Place of origin: France

Bottom line: Any refutable coffee shop, anywhere in the world, should offer you some version of the French press. And when you're going for the great Instagram shot, you've got to actually get the plunger in there so your friends know what's up.

Why does French press coffee always taste so much better?

It depends if you like that bitter kick with your coffee like Europeans do, created because the brewed coffee stays mixed up with the grounds.

Root Beer Float

Place of origin: Pennsylvania

Bottom line: This is just straight-up Americana served best in a frosted mug. Ask anyone west of the Rockies, and they'll tell you A&W perfected the recipe long ago.

There's no agreed-upon origin story for the moment that someone decided to combine soda with ice cream, but Philadelphia food vendor Robert McCay Green is the one with "inventor of the ice cream soda" on his tombstone.

Green said he invented the drink in 1874 — either out of necessity because he ran out of ice and had to use ice cream, or later, a revamped story said he plotted and planned the release to entice customers with a new drink. We like the first story better.

Egg Cream

Place of origin: Eastern Europe

Bottom line: The weirdest thing about an egg cream, by far, is that it doesn't actually contain any egg.

So how did the delicious, Instagram-friendly drink that contains just milk, carbonated water and flavored syrup (usually chocolate or vanilla) end up with "egg" in its name?

The story goes that the Yiddish creators of the drink in Eastern Europe actually called it "echt" cream to begin with — Yiddish for "good" — meaning "good cream," and it was bastardized to become "egg" over the years.

Con Panna

Place of origin: Italy

Bottom line: This is the perfect, refined order at any coffee shop around the world. And perfect for Instagram because it usually comes in one of those perfect, little cups and is so highly presentable.

It's simple — one or two shots of espresso topped with whipped cream. Maybe a sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon if you're bold.

Pro tip: It's not on the menu at Starbucks, but they'll always make you one, and they won't even charge you for the whipped cream.

Flavored Apple Cider Vinegar

Place of origin: Unknown

Bottom line: Gone are the days of choking back apple cider vinegar — fermented apple juice — in order to drop some pounds.

Now, we have all kinds of varieties of the drink that are similar to kombucha in that its health benefits are greatly disputed.

These days, you can drop pics on your Instagram account of all kinds of flavored apple cider vinegar products — ginger spice, acai berry, limeade, just to name a few.

Espresso + Topo Chico

Place of origin: Texas

Bottom line: If you've ever been to a coffee shop in Texas outside of a Starbucks, hopefully you've been given the espresso + Topo Chico experience.

There are a lot of different ways to pair espresso with other things, and some places have tried chocolate or those little annoying coffee bean/chocolate bites … or even graham crackers. But for our money, the double-sized shot glass of Mexican mineral water alongside our espresso is the way to go.

And the presentation of the drinks, usually on a cutting board, makes it a prime Instagram target for your friends' viewing pleasure.

Frozen Lemonade

Place of origin: 'Merica (we think)

Bottom line: Do we credit frozen lemonade to the United States, or do we draw back and credit it to Italy and say it's just an offshoot of Italian ice?

In this case, we're going with the U.S. because we're talking specifically about yellow and pink lemonade in the frozen form, which has woven its way into fast-food restaurants, chain restaurants and boutique drink shops alike all over the country.

And just like the espresso + Topo Chico combo, this one seems to have been perfected in Texas.

Hot Toddy

Place of origin: Ireland

Bottom line: The greatness of the hot toddy comes in its simplicity — alcohol, hot water, honey and light spices.

What makes the hot toddy such an Instagram staple is that it's essentially available everywhere. No bar worth its salt can't say it doesn't have one ready to go. Which means there are so many different ways you can get it served.

Want to take your hot toddy pic to the next level? If you're getting it served anywhere that looks remotely like a hipster spot, ask if they'll toss a cinnamon stick or an orange zest in there.

Juice Boxes

Place of origin: Sweden

Bottom line: This drink is good for the young and old. Capture the sweetness of youth by setting your kids up with a boutique juice box for a great Instagram pic or get ironic and snap a pic of yourself with a Capri Sun.

The thing about the juice box, which was created by Swedish inventor Ruben Rausing in 1963, is that it will never, ever go out of style. Juice boxes are always going to be refreshing and cool.

And if you're traveling abroad in any other English-speaking country, here's a pro tip: They call them "poppers." The more you know, right?

Hot Chocolate Bomb

Place of origin: New Jersey

Bottom line: If you've been on TikTok in the last year — especially this last Christmas — you know about the perfection that is a hot chocolate bomb, which is simply a thin shell of milk chocolate filled up with marshmallows.

Created by Lori Waiser, owner of Lor's Little Bakeshop in Morristown, New Jersey, the chocolate bombs didn't come into existence until November 2020. Which makes their rise all the more extraordinary.

Pics are great for the 'Gram, but this one deserves a video of the moment you drop it into hot water or milk.

