Strawberry Cold Foam Is Changing the Way Gen Z Drinks Coffee

Gen Z doesn’t just drink coffee. They build it: iced, sweet, customized, and pretty enough to post. Strawberry cold foam checks every one of those boxes, and coffee fans across the US and Canada love it because it adds a creamy, berry flavor without making the coffee itself taste fruity. The idea of cold foam began in Seattle, where Starbucks first served it at its Reserve Roastery in 2014.

Starbucks took cold foam nationwide in April 2018, and strawberry versions reached US menus with the Strawberry Matcha Strato Frappuccino in July 2025. Dunkin’ followed this summer with a Barbie collab that launched Barbie Pink Strawberry Cold Foam alongside its new Pink Pineapple Refresher. The demand is real: Starbucks says its fruit-flavored cold foam volume has more than doubled this fiscal year, and Strawberry Cream Cold Foam is now one of its top five flavors. Here’s what it is, why younger coffee drinkers keep ordering it, and how to make it in your own kitchen.

What Is Strawberry Cold Foam?

Strawberry cold foam is milk or cream frothed while it’s still cold, with strawberry flavor blended in. It’s thick enough to float on top of a cold drink, so every sip gives you a creamy berry layer first and coffee underneath.

What It’s Made Of

• Base: Milk, cream, or a mix of the two, frothed until it’s thick and velvety
• Strawberry flavor: Strawberry purée, syrup, or sauce added before frothing
• Sweetener: Usually a little vanilla or simple syrup to round out the fruit

How It Tastes

• Flavor: Dunkin’ fans compared its version to strawberry milk and freeze-dried strawberries
• Texture: Silky on top, then it slowly melts into the drink as you sip
• With coffee: The sweet berry flavor softens bitter cold brew instead of covering it up

How People Drink It

• Cold brew and iced coffee: The most common pairing, and the simplest one to make at home
• Iced lattes: Espresso and strawberry give you a flavor close to chocolate-covered strawberries
• Matcha: Strawberry and matcha are a favorite combo at both Starbucks and Dunkin’
• Refreshers: Some people add it to fruit drinks for a creamy, smoothie-like finish

Where Cold Foam Came From

Cold foam started out as a fix for a problem. By 2018, half of Starbucks’ customers were ordering cold drinks, and an iced cappuccino couldn’t have the foam a hot one has.

Starbucks first served cold foam at its Seattle Reserve Roastery in 2014. It then went to other Reserve locations and rolled out nationwide in April 2018. The first version was aerated nonfat milk, served on the Cascara Cold Brew and Blonde Iced Cappuccino and available on any drink for 50 cents.

Starbucks wasn’t the only early source. Taiwanese bubble tea chain Gong Cha had served cold foam in the US since 2014, and Scandinavian coffee shops had topped drinks with cold-frothed milk for years.

Flavors came soon after. Salted cream cold foam arrived in July 2018 and pumpkin cream in fall 2019. Over time, cold foam became the go-to way to customize a drink, and today it accounts for about one-third of Starbucks beverage customizations. Fruit is the latest step: Starbucks says more than 60% of its new drinks since late 2024 have included a fruit flavor.

Strawberry Cold Foam at Starbucks and Dunkin’

The two biggest US coffee chains have each put strawberry cold foam on top of a different lineup of drinks.

Why Gen Z Can’t Get Enough of It

Strawberry cold foam fits how younger people already like their coffee. Nestlé calls this the “fourth wave of coffee,” shaped by the youngest drinkers and built on four Cs: cold, convenient, craft, and customizable.

