Google Trends, Breakout Drinks, And AI - What’s Brewing?

Walk into any café these days and the menu feels a little different. India’s urban beverage scene has quietly turned into an experimental playground. Matcha still holds its green ground, but purple ube lattes are now appearing next to it, and the roasted, nutty notes of Hōjicha are starting to win their own regulars. These distinctive, slightly functional drinks are no longer niche.

Google Trends shows how people in India are gradually diversifying their sips. Here are the latest trends (as of end August 2026). People are not just ordering these drinks. They are learning how to make them, mixing them with unexpected flavours, and letting the colours spill into the rest of their lives. So what are you sipping on among these three right now?

A few signals that stood out:

Matcha remains the biggest conversation starter: “How to make matcha” has jumped 1,300% over the past year, and searches for matcha whisks and bowls broke out in August 2026. At the same time, the flavour has jumped categories: matcha shoes, matcha enzyme scrub, matcha candles, face wash and perfume all appeared as strong or breakout queries.

Ube, the sweet purple yam, hit an all-time search high in August 2026: Hyderabad and Telangana are leading the national interest, with people actively looking for ube latte, ube café, ube matcha and ube coconut combinations.

Hōjicha reached its own all-time high in March 2026 and saw another breakout surge in August 2026: Searches for “hojicha vs matcha” hit breakout growth, while “what is hojicha” and “hojicha latte” continue to climb as more people discover the roasted alternative.

This tells us a simple story. Indians are expanding their daily sip list beyond the familiar, and the next wave is already visible in both Google Search and on café counters.

And once curiosity kicks in, AI can help take the journey further - from comparing Matcha, Ube and Hōjicha in AI Mode in Search, to finding local spots with Ask Maps, to getting hands-free guidance from Gemini Live while making your own cup.

Curious to see where the rabbit hole goes? We’ve got the full story on the blog, some visual assets to bring the trends to life, and the Gupshup with Google video if you fancy a watch.