How To Make TikTok's Strawberry Milk Latte The Right Way

Leave it to TikTok to find an adult use for a nostalgic childhood snack. Countless TikTokers have shared their take on the viral strawberry milk latte, deeming it the drink of the summer since as far back as May. How the trend started is unclear, but the first iterations of the drink involved mixing store-bought strawberry milk, strawberry syrup, or strawberry milk powder into milk before adding a shot or two of espresso to create a refreshing fruity ice latte.

However, newer renditions claim that making strawberry milk lattes with fresh strawberries is the right way. Fresh strawberries are summer fruits to begin with, so you might as well use the season's bounty to make your viral summer latte. Strawberries are subtly sweet, juicy, and tangy, so incorporating them into milk or a latte usually entails adding sugar. One recent TikTok video recommends making a strawberry "agua fresca" by blending strawberries with water, then straining the pulp and seeds so you're left with strawberry water. Strawberry water is the foundation for a generous pour of sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk, which adds both caramelized sweetness and intense dairy richness. Plus, using both sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk in the same drink will create ideal thick, creamy consistency.

After stirring the dairy and strawberry together into the most indulgent strawberry milk, all that's left to do is add it to a glass with ice and top it off with an espresso shot.

TikTok foodie Ethan Rode shared the strawberry water and condensed milk approach in a video about the right way to make the viral strawberry milk latte. Not only is the "milky agua de fresa" the right way to make strawberry milk, but Rode also argues that the right way to make a strawberry latte is with matcha instead of espresso. The grassy, herbal notes of matcha paired better with the tangy, fruity sweetness of strawberry milk in his opinion. But, other TikTokers prefer espresso and reveal even more ways to make strawberry milk from fresh strawberries.

A more passive way to make strawberry milk is by infusing regular milk with macerated strawberries. Macerating and infusing are both simple, hands-off processes; macerating strawberries is simply letting them sit in sugar, which draws out their juices, softens them, and enhances their fruitiness. Then, you can just add them to milk and let the juices and sugar impart flavor overnight. This method will result in strawberry milk with tender pieces of strawberry that'll make for a novel textural element in a latte.

You can also make your own strawberry syrup by mashing strawberries and sugar together in a saucepan, simmering the mixture until it reaches a thick reduction. You can then build your latte like the original versions of the trend, just with a fresher homemade twist.