'I am a chai person': Why Gen Z think liking chai is the coolest way to be seen relatable

For older generations, tea was just… tea. Something your parents drank every morning while reading the newspaper or something served aggressively to guests before they could even say no. But Gen Z looked at tea and somehow turned it into a complete personality category.

Now people are not simply drinking chai. They are announcing they are “in their chai era” like it is a spiritual awakening.


And honestly? The internet fully enabled this behaviour.


For years, coffee dominated online culture. Everybody wanted iced lattes, expensive espresso machines and productivity-core café aesthetics. Coffee became associated with burnout, deadlines and pretending to enjoy emails.

Tea entered the chat with completely different energy.

Instead of hustle culture, tea represented softness. Calmness. Slowing down. Suddenly people were posting rainy chai routines, peaceful matcha-making videos and herbal tea night rituals while sad indie music played in the background.

Gen Z, a generation already exhausted by constant notifications, doomscrolling and digital chaos, immediately connected with it.

Because tea feels comforting in a world that constantly feels loud.


The internet also transformed tea into a weirdly specific identity system.

Matcha became the drink of wellness girls with Pinterest boards and oat milk subscriptions. Herbal teas became associated with healing and self-care. Bubble tea evolved into a chaotic social activity for chronically online friend groups.


And chai? Chai became emotional support.

For Indian Gen Z especially, chai already carried nostalgia. Cutting chai after college lectures, tea stalls during monsoons, late-night chai breaks with friends, it already meant comfort long before social media romanticised it.

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The internet simply gave it aesthetic lighting.


Part of tea’s popularity also comes from how accessible it feels. Not everybody can afford expensive skincare hauls or luxury cafés, but almost everybody can afford chai.

That ₹15 roadside tea still delivers the exact emotional reset Gen Z keeps chasing online.

And maybe that is why saying “I am a chai person” now feels bigger than just describing a drink preference.

It feels like describing an entire vibe.

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