Gen Z has reinvented tea. While some may immediately think of tea as an herbal and heartwarming remedy cradled in the heart of a shallow ceramic cup, it has been transformed into bright berries and sugary extracts in tall plastic cups. Modernized teas offer a vast variety of flavors ranging from syrupy strawberry and mango to brown sugar milk tea. However, the large number of commercialized teas nowadays often lack an authentic herbal tea flavor and taste like bright, sugary elixir in a ready-to-go cup.
These drinks, popularized and favored based on their easy, yet endless customization options, quick non-verbal kiosk ordering and grab-n-go systems, have definitely made their way to becoming a staple in society. However, while these drinks may bring some Asian culture into consideration by including the essence of black, oolong and green tea, they mask those flavors of Taiwanese cultures with fruity, artificially colored drinks that they distribute as “tea”.
Akin to fruit teas, boba tea has also become a victim of appropriation. Originating from Taiwan, it used to serve as a symbol of community building and gatherings. Now, boba teas are served with colorful popping boba and star cutouts of flavored neon jelly. Furthermore, the additional commercialization of these products, indirectly marketed as “cool” have also shaped the way boba is perceived. Editorial Director Serena Dai from Bon Appétit feels that fruit and boba teas are turning into trends and have lost significant meaning or ties to Asian culture.
“It’s upsetting that many of these companies are pretending to create something totally new and aren’t properly crediting Asians for these inventions”, Dai said, sharing her opinion on the Bobafication of tea in a publication on Bon Appétit.
One of these more recent Gen Z trends is cheese tea, a cold beverage with savory notes and cream foam, sold at most boba shops which has captivated the eyes and ears of young influencers and the younger generation. Originally a staple in Taiwanese night markets, social media has brought cheese tea to the U.S. and turned it into an unforgettable and Instagrammable trend where most do not even recall its origins and have begun marketing it as a customizable dessert-like drink.
As a testament to this, Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu speaks on problems with modern day tea shops.
“Taking something that’s very distinctly Asian and ‘making it better’,” Simu Liu said about a boba tea shop called Bobba.
French Canadian entrepreneur Sebastien Fiset of Bobba shared his history with boba drinks. “I took the Asian version [of boba] and made it with fruit, with juice,” he said. Not only are trends pushing people to overlook the history of tea, but there are also problems in the business industry of these tea shops disregarding the Asian culture hidden in the shadows behind westernized businesses.
Moreover, another example of a drink that has recently become trendy is matcha. Originally from China, this drink has become a staple in Japanese culture as well as, more recently, American culture. Matcha drinks are crafted from matcha powder which requires the process, perfected in Japan, of efficient yet scrupulous leaf picking, steaming, drying and grinding. You simply scoop a small portion of this powder into a designated matcha bowl, pour hot water into the bowl and whisk back and forth with quick motions.
Matcha tea was and still is formally used in tea ceremonies in Japan and China, but has also made its way into American culture through the influence of Instagram and Tik Tok. Currently seen as a trendy product, matcha is now mass manufactured, repackaged into ready to go cups with loads of sugar and sold in twelve packs at grocery stores. Matcha has also become a main proponent in the “Performative Male” aka “Matcha Male” trend, an internet meme popularized by social media, in which the preparation and idea of traditional matcha has become an aestheticized prop.
It is unfortunate to say that these drinks increasingly lack culture and meaning and have become the heart of trends which used to be considered ceremonial aspects of life and blooming heritage.
