It probably all started with Dalgona Coffee, a brew that started in Korea during the pandemic and consists of a creamy foam topping made using instant coffee and sugar added to hot or cold milk and soon became the It-Drink of the moment through TikTok, the social media platform favoured by today’s “Gen Z” teenagers. Then came Proffee – a blend of coffee and a protein drink – followed by a whole array of other drinks that have coffee as their base but focus on appearance more than on substance, mixing it with plant milks (Vegan Dalgona) or cow’s milk, ice, syrups and so on. Invented out of nothing, or by picking up on local traditions.

Anyone who turns their nose up at anything too far removed from a steaming cup of espresso – which teenagers have long shunned – should think again. Because these global (and very ‘pop’) fashions are in fact drawing new generations very much towards coffee.

The latest National Coffee Drinking Trends survey conducted by the NCA (the US National Coffee Association) shows how 46% of young Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 drink coffee regularly, up ten percentage points on January 2021, as compared with 23% in 2014 and 31% in 2016. The report highlighted the growing popularity of cold, iced and even frozen coffee, especially among this consumer group.

And a 2020 survey by the University of Foggia that analysed young people’s relationship with caffeine in four academic institutions in the south of Italy found that 76% of youngsters have a caffeine-based drink every day. 9 out of 10 consume it through coffee, 34.3% through soft drinks (cold tea and cola) and 3.4% through energy drinks. Research by Alliance Bernstein found that 42% of young people who drink coffee do so outside the home. Which means that bars are still the place of choice for this ritual.

It would be wrong to ignore the fashions that are bringing the young generations closer to coffee, in bars, kiosks and fast food outlets. “They don’t like espresso? Let them drink Dalgona!” as Marie-Antoinette might have put it. Except that this time she would be saying something appropriate.