Credit: romiximage Via Freepik
Let’s get one thing straight at the top of the article: everyone loves bubble tea. Few drinks have as much cross-generational cachet and cross-demographic appeal as the beloved Taiwanese beverage.
However, while bubble tea is popular with everyone, Gen Z’s love for the stuff goes above and beyond. Swiping through TikTok or scrolling through Instagram, you find countless Gen Zers (“Zoomers”) slurping up boba – whether it’s the focus of the video or not.
That begs the question: Why does Gen Z love bubble tea so much? What about this innovative Taiwanese import has clicked with the world’s up-and-coming generation? In this post, we attempt to parse out an answer.
Table of Contents
Have It Your Way: Bubble Tea’s Customizability
Zoomers are accustomed to choices. Growing up in the golden age of the internet, they’re used to an entire world of possibilities at their fingertips – online shopping, meal ordering, personalized apps, tweakable social media preferences, etc. As such, they tend to be skeptical of any “cookie cutter” products.
Bubble tea satisfies that skepticism. It’s most certainly not a one-drink-fits-all kind of thing. At Chatime Bubble Tea Canada, for instance, customers can choose from a wide array of bases – classic milk teas, boldly flavoured milk teas, fruit teas, etc. – and an impressively varied selection of toppings, like coconut jelly, brown sugar pearls, QQ, grass jelly and much more. They can order their bubble tea half-sweet, a third-sweet, dairy-free, iced, hot… the list goes on.
It’s the ideal treat for a generation who wants it their way.
Ready for My Close-Up: Bubble Tea as a Photogenic Treat
This one’s simple to explain. Bubble tea is an attractive drink. Attractive drinks play well on social media. Zoomers spend a great deal of time on social media (YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are the frontrunners). Ergo, bubble tea remains a popular, flashy piece of lifestyle content for Gen Z – which undoubtedly raises the drink’s profile.
We aren’t saying that bubble tea’s looks account for its popularity entirely – its deliciousness is still its main asset – but, hey, good looks don’t hurt!
Boba Is a Feast for the Senses
Unlike plain tea, coffee or other beverages, bubble tea is an immersive experience.
As mentioned, it’s a sight to behold: a visual treat before you even break the seal with your straw. When you do start drinking, your tongue is hit with a smooth blanket of rich milk tea or punchy fruit tea. Then, the magic happens. Those toppings glide up the straw, providing a sensory interplay of textures – springy tapioca pearls, slippery coconut jelly, snappy popping boba, etc.
The whole experience is a feast for the senses. For a generation immersed in sensory overload, it’s one of the few beverages that can still excite.
The “Café Effect”: Community, Shared Experiences and Meeting Places
Finally, bubble tea spots, like the previously mentioned Chatime, fill a necessary social role for Zoomers. Like the diners and coffee shops of old, they are meeting places where young, like-minded people can come together, share a delicious drink, and chat. In addition to dishing out delicious drinks, they provide an ideal environment for community. (It doesn’t hurt that many university/college campuses feature a Chatime!). They’re also great takeout spots to pick up a comforting drink on the way to friends’ homes or picnics, and easily reachable via delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Generation Z has embraced bubble tea with open arms – and open mouths. The reasons are varied and complex, but we’ve tried our best in this article to explore some explanations. The only way to truly understand bubble tea’s mass appeal is to try the drink for yourself.
