If you’re looking for a new way to get your coffee fix this summer, you might be enticed by a concoction that’s trending on social media: "cloud coffee," an iced drink topped with coconut water.
Fans of cloud coffee swear it’s better for you than an ordinary cup of joe. One TikTok creator racked up almost half a million views raving about this “hydrating elixir of electrolytes.”
While recipes vary, this person started by pouring a shot of espresso over ice, then added coconut water and a splash of nut milk. Others on TikTok add coconut cream or coconut flakes to change things up or use a frother to make the drink extra cloudy.
Whether or not cloud coffee is healthy depends on the ingredients, says Samantha Heller, RD, a registered dietitian in New York City. While coconut water does have benefits, some versions of the drink, she says, contain a good dose of saturated fat, sugar, and calories.
Why Cloud Coffee May Have Health Benefits
It’s not crazy to think cloud coffee might be more hydrating than your ordinary daily brew. That’s because coconut water is rich in potassium, an electrolyte that can help maintain the right balance of fluids in the body.
Indeed, some research suggests that coconut water may work as well as sports drinks at replacing fluids lost during a workout. A study of experienced cyclists, for example, found that coconut water replenished fluids just as well as commercially available sports drinks.
Another study had athletes run on treadmills and found hydration levels and exercise performance were similar in participants who drank coconut water and those who drank sports drinks.
Some research also suggests coconut water might be good for blood pressure. One study found that people in the early stages of hypertension experienced significant reductions in blood pressure after drinking 150 milliliters (about 5 ounces) of coconut water per day for just one week.
Potential Risks of Cloud Coffee
Depending on the recipe, cloud coffee can pack in a lot of calories, saturated fat, and sugar. “For some people, it may also be easy to overdo it with the caffeine, since it is flavorful and one might consume more caffeine than normal,” Heller says.
The biggest risk with cloud coffee is that people who drink too much of it may experience heart issues linked to excessively high potassium levels. This is particularly true for individuals with kidney disease or heart problems, who need to watch their potassium intake.
In one case study, a healthy 42-year-old man drank eight 11-ounce bottles of coconut water while playing tennis on an extremely hot day. He developed dangerously low blood pressure and heart rhythm abnormalities, and was hospitalized for several days.
The Bottom Line on Cloud Coffee
For most people, there probably isn’t much upside or downside to trying cloud coffee, says Connie Diekman, RD, a food and nutrition consultant and past president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
“Cloud coffee isn't going to add much to or hurt an otherwise healthful eating plan,” Diekman says. “I would encourage people to look for coconut water with the least amount of added sugar and try a lower-fat or fat-free milk.”
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
O’Brien BJ et al. Coconut Water: A Sports Drink Alternative? Sports. September 14, 2023.
Kalman DS et al. Comparison of Coconut Water and a Carbohydrate-Electrolyte Sport Drink on Measures of Hydration and Physical Performance in Exercise-Trained Men. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. January 18, 2012.
Emily Kay Votruba has copyedited and fact-checked for national magazines, websites, and books since 1997, including Self, GQ, Gourmet, Golf Magazine,Outside, Cornell University Press, Penguin Random House, and Harper's Magazine. Her projects have included cookbooks (Padma Lakshmi's Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet), self-help and advice titles (Mika Brzezinski's Know Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You're Worth), memoirs (Larry King's My Remarkable Journey), and science (Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Learn, by Cathy Davidson). She started freelancing for Everyday Health in 2016.
Lisa Rapaport is a journalist with more than 20 years of experience on the health beat as a writer and editor. She holds a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and spent a year as a Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan. Her work has appeared in dozens of local and national media outlets, including Reuters, Bloomberg, WNYC, The Washington Post,Los Angeles Times, Scientific American, San Jose Mercury News, Oakland Tribune, Huffington Post, Yahoo! News, The Sacramento Bee, and The Buffalo News.
