What’s brewing for 2025 in terms of tea trends?
We checked in with tea experts—a tea sommelier, a trends forecaster in the culinary industry, and a beverage-industry consultant who also authored a tea book—for their feedback.
Above all, there’s a huge boost in consumers drinking tea—whether it’s iced, boba. or hot—for health reasons. “They’re looking for something that relaxes them and makes them feel good, and they’re looking into the health benefits,” says Gabriela Parck, a tea sommelier and Gong Cha’s senior manager of training for the Americas. “Everyone is jumping off the coffee trend.” This is true across all age groups, says Parck.
Suzy Badaracco, owner of Culinary Tides, a firm dedicated to forecasting food and drink trends, couldn’t agree more. “Post-pandemic, consumers are prioritizing beverages that offer tangible health benefits,” she says. “As consumers prioritize mental well-being, teas with calming floral notes resonate. Botanicals also connect with the demand for natural, clean-label products.”
Popular Flavors and Products
Tying into this desire to sip a healthy drink, green tea is a dominant choice. It’s also the most likely tea variety to be fused with fruit flavors.
To introduce new flavors, many cafés and brands still exercise caution, however. One approach is to adopt an “anchor” flavor, says William Dietz, co-founder of BDH Consultants and the author of Spill the Tea, to help propel that new flavor along. For example, pairing cinnamon with ashwagandha, a plant thought to relieve stress and anxiety. “Making it relatable is a good strategy,” he says. “It helps bridge that gap for consumers that might be a little cautious at first about trying something different.”
One way to market these new flavors is by tying them to a season. “What can we do to spice that up?" should be a question retailers ask, according to Dietz. “Maybe it’s a black tea and guava lemonade instead," he says. "Riffing on some of those tried-and-true classic combos … we’re seeing a lot more of that.”
Of course, any flavor that’s colorful is trending because they look fantastic on social media—which benefits a tea brand or tea shop as a form of marketing. Customers, too, like to order drinks and then post about it on social media. “Vibrant, layered iced teas and colorful Instagrammable drinks are frequently featured on social platforms,” says Badaracco, pointing to butterfly pea flower tea, which changes color due to its acidity.
Parck agrees. “Most people are looking for a vibrant drink,” she says, “something fun and trendy, for Instagram … combining that with something that is very healthy for you.”
In particular, tropical-fruit flavors are trending. At Gong Cha’s stores, mango, guava, and passionfruit are popular orders. “Mango is going to be a rock star in 2025,” predicts Badaracco.
Attracting the Gen Z Audience
According to a 2021 consumer survey by CLSA Capital Partners, 94% of Americans between the ages of 20 and 29 bought boba tea within the last three months.
“Gen Z is really going to change the tea scene,” says Dietz. “It’s trending to be very particular about their experiences, and what they want to see in an experience, which is why I think boba tea really has room to grow and resonated with this audience as experiential.”
Gen Z’s new attraction to tea is what Parck recently experienced when her teenage children asked to borrow her matcha-making kit to share the experience with their peers. “It’s awesome to see the younger generation doing this as well,” she says.
Focus on Customer Education
While business at tea shops is growing, so is the retail sector as it pertains to tea. This includes matcha kits, with a bowl and a whisk.
An area that’s also booming is loose-leaf teas—as opposed to pre-packaged tea bags. “I’m seeing more people investing in tea balls as infusers for loose-leaf tea, something they can reuse over and over at home,” says Parck. “I’ve also seen people shop around for matcha sets. When you make tea at home, it’s like a soothing ceremony.”
Another shift is an abundance of tea-brewing tools for at-home use that are made with sustainable, renewable materials, such as bamboo, and few plastics. Now the ritual of making tea as a source of calm comes with the awareness that there isn’t further harm to the planet while doing so.
Both at home and at cafés, cold brew is a popular technique, especially as RTD (ready to drink as a pre-bottled beverage) or served on tap. Many people are buying cold-brew tea kits to use at home. “Cold brew retains delicate flavors and has lower caffeine, says Badaracco, “appealing to health-conscious consumers seeking unique flavor profiles.”
Ethical Sourcing and Transparency
Consumers love to hear a story about a tea's origin, whether it’s the owner of the tea company, founders of the café, or the tea farmers who supply the tea. That’s always been important to Gong Cha, partnering with tea farmers in Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Vietnam. “They hold the process of making tea to heart,” says Parck. “It’s a very sacred thing. They don’t cut corners. They use tea masters to evaluate the tea to ensure it’s of the best quality.”
The same is true when sipping tea drinks born out of a certain culture, such as boba tea, which originated in Taiwan. Any way that a retailer can connect with this Asian culture is appreciated by consumers. Or, simply making the process of preparing the tea visible to customers goes a long way.
Dietz calls out a recent tea experience of his, at The Hideout Chai Bar in New York City. The proprietor, Christopher Brunet, formerly worked at Restaurant Daniel. “You could see them putting in the spices and brewing the tea per order,” explains Dietz. “It felt authentic and hits you differently as a consumer rather than someone opening a box of concentrate.” Similarly, a client of his—Cha &, a modern tea bar in New York City—employs glassware for specific drinks to elevate the experience. For example, Japanese cold-brew green tea (gyokuro) is served in a Champagne-style flute glass, to show “elegance and value,” says Dietz.
The future, he says, may be single-origin tea companies that also cut out the middleman. “One of the producers doing this extremely well is called Renegade Tea Estate,” says Dietz. “They’re selling specialty tea all grown and produced in Georgia, but selling it directly to consumers. Your garden and your production become a brand.”
“Single-origin teas emphasize authenticity and quality, while traceability reassures consumers about ethical and sustainable souring,” says Badaracco. “Consumers value products with a personal connection and are drawn to stories of how their tea supports small communities. Direct trade ensures a larger portion of profits reaches the farmers.”
Sustainability is Key
Supporting products with minimal waste is something that consumers continue to gravitate towards. One example might be “naked” tea bags, says Badaracco, where the label lacks a string and the glue attaching it to the tea bags. “Consumers are becoming more aware of the environmental impact of single-use plastics and prefer packaging that aligns with their eco-conscious values.” For example, tea canisters crafted from glass or metal are better than plastic that will be thrown away—or even recycled. Instead, they can be used again. “These minimalist designs appeal to eco-conscious and premium-focused customers while reducing material complexity for recycling systems,” says Badaracco.
“We will continue to see a lot of alternatives to tea bags and the materials tea bags are made of,” says Dietz. “The amount that are plastic-based is going to go down dramatically. There are a lot more cost-effective options that have some level of organic material.” To that end, they might be made out of materials like cornstarch or hemp, such as with Firebelly Tea’s compostable tea bags, which contain no microplastics.
Communal Drinking
Another shift is that tea is a beverage enjoyed together, one that crosses generations. Urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third place” in his 1989 book The Great Good Place, around the time Starbucks stores were opening at a rapid pace across the U.S.
“Now the ‘third place’ is the tea shop,” says Parck. “We’re starting to see people coming as a group.” Making their cafés more attractive to younger people, several stay open late. “They’re looking for a place to have fun, have great energy and to enjoy an iced beverage with their friends,” she says. “It was coffee shops before and now it’s starting to become a boba-tea thing.”
Plan to Attend or Participate in World Tea Expo, March 24-26, 2025
To learn about other key developments, trends, issues, hot topics and products within the global tea community, plan to attend World Tea Expo, March 24-26, 2025 in Las Vegas, co-located with Bar & Restaurant Expo. Visit WorldTeaExpo.com.
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