In today’s day and age, when you step out into the public world, you’re very likely to see an array of people clutching an array of drinks that all have one thing in common: caffeine. You’re probably holding one yourself, whether it’s a hot coffee spewing steam, a cold coffee in a plastic cup with a straw, a comforting tea, or a colourful aluminium can containing whatever energy drink is on the menu today. But, a few decades ago, caffeine was something largely contained to homes and the occasional coffee shop. Now it’s all over the place, and not only that, but recent years have seen a change in both nicotine and alcohol consumption. So, what’s changed?
Modes and preferences of caffeine consumption change from generation to generation. If we go back and look at the caffeine habits of Baby Boomers, we’ll find that the traditional form of drip coffee was the main preference and there wasn’t much deviation from it. People would largely have their coffee at home and occasionally in diners, but this balance would shift when Gen X started to go out more, frequenting coffee shops and cafes. There was an interest in espresso-based drinks, and this interest only increased with Millenials, who brought along the rise of cold brew and branching out into new trends and flavours. When Gen Z started to consume caffeine, it was largely in RTD (ready-to-drink) forms, and there was a much heavier preference on sweet drinks and different flavours. These shifts into different flavours were quickly followed with the emergence of energy drinks, especially with companies such as Red Bull. Social media trends started to play a huge role in the kind of caffeine people would consume, and this is still developing further and further as time goes on.
Coffee itself hasn’t necessarily become less popular, rather, the culture and consumption around it has shifted to follow along with the routines of different generations. For a lot of people, their ‘daily coffee’ might not even be something that they need for energy, but something that has become ingrained in their routine or social activities. The same could be suggested for energy drinks as well, since companies have started to develop them far past the idea of a drink containing caffeine that gives you energy. The huge variety of flavours and sugar-free options, their presence on social media, and marketing have increased their exposure to an even younger audience. It’s also contributed to a change in other substances, specifically alcohol and nicotine.
Around the early 2000s, we started to see a decline in the amount that the newer generation drinks, and it doesn’t look like that number is going back up anytime soon. A survey done by Gallup – a global analytics company – reported that the number of adults under the age of 35 who reported that they drink at all dropped ten percent in twenty years; from 72% in 2001-2003 to 62% in 2021-2023. While this doesn’t mean that people are stopping drinking together, it does suggest that alcohol is starting to become less prominent in generations today. The slow shift away from high alcohol consumption might also be reflecting a wider societal change in how the younger generation view socialising and how substances are involved. Drinking is something that has always traditionally been associated with socialising, especially in larger groups, but that all seems to be changing. This could be a result of many things, including greater awareness of health and the rising legal age to drink, but it could also come with the younger generation turning to other substances.
The use of vapes and e-cigarettes started to gain popularity in the mid 2010s, and since then, they have only become more and more common around the world. We have seen a decline in the use of cigarettes, and while this is a good step forwards, there hasn’t been enough research done yet to know if vapes and e-cigarettes have the potential to be worse. There could also be a connection between the way that Gen Z consume caffeine and the way that they consume nicotine, specifically looking at their preference for having a variety of options and flavours. Many young people are attracted to vapes because of the ‘fun’ variety of flavours that are available, and even though there is an age restriction on the purchase of vapes, people under this age are still managing to get their hands on them. The New Zealand Health Survey from 2024/2025 found that the number of people – over the age of fifteen – that smoked daily had nearly halved since the last survey, while the number of people that vaped daily was slowly climbing. The survey done in 2015/2016 found that daily vaping was only occurring in around 0.9% of New Zealanders, but in the most recent survey, this number had risen to 11.7%.
In order to look at the generational change in caffeine consumption – as well as alcohol and vaping – I conducted interviews with two different groups of people; one group containing participants from the ages of 19-21, and the second containing participants from the ages of 41-61. Every participant from both groups reported that they consumed caffeine in some form regularly, though the form of caffeine varied greatly between the groups. The younger group all consumed coffee, and all but one of them consumed energy drinks. Within the older group, one participant consumed energy drinks, all but two reported the consumption of coffee, and five got some of their caffeine from drinking tea. When I asked about vaping habits, three participants from group one revealed that they occasionally vaped, but that they only did so when there was also alcohol involved. Group two reported no habits of vaping, but they had a much higher rate of alcohol consumption than the younger group. All but one participant from group two said that they had a drink up to three times a week, while the four people from group one that consumed alcohol said that they did so rarely. Even from this small group of people that I interviewed, it’s clear to see the generational shift in the type of caffeine that people consume. Gen Z are far more likely to consume energy drinks than the older generations, but they are far less likely to consume alcohol, and if they do, it’s done so much more sparingly.
Of course, it would be far too simple to suggest that every person from each generation is consuming their substances in the exact same way as each other. While younger generations are more likely to gravitate towards energy drinks instead of alcohol, there were still many individual differences in both interview groups. The generational trends of consumption can show us what is becoming more common, but on a smaller scale, there is still deviation with individuals. However, these trends can reveal how the cultures surrounding consumption is changing and suggest what might rise to popularity in the future.
