Refresher Introductions Are Surging. Gen Z Interest Is Not.

Refresher beverages are surging on menus, but the growing proliferation of such drinks has yet to translate into increased trials and affinity of late.

Refresher has been among the fastest-growing terms on non-alcoholic beverage menus in recent years — up more than 130% over the past four years, as noted in Datassential’s recent Non-Alcoholic Beverages report. It’s expected to jump by another 35% over the next four.

New introductions in the space have been on a tear so far this year, with major chains such as McDonald’s, Sonic Drive-In, and Dunkin’ entering or expanding in the space. Overall,

Datassential’s Launches & Ratings has already captured more LTOs featuring the term “refresher” so far this year than in all of 2025 — or any other previous year, for that matter. Compared to the same period last year, volume from January through May is up four-fold.

But consumer interest has yet to keep pace with that meteoric rise — particularly among Gen Z, for which many of these products are being marketed.

Despite refreshers’ youth-forward positioning, Datassential’s Consumer Preference data shows that affinity for the format has been gaining with a slightly older cohort most recently: Some 34% of Millennials say they love or like the drinks, up 2 percentage points over the past six months, while Gen Z interest has been flat — albeit at a higher 45% love/like rating. Trial rates overall also have been little changed since the second quarter of last year, at about 33% among all consumers. 

The gap is more pointed in LTO scoring data. Among refresher LTOs tested last year, Gen Z’s median normative rating for unbranded purchase intent was 83, meaning a higher unbranded purchase intent rating than 83% of other non-alcoholic drinks rated by Gen Z. This was well above the comparable median normative rating of 73.5 for the population overall.

But year-to-date this year, Gen Z’s rating has fallen to 59 and now trails the total population by four points. 

Other metrics tell a similar story. Gen Z’s frequency score on refresher LTOs — a measure of how often they’d order an item — dropped from a median of 68 in 2025 to 50 in 2026 YTD, erasing most of the 13.5-point advantage Gen Z held over the total population last year. Uniqueness scores, which had given Gen Z a slight edge, are now essentially flat versus the general public. 

At the same time, some other NA beverages are running stronger with Gen Z compared with the broader population. Lemonades, for example, historically scored slightly lower than the total population on unbranded purchase intent, but that has flipped this year — Gen Z now has a 5-point advantage. Meanwhile, items where Gen Z has long over-indexed relative to the broader population — like matcha and lavender — have maintained that advantage through 2026.

Datassential’s Refreshers & Functional Beverages report found that among existing refresher consumers, 30% expect to buy fewer next year versus just 17% who expect to buy more — a potential sign of category fatigue that predates the 2026 proliferation. Trial barriers compound the issue: 47% of non-refresher consumers cite a preference for traditional caffeinated drinks, while 28% flag too much sugar and 27% say the drinks are usually too expensive.