What Londoners Are Drinking Right Now - Trending Drinks in 2026
If you want to understand London properly, don’t just look at where people are eating.
Look at what they’re drinking.
Because right now, across cafés, dessert spots, and late-night hangouts, Londoners are quietly shifting their drink orders and the trends for 2026 are already becoming clear.
You’ll still see the classics, of course. This is London. Tea isn’t going anywhere.
But alongside it?
There’s a noticeable rise in specialty hot drinks, pistachio flavours, elevated matcha, and late-night comfort beverages that feel very “London winter coded.”
Whether you’re visiting, creating content, or just want to order like someone who actually knows the city, here’s what Londoners are genuinely drinking right now.
1. Pistachio Drinks The Quiet Obsession
If there’s one flavour that has been appearing on more London café menus recently, it’s pistachio.
Walk into enough cafés across central London right now and you’ll spot it showing up more frequently especially in specialty lattes and dessert-style drinks.
Why pistachio is trending in 2026
Middle Eastern dessert influence is growing
Social media loves the colour and texture
It feels premium but still comforting
Works well in both hot and iced drinks
Where you’ll commonly see it
Pistachio lattes
Pistachio hot chocolate
Pistachio milk cakes with drink pairings
Pistachio cold foam drinks
It’s subtle, slightly indulgent, and very on trend for London right now.
2. Matcha (But Upgraded)
Matcha isn’t new in London but the way people are ordering it has evolved.
In 2026, it’s less about basic matcha lattes and more about customised, aesthetic matcha drinks that feel a bit more elevated.
Current matcha trends across London cafés
Strawberry matcha
Iced ceremonial matcha
Matcha with alternative milks
Layered matcha drinks for visual appeal
Why Londoners are still choosing matcha
Seen as a calmer caffeine option
Strong Gen Z and creator appeal
Photogenic presentation
Works year-round (hot or iced)
If you’re café-hopping in areas like Soho or Shoreditch, you’ll notice matcha orders are still going strong just more refined than before.
3. Karak Chai & Specialty Chai
This is one of the most noticeable late-evening drink trends in London right now.
Traditional chai has always been popular in parts of the city, but recently there’s been a clear rise in karak chai and specialty spiced teas, especially in:
Edgware Road
East London
Late-night dessert cafés
Halal café scenes
Why chai is having a moment
Comfort factor during colder months
Strong South Asian and Middle Eastern café influence
Perfect late-night alternative to coffee
Pairs well with dessert crawls
You’ll especially notice this trend after 8 pm, when coffee orders typically start dropping and chai becomes the drink of choice for many late-night café visitors.
4. Elevated Hot Chocolate (Not the Basic Kind)
London has moved far beyond standard hot chocolate.
In winter 2026, many cafés and dessert spots are leaning into thicker, richer, more dessert-style hot chocolates.
What’s trending specifically
Thick European-style hot chocolate
Pistachio hot chocolate
Luxury dark chocolate blends
Hot chocolate with cold foam toppings
S’mores-style hot drinks
Why it’s everywhere right now
Cold weather demand
Social media appeal
Dessert café boom
Comfort-drink culture
If it looks slightly over the top it’s probably part of the current café trend cycle.
5. Specialty Iced Coffees (Yes, Even in Winter)
Very London behaviour: plenty of people are still ordering iced drinks… even in February.
Across central cafés, you’ll continue to see steady demand for:
iced oat lattes
cold brew
iced matcha
iced pistachio drinks
Why iced drinks haven’t slowed down
Year-round iced coffee culture
Office crowd habits
Gen Z café trends
Quick grab-and-go preference
Even in colder months, London’s iced coffee crowd is very much alive.
6. Dessert-Style Milk Drinks
Another quiet but growing trend is the rise of dessert-inspired milk beverages especially in areas with strong late-night food scenes.
These are drinks that almost blur the line between beverage and dessert.
Popular examples right now
milk cake drinks
saffron milk
rose milk
flavoured warm milk drinks
sweetened specialty milks
You’ll spot these most often in:
Edgware Road
East London dessert cafés
specialist sweet shops
Ramadan evening hotspots
This trend tends to peak later in the evening.
Where to Spot These Drink Trends in London
If you want to see these trends in real life, focus your café hopping around:
Central London (Soho & Covent Garden)
→ best for matcha and specialty coffee trends
Edgware Road
→ best for chai, pistachio desserts, late-night drinks
Shoreditch
→ best for aesthetic café drinks and Gen Z trends
East London (Whitechapel area)
→ best for dessert milk drinks and chai culture
You don’t need to cross the whole city just pick one zone and explore slowly.
What This Says About London’s Drink Scene in 2026
If there’s one clear theme this year, it’s this:
Londoners are choosing drinks that feel more intentional.
Less rushed grab-and-go.
More comfort.
More aesthetic appeal.
More global flavour influence.
The city’s drink culture is becoming:
more diverse
more visually driven
more evening-friendly
and more dessert-adjacent
And honestly, it makes winter café hopping in London much more interesting.
Final Thought
Next time you walk into a London café, take a second before ordering the usual flat white.
Look at the menu properly.
Because right now, London’s drink scene is quietly evolving and some of the most interesting orders aren’t the obvious ones anymore.
Try the pistachio.
Order the matcha.
Grab late-night chai.
You might accidentally start drinking like a Londoner.
Stay in the Loop
London’s food and drink scene changes fast especially season to season.
If you want simple, actually useful London guides (without the fluff), keep checking back with Londonyaar.com for the latest café trends, food spots, and what’s genuinely worth trying in the city.
And if this helped you pick your next London drink order, share it with someone who always orders the same thing.