Coffee in a Waffle Cone Is the Next Instagram Food Thing

The race to find the most interesting, compelling, or downright weirdest coffee Instagram photos is more competitive than ever. But one coffee shop in South Africa just changed the game completely with their coffee in a cone concoctions. Yep, you read that right. Coffee in an ice cream cone. The creation comes from The Grind Coffee Company in Johannesburg, a tiny shop that is getting huge buzz across the world (and especially on social media, obviously) for its chocolate dipped ice cream coffee cones. So just when you thought you were the coolest kid on the block for getting banana milk coffee on your Insta feed, you've got a new task ahead of you.

The coffee in a cone concept is the brainchild of Dayne Levinrad, The Grind Coffee Company's barista, who spent years working abroad as a coffee consultant and digital marketing executive. When he came back to South Africa, Levingrad had the genius idea to blend the internet's love for coffee and social media together with an off-the-wall idea that was guaranteed to generate interest in his shop. And boy has it: The #coffeeinacone hashtag took off like a rocket, with almost 1,500 posts in the last six weeks alone on Instagram.

But just because the coffee in a cone concept is marketing gold doesn't mean there wasn't a hefty bit of science and engineering required to make it work. Levinrad worked for months to perfect the coffee cone, since regular cones wouldn't withstand hot liquids without disintegrating in minutes. This meant that the shop would have to buy its own waffle cone machine so it could craft more durable prototypes. But Levinrad has now perfected the coffee in a cone creation, lining the inside with chocolate to protect the heavy-duty waffle cone from being exposed to the coffee for too long. This leaves imbibers with a ten-minute window to snap the perfect image of their coffee cone goodness before it begins to melt. At some point in that timeline, they'll have to find time to drink it, too.

So if you're in Jo'burg, want to gain Instagram credibility, and can snap at least one or two good photos in ten minutes, coffee in a cone might just be for you. They say they'll soon be distributing to coffee shops in France as well, so get your hands steady and your filters ready.