Trying (And Ranking) This Summer's Drink Trends
Dirty Sodas, Spicy Chardonnay, and more. Which is the best drink of summer 2025?
Summer is a time for cold drinks and warm days. While a frosty mug of draft beer, a chilled glass of bubbly, or an icy gin and tonic will never go out of style, this summer has been the year of experimentation for beverages.
This isn’t about a trend at cocktail lounges in major cities — these are all drinks for home consumption, made with ingredients found at your neighborhood stores. And they’re all trending on social media. Here, from worst to best, are the five most viral drinks of summer 2025.
Jalapenos in your Wine
Hard to believe the Spicy Sauvy B trend is little more than a month old. It seems like years ago we started putting frozen sliced jalapenos in our white wine. Broken Palate covered the trend back in June. The Spixy Sauvy B continues its summer popularity for its ease of assembly (nothing easier than tossing some jalapeno slices in a glass of wine) and drinkability. It’s also a conversation starter and looks great in a glass. The only problem is that you likely don’t want to keep pounding them around the pool.
Score 6/10. Beautiful presentation, great conversation starter.
Diet Coke and Champagne
When Tom Hanks visited Stephen Colbert, he shared a new invention: a blend of Diet Coke and champagne that he named “Diet Cokagne”. Hanks explained that while celebrating at Cafe Carlyle, a bottle of champagne was gifted to him. Explaining that his drink of choice is a Diet Coke (he’s a type-2 diabetic), he asked for a shot of champagne in his soda. The result was surprisingly delightful, according to both Hanks and Colbert, who tried the beverage. By the way — this occurred two years ago, but social media has just gotten around to making the “Diet Cokagne” trendy. Since I always have some Diet Coke in the fridge, and I happened to have a split of champagne, I tried it. According to Hanks, you fill your glass with one-third of Diet Coke, then top the rest with champagne. The drink tastes strangely like a Dirty Shirley with a lot of tutti frutti notes.
Score: 8/10. Festive in a flute.
Pickle Spritz and Pickle Beer
As a long-distance runner, I learned early on that pickle juice is the ultimate recovery drink. The briny liquid contains sodium, potassium, and magnesium, which are electrolytes that can be lost during sweating and help reduce muscle spasms that can occur when you’re dehydrated. But how does pickle juice do in a cold beverage? In a nutshell, if you love pickles, you’ll love pickle spritz and beer. Spritz Society’s pickle spritz is a good starter for what lies ahead, with its more subtle notes of cucumber and dill. If you want more of a pickle suckerpunch (literally), then get your hands on Destihl Brewing’s Dill Pickle Sour Beer. The brewery starts with a gose beer, adding Suckerpunch dill pickle brine to it. Pouring it into a pint glass, I was hit with a garlicky nose that made me a bit hesitant to continue. But it was love at first sip — so much so that I cursed at the can of beer for having me fall under its spell. It’s sour and refreshing and not at all garlicky. It’s almost tastes like a pickle-flavored Jolly Rancher candy.
Score 9/10 if you love pickles (2/10 if you don’t).
Spiked Dirty Soda
Dirty soda is trending, thanks to TikTok mommies and girlies who like to blend soda with flavored syrup and coconut milk or creamer. Dirty soda is so popular, chains like Swig have popped up, serving sweet concoctions and Coffee Mate has come out with a line of creamers meant to pair with soda instead of coffee.
In keeping with the dirty soda trend, I received a recipe for an easy Spiked Dirty Soda, using Coke and Rum Chata (a premade horchata spiked with rum). This incredibly easy recipe (fill a glass with ice with a haf can of coke then top with Rumchata), was by far the most delightful drink of the summer. It’s creamy and fizzy and tastes like an ice cream float without the ice cream. In fact, I’d make this recipe with root beer for even more creaminess.
Score: 10/10. Giggle inducing, effervescent, and creamy. The beverage of summer 2025.