Why Generation Z doesn’t like hot coffee

Could hot coffee be a thing of the past? Ask Generation Z and you might be surprised to hear that they want to see if replaced with iced latte instead.

The Baby Boomers brought hot coffee into every high street of the world Generation X enjoyed their labours while the Millennials worried about everything; but Generation Z seems to want to do away with the traditional hot cup of coffee.

The Tik-Tok generation is contrary to those that went before. One 16-year-old Tik-Tok influencer Charli D’Amelio even has a line of ‘Charli’ lattes at Dunkin’ Donuts. In 2019 the growth of cold coffee sales went up by a whopping 53.4% while hot coffee sales only grew by 0.1%.

For the youngsters of Generation Z iced latte’s have become something of a totemic status symbol that they are different from what has gone before. It is a quiet, uncomplicated and unconfrontational revolution. Others simply say that iced lattes are sweeter and taste better than traditional stronger coffee.

The science seems to back up this assertion as the mouth’s taste buds detect different flavours and compounds in what we drink when it is hot or cold. Hot coffee tends to be more acidic whereas cold drinks taste sweeter. Heat increases the evaporation of the water and with it creates a more concentrated flavour, with cold drinks the dilution of the water does the opposite essentially adding more water to the drink as the ice melts.