Cold Coffee Is the Default

• All year: Gen Z keeps ordering iced coffee even in the middle of winter
• By the numbers: In Canada, 45% of Gen Z coffee drinkers prefer cold coffee, compared with 15% of Gen X and 9% of boomers

Sweet and Creamy Wins

• Creamer habit: About 85% of Gen Z coffee drinkers add creamer, compared with 70% of coffee drinkers overall
• Flavor on top: Cold foam adds sweetness and richness without changing the coffee underneath

Customization Is Half the Fun

• Making it yours: Cold foam is now one of the most popular ways to personalize a drink at Starbucks
• Mix and match: One foam works on cold brew, lattes, matcha, and refreshers

It’s Made for the Camera

• The look: A pink layer over dark coffee photographs well, and that matters on TikTok and Instagram
• The buzz: Market research firm Spate reports interest in cold foam rose 114.5% year over year

It Gets Made at Home Too

• DIY: TikTok searches for cold foam bring up “cold foam at home” and “cold foam with frother” right away
• Easy to start: All you need is coffee, cream, something strawberry, and a $10 frother

Strawberry Cold Foam vs. Whipped Cream

Both go on top of a drink, but they work differently. When Starbucks launched its Strato Frappuccinos, it used cold foam instead of the whipped cream Frappuccinos usually come with.

How Strawberry Cold Foam Is Made

Milk, or milk and cream, is frothed cold with strawberry flavor until it’s thick but still pourable. It floats on the drink and slowly blends in as you sip.

How Whipped Cream Is Made

Heavy cream is whipped with sugar until it holds stiff peaks. It sits on top as a dollop and is meant to be eaten with a spoon or straw, not sipped.

How They Differ

The key difference is how they mix with the drink. Cold foam is meant to blend into each sip, while whipped cream stays separate as a topping.

How to Make Strawberry Cold Foam at Home

The homemade version is easy to make, and you control how sweet it is and how good the coffee underneath is. The amounts below top one 16-ounce drink.

What You’ll Need

• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons 2% milk
• 1½ tablespoons strawberry purée or strawberry syrup
• 1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla syrup or simple syrup, to taste
• 8 to 10 ounces cold brew or chilled strong coffee
• Ice
• A handheld milk frother

No frother? Put the foam ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake hard for 45 to 60 seconds. You can also pump them in a French press until they thicken.

Steps

1. Make the coffee base. For cold brew, steep coarsely ground beans in cold water in the fridge for 12 to 18 hours, then strain. For a quicker option, brew coffee at double strength and let it cool.
2. Build the drink. Fill a glass with ice and pour in the coffee, leaving about an inch at the top.
3. Combine the foam ingredients. Add the cream, milk, strawberry purée, and syrup to a tall cup.
4. Froth. Run the frother for 20 to 30 seconds, moving it up and down, until the mixture is thick but still pourable.
5. Pour. Pour the foam slowly over the coffee so it sits on top.
6. Finish. If you like, add crushed freeze-dried strawberries on top.

Variations

• White chocolate strawberry: Add 1 tablespoon white chocolate sauce to the foam for a homemade version of the Starbucks Valentine’s drink.
• Strawberry matcha: Pour the foam over an iced matcha latte instead of coffee.
• Dairy-free: Use barista-style oat milk with a spoonful of coconut cream.

Tips for Getting It Right

• Keep everything cold: Warm cream won’t foam well, so take it straight from the fridge.
• Strain the purée: Seeds and pulp make the foam grainy.
• Don’t over-froth: Stop when it’s thick but still pourable. If you keep going, it turns into whipped cream.
• Pick beans that suit strawberry: Chocolatey, nutty medium roasts make a classic strawberries-and-chocolate pairing. For a more fruit-forward cup, try a bright, berry-noted natural process coffee. Lovers Coffee has both roast styles to try.
• Drink it soon: Cold foam is best in the first 10 to 15 minutes, before it fully melts into the coffee.

Pink on Top, Coffee Underneath

Strawberry cold foam began with a simple idea: iced drinks should get foam too. It has turned into one of the clearest signs of how Gen Z drinks coffee, cold all year, a little sweet, built to their own taste, and nice enough to photograph before the first sip. Starbucks and Dunkin’ put it on the map, but the best version might be the one in your own kitchen, with beans you picked and a foam made exactly how you like it.

If you want more coffee information, recipes, and seasonal coffee trends, make sure to check our blog daily and explore the Lovers.coffee marketplace for everything you need to make your moments even sweeter.