When Drink Categories Stop Making Sense.

Memory, intent, and discovery is quietly changing.

Earlier this year, I wrote about voice, personalisation, and intent.
This feels like the same conversation, just observed closer to the ground.

The future is going to feel different.

Not because something new suddenly appeared,
but because the old explanations no longer fit.

Coffee is a good place to see it.

It used to follow a simple pattern.
Morning.
Hot.
Quick.

That began to change with specialty coffee.

People started caring more about taste, quality, and how coffee fits into their day.
Coffee became better.
And it became more flexible.

People drink coffee throughout the day now.
Iced or hot.
Straight or mixed into creative drinks.

Coffee stopped being just a morning tool.
It became part of a daily rhythm.

Because of that, people already think about coffee in moments.
Energy to start.
Focus to continue.
Something lighter later.

What’s changing now is how people discover it.

AI started as something you had to think about using.
You opened it when you needed help, like a tool.

Now it’s starting to sit in the background.
Remembering things.
Connecting patterns.
That memory is what makes personalisation possible.

When things work this way, discovery changes.

People don’t begin with categories.
They begin with situations they’re already in.

They describe how they feel.
What they’re planning for.
What kind of thing they’re looking for.

Instead of clicking through options, they explain.
Instead of browsing labels, they talk.

Sometimes it’s simple.
“Something light.”
“Not too sweet.”
“Good for the party.”
Or just, “the usual.”

Convenience reinforces this.

Delivery, subscriptions, and saved choices mean people don’t revisit every decision.
Once something fits, it becomes part of a routine.

Discovery stops being about comparison.
It becomes about continuity.

Coffee has long relied on familiar signals to help people choose.

Strong.
Sweet.
Flavoured.
Milk.
Less sugar.
Iced.
Hot.

These signals reduced friction.
They helped people decide quickly.

But they don’t hold context.

“Strong” means different things at different times of day.
“Less sugar” can signal habit, health, or preference.

The words stay the same.
The meaning shifts.

The drink doesn’t change.
The context does.

Discovery starts with intent, not shelves.
As discovery becomes conversational,
and memory carries decisions forward,
fixed categories make less sense,
starting with coffee, and extending to beverages more broadly.

That doesn’t erase what came before.
It simply changes where decisions begin.

And once you notice it,
it becomes hard to unsee.