A Guide To All The Colorful Lattes Taking Over Your Instagram

From golden turmeric to blue matcha.

We're basically living in a golden age of pretty, vibrant lattes and other hot drinks.

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These days, you can have your tea in an actual rainbow of colors and flavors, so here's a quick lil' guide to what all of them are:

1. Green matcha lattes

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Matcha, aka the purest form of green tea, is a powdered type of green tea that's whisked into hot water to create a bright green, rich cup of tea. Mixed with milk for a latte, it looks beautiful on Instagram. Unlike most other colorful lattes, matcha is caffeinated, which means it can give you a little boost while also brightening up your day. Its relatively high caffeine levels have an effect on many people called "alert calm," aka a state of peaceful awakeness. It's also delicious and goes really well with a book and a croissant, in my personal experience.

2. Blue matcha lattes

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If any of these will become the breakout Insta star of 2018, it's probably the blue version. First of all, look at it. This photo cleansed my soul and detoxed my relationships. Second of all, blue matcha is still incredibly tasty — it doesn't taste like its green cousin, and instead has a mild, floral flavor. Plus, it's caffeine-free and highly photogenic.

3. Turmeric lattes

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Turmeric and all of its benefits have been recognized for hundreds of years. Whether or not it's the miracle spice people claim it to be, it makes for gorgeous golden-colored hot drinks. On its own, turmeric can be bitter and pungent, but when mixed with warm, frothy milk for a latte, the flavor is pleasantly earthy and aromatic. Here's a recipe and some nice powder to use if you want to try making your own.

4. Charcoal lattes

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Activated charcoal's been popping up as an active ingredient everywhere recently, thanks to claims of its detoxifying effects — many claim it can cure hangovers, aid digestion, and even boost metabolism. The reality is, most of those health claims aren't backed by science. But! It's pretty harmless in small amounts, and it makes for unbelievably eye-catching lattes.

5. Purple lattes

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Purple lattes are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and usually get their captivating color from one of two ingredients: purple sweet potato (aka ube) or taro (a starchy root vegetable). Pastel-colored ube is a particularly good base for a latte, because as you'd expect from sweet potato, it adds a nice natural sweetness to drinks.

6. Red lattes

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Red lattes are often called red matcha, which is a little misleading, because red matcha isn't one specific type of tea — it can be made of red hibiscus flowers, rooibos powder, or by adding natural coloring to green tea matcha. That allows the red matcha lattes to come in a variety of colors, from deep ruby reds to lighter, more muted colors. Either way, it's incredibly beautiful, and, if it's the hibiscus or rooibos variety, completely caffeine free.

7. Pink lattes

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Pink matcha first took over Instagram last year, when Starbucks first started selling its "pink drinks". Like most things, lattes are even more desirable and Instagrammable when they come in light pink. And like red lattes, the pink version can be derived from a couple of different sources. Some kinds are made from rose blossoms, while other pink lattes are made from bright magenta-hued beetroot.