You know the feeling: It’s the middle of a busy weekday and you’re absolutely drowning in a sea of meetings, emails, and spreadsheets. Plus, whenever you check your phone, a new calamity surfaces in your newsfeed. During your hard-earned lunch break, you manage to slip out of the office and book it to the closest cafe. You hurriedly order an iced coffee; it’ll get you through the rest of the afternoon, and after all, you deserve a little treat.
Lately, our so-called “little treat culture” is much-discussed online — think those small, frivolous, relatively inexpensive and yet somehow soothing purchases you make when you’re overwhelmed. According to new DoorDash data, these dopamine-boosting moments may actually reveal more about our daily lives than you’d think. The company has even crafted an Iced Coffee Index (ICI) that measures consumer stress levels based on how often (and why) we’re ordering our iced mochas.
What is the Iced Coffee Index?
DoorDash compares their new system to the famed Lipstick Index — an economic theory that lipstick sales actually increase during economic downturns.
“People turn to small indulgences during economic shifts,” the DoorDash report notes. “The ICI uncovers how people seek a little treat during periods of emotional stress and uncertainty.”
DoorDash’s ICI is scored out of 100; for the results, the company mined DoorDash order data alongside responses from an iced coffee survey. The higher the ICI number, the more often people are relying on iced coffee as a mood-boosting, stress-relieving tool.
What are the results of 2025’s Iced Coffee Index?
It’s not just businesses that have gotten a ICI score — it’s periods of time. This quarter of 2025 has an ICI score of 85, which is fairly high compared to previously measured quarters. DoorDash data pinpoints that iced coffee purchases have spiked on some of the most tense days of 2025 so far, “such as Blue Monday (dubbed the most depressing day of the year), Tax Day, and even during the recent tariff announcement on April 2.”
And that’s not all — a whopping 87 percent of survey respondents slurp on iced coffee even when they’re not actually craving caffeine. Eighty-six percent say the drink makes them happier, while 79 percent admit that they “see it as a treat when life feels overwhelming.”
DoorDash has also found that more than half of iced coffee orders now include some kind of flavor add-on. An extra pump of syrup certainly makes the drink feel more indulgent, and that boost of luxury is the hallmark of a satisfying little treat.
And one specific taste has risen in popularity: Orders incorporating lavender flavoring rose 170 percent this quarter. The company posits that this newfound obsession with the floral syrup reflects a “demand for calming flavors and emotional self-regulation.”
And plenty of people are seeking that calm smack dab in the middle of the afternoon: DoorDash found a 7 percent uptick in orders between 2 and 5 p.m. And hey, if that little treat is the balm you need to get through the day, more power to you.
“I was going through a lot in my life and couldn’t make it through the day without it,” one survey respondent told DoorDash. Which means that for some of us, an iced coffee isn‘t necessarily frivolous. It’s a lifeline — a small but essential ritual that provides comfort, energy, and a sense of normalcy in the midst of chaos.
That said, if your afternoon pick-me-up is stretching your budget, we’ve also got advice for creating an at-home coffee bar, so you can get that sweet, sweet caffeine hit without a daily expense.