Sunwink Tonics

Place of origin: San Francisco

Bottom line: The problem with kombuchas and even with the flavored apple cider vinegars — for some people — is that they can taste kind of funky.

Sunwink tonics seem to have solved that problem and get you the same results with their herbal tonic beverages that are tasty and also come in Instagram-friendly packaging.

The female-founded and led company has half the sugar of most kombucha drinks and all-natural flavoring. It's also great for digestion and for a detox, so you're getting the same results with a way better drinking experience.

Mimosas (All the Mimosas!)

Place of origin: France

Bottom line: There can be no better friend to the weekend brunch than the mimosa — a timelessly perfect Instagram picture that we can all relate to that involves whatever mix of champagne (or Prosecco) and orange juice fits you best.

The great thing about mimosas is that we've come to realize over the last decade that it's not just a straight-up 1-to-1 orange juice to champagne mixture we have to go with. There are just so many varieties. The Buck's fizz is just champagne with a splash of OJ for coloring. The poinsettia substitutes cranberry juice for OJ, the lemosa goes with lemonade, the soleil is pineapple juice and the megmosa is grapefruit juice.

Make sure you get those hashtags right.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee

Place of origin: Vietnam

Bottom line: Did you know Vietnam was the second-largest producer of coffee in the entire world? Yeah, neither did we. But knowing that, it's no surprise they produced this wonderful, delicious coffee drink.

Created more out of necessity than anything — sweetened, condensed milk was added to the mix because of a lack of access to actual milk. The Vietnamese perfected the blend of the slow drip of dark roast coffee, then poured it over ice.

This is one you can do at home with a French press and the right kind of coffee. Drop that pic on Instagram, and you'll have people knocking on your door in no time for a taste.

Matcha Green Tea (Hot)

Place of origin: China

Bottom line: Sometimes it's good just to keep things simple, and that's what hot matcha green tea is all about. It's also an ancient drink that will get your day started in a big way.

If you're going to go with the legit matcha green tea for your Instagram, make sure your followers understand you've got the good stuff — the premium grade matcha green tea goes for between $50-$75 per box.

Because what's the point of posting pics on Instagram if you can't make sure everybody knows how much money you spent?

S'Mores Milkshake

Place of origin: United States and Canada

Bottom line: There is something so decadent and perfect about a s'mores milkshake that it almost defies explanation. It's almost like the monolith in the film "2001" that we never fully come to understand but just appreciate as the key plot point to the movie — we can never truly wrap our heads around what its nature is.

We can only offer some form of direction if you're ever lucky enough to gather all the ingredients for one in the same place or find a restaurant that serves this concoction. That is, a true, Instagram-worthy s'mores milkshake has marshmallows that have been lightly torched.

That's the key.

Moscow Mule ... and Friends

Place of origin: New York

Bottom line: The Moscow mule has kept its popularity at a high level for the last two decades — a simple mix of vodka, ginger beer and lime juice served with a lime wedge in a copper mug.

It's also been a staple of social media posts since the days of MySpace and into this new, wonderful age of TikTok and Instagram, of course. But we're here to tell you it's not just about the original Moscow mule but its many offshoots.

Try these on for size: Mexican mule (tequila), Jamaican mule (rum), French mule (cognac and bitters) and the Moscow mole, which substitutes Mountain Dew for Ginger Beer.

Fruit Smoothie

Place of origin: Mediterranean

Bottom line: We've included this oldie but goodie to the list because smoothies will never not be great to toss up on your Instagram account. And we constantly find ways to reinvent the fruit smoothie.

There is no limit to how fruit smoothies can be tweaked and twisted to fit your specific tastes, but the thing that really intrigues us moving forward is smoothies with chia seeds mixed in there.

The chia seeds are super health-conscious and one of the best ways to help digestion. And they look cool sitting in your glass. For the Instagram account, like we said.

Irish Coffee

Place of origin: Austria

Bottom line: Irish coffee didn't get its name from its country of origin but from the inclusion of Irish whiskey in its recipe, first brought to the forefront in coffee houses in Vienna, Austria, in the early 1900s.

Much like the hot toddy, any bar that's worth its salt will have an Irish coffee on its menu, and you'd be surprised by all the places where you can find it.

It's a simple recipe that makes for the perfect Instagram-friendly drink — coffee mixed with whiskey and topped with whip cream and maybe a little bit of sugar.

Harry Potter Butterbeer

Place of origin: Hogsmeade, Wizarding World

Bottom line: The "Harry Potter" books are littered with references to butterbeer — described as a "little bit like less-sickly butterscotch" in the books and served at The Three Broomsticks Inn. Its popularity has soared since the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks in 2014.

It's a pretty simple mixture of cream soda with a little bit of caramel extract added to it in order to create a frothy mix, but if you really want the authentic experience, you're going to have to shell out some serious cash to get to Universal Studios.