Here’s the picture that we’ve been painted. Gen Z are the better-for-you generation: so healthy they practically have halos. They worry about UPFs, they shun artificial ingredients, and they avoid plastic like the plague. They are in tune with their feelings and nurture their mental health.
All that is tied neatly together in the ultimate headline, Gen Z does not drink alcohol.
But is it true?
BuzzBallz’ party piece
You only need to take one look at BuzzBallz to become thoroughly confused.
BuzzBallz has become Gen Z’s go-to party prop: with its distinctive shape and bright branding.
And it’s a 15% ABV drink: way stronger than the 5% alcopops that characterised the generations before (and packaged in plastic, unlike the glass bottles of yesteryear).
Now BuzzBallz owner Sazerac has topped that with more launches. There’s Baby Shots, a new range of cocktail-flavoured shots ‘built around Gen Z pre-drinks rituals and the celebratory moments that shape... going-out culture’.
There’s also the 99 brand: a line of 50ml shots in various flavours starting at 13% ABV.
And here’s the kicker: the UK launch sees them go on sale in university campuses at just 99p.
Strong alcohol, big flavours, bold colours and low prices. It’s not quite the premium, sophisticated, alcohol-free movement we’ve been talking about.
Boozy boomers
What’s going on? All we’ve heard, on repeat, is that Gen Z don’t drink.
Fair play to anyone and everyone who chooses not to drink, for whatever reason – and whatever their age.
But Sazerac’s launches start to cast a question mark over everything we’ve been told. What happened to the new teetotal generation? What happened to premiumisation? What happened to artisan and craft?
What Gen Z wants
People are drinking less. Plenty of market studies all have agreed on that, consistently, for many years now. And Gen Z does appear to be leading this trend.
However, finding out exactly how much people actually drink has always been a head-scratcher.
A quick drink after work can be omitted from the weekly total, because it was a stressful day in the office. A glass of wine is easily forgotten, and – anyway – it was with dinner. Those birthday cocktails don’t count because it was a special occasion. Holidays are clearly off-limits for calorie-counting of any kind. And so it goes on.
We’re all guilty of under-reporting alcohol consumption (whether consciously or subconsciously) because it makes us feel better. Market surveys need to be taken with a grain of salt from the rim of a margarita.
Again, we’ll agree that Gen Z are drinking less. But that doesn’t mean that alcohol is off the table entirely.
We know Gen Z are sober curious: and that means they’re open to alcohol-free drinks... but also drink alcohol. They engage in zebra-striping, which means they’ll drink alcohol-free drinks... but alternated with alcoholic ones.
Legal Drinking Age consumers
For the alcohol industry, Gen Z really means the youngest tranche of legal drink age consumers: aged 21-29.
In the UK, 99 is targeting university students with its 99p campaign, who are typically aged 18 - 21 (the UK has a legal drinking age of 18).
But both 99 and BuzzBallz, have, unsurprisingly, come under fire for their potential to appeal to younger consumers with their bright colours, bold designs and highly drinkable products.
It’s not easy being Z
Sazerac acquired BuzzBallz in 2024, spotting its potential. In the UK alone, the brand saw volume growth of nearly 800% over the next year (NIQ 52 w/e 6 September 2025].
The brand’s target market is 25-35 year olds: the very generation supposed to be headstrong and proudly teetotal. What happened?
A lot happened. It’s not easy being Z. This generation is studying hard for jobs and careers with the knowledge that AI may make them obsolete as soon as they leave college. This generation has seen pandemics, inflation, conflicts, nuclear worries, drone warfare, market wobbles and political upheaval (so have we all, you might argue, but you’ve got to admit there’s been an awful lot in a condensed space of time).
This isn’t a generation with cash to flash. It’s a generation that’s looking for value. It’s a generation that’s looking for affordable luxuries and – for goodness sake – it’s looking for some fun.
Young people don’t want an expensive, sophisticated sipping whiskey: they want a cheap canned cocktail with lots of flavour. They may shun cigarettes, but still vape in droves (despite concerns about health and environmental waste).
When you look at it that way, Gen Z is not much different to the generations before.
Is BuzzBallz the exception that proves the rule?
Perhaps BuzzBallz’ success is the exception that proves the rule. But if Baby Shots and 99 see the same success, that argument becomes a little less convincing.
You could also look to BeatBox Beverages: the bold 6.1% ABV party punch which is now worth more than $200m (the brand shot to fame on Shark Tank in 2014, attracting a $1m investment from Mark Cuban).
And across the industry, canned cocktails are booming.
The key selling points for RTD alcohol? Flavour and fun. These drinks are about convenience and portability: and carefree lifestyles of picnics and pool parties. Nothing more, nothing less.
Zig where others zag
It’s true that alcohol is a difficult industry to be in right now: and it’s one that’s in a huge period of transition (cyclical or structural? That’s a question for another day...).
And what we’re seeing is the success stories are surprising and unexpected: often turning convention and accepted consumer data on its head.
At face value, old-fashioned, stodgy Guinness should be struggling – yet it’s bucked all the trends in alcohol and turned out to be a trendy superstar (in no small part thanks to its success with Gen Z).
On the other hand tequila – that trendy, artisanal premium spirit that swept us all up with its tales of terroir, authenticity, and heritage - is having a rather large wobble.
While you’ll hear plenty of stories of alcohol brands launching non-alcoholic counterparts, Blake Lively’s brand went the opposite direction: launching non-alcoholic Betty Buzz in 2021 but then spotting an opportunity for alcoholic Betty Booze in 2023 (despite Blake Lively herself being famously teetotal).
BuzzBallz and BeatBox could have been dismissed as well outdated gimmicks: but they’ve seen huge success.
Perhaps the answer is to zig where others have zagged... and to never, ever, write-off Gen Z.
