What's your workplace beverage say about you?

You take a look around the boardroom table. Every one of your co-workers has a drink. What’s up with that? Are they really so thirsty they need a beverage to get through a 30-minute meeting?

The truth? They’re thirsty all right—thirsty for a promotion! And if you can’t read the tea leaves and figure out what’s brewing with your colleagues, you could get left behind, doing the daily grind while others sprint up the corporate ladder, Monster drinks in hand.

Forget body language. Understanding beverage language is the top skill you'll need for 2025.

Workplace beverages are more than functional thirst quenchers. They’re fashion accessories, savvy tools of the trade, and a way to amplify your personal value to the boss.

Here’s your guide on what your beverage selections say about you (and your co-workers!), so you can perk up your beverage branding.

1. No drink at all: Bad move. Always have a beverage with you. Your drink not only helps build your personal brand, it’s also your ticket out of sticky wickets. You're asked a question about your project’s status? Take a few sips if you need to think before responding. Your project files were deleted by feral cats? Take a sip. Cough dramatically. Excuse yourself from the meeting. Come back in a month.

2. Tap water, served in a glass from the office kitchen: Far from lacking imagination, this drink says you're a champion of transparency: clearly, what you see is what you get. Your drink screams simplicity, because that's what gets sh*t done. While others are busy infusing their herbal teas with tundra grasses and live guppies, you're already in the boardroom, chatting up the boss while your drink says, "If you're looking to cut costs and increase efficiency, I'm the one."

3. Grande, full-caf, quad-shot, sugar-free vanilla, oat milk latte, medium hot, extra foam, one pump caramel, two pumps hazelnut, sprinkle of cinnamon, no nutmeg, edible flowers on the side: While seemingly a high-maintenance opposite of Tap Water Dude, you're actually a visionary thinker with exacting standards, with a flair for creating unique products and possessing the project-management mastery to seamlessly put it all together. “Trust me with the complex projects,” your drink shouts to your superiors.

4. Tim Horton's coffee, stirred with a hockey stick: You're a Canadian, and unapologetically so. Your iconic cup flexes your perseverance and courage; you'll stay in that drive-thru line-up even if car's tail-end is still hanging precariously out into traffic. Your drink pumps fists to the boss that you're a team player—probably hockey—and a loyal promoter for the company's domestic brands.

5. Hot cocoa, served with a candycane stir stick: Fresh from a Hallmark Christmas movie, you’re not afraid to dream big. Behind that frothy whipped-cream mustache, you’re a person of steel, always keeping December's year-end goals top of mind—even when it’s July. Your beverage tells the boss you can be promoted to regional manager in the field, negotiating with evil developers to turn small town hotels into world-class resorts—even if you have an inability to read weather forecast and a questionable habit of fraternizing with clients.

6. Opaque tumbler: You play your cards close to your chest. What are you drinking? Asked and not answered. It could be anything—or nothing. But while your drink tells the boss you can be trusted to keep confidential information, nobody knows your agenda, marking you as a key contributor to the office drama factory.

7. Matcha: You're not Gen Zed, you're Gen Zen! The brilliant green of your health-conscious Matcha shows you can maximize aesthetics while choosing a more eco-friendly beverage—telling the boss you’re a natural to lead the corporate social responsibility team. Though you may eschew PowerPoints for interpretive dance, you’ll be a perfect matcha for the job!

8. Bubly: Is it just coincidence your can of Bubly matches the lime green color of your shirt? Of course not! Your well-planned fashion passion understands drinks are fashion accessories. Your frosty Bubly says you’re sophisticated but chill; you solve problems with effervescence, even if you're less conscious of your carbon(ated) footprint.

New Year, New You, New Workplace Beverage?

The need to up your drink strategy can be hard to swallow, but with a little planning, your drink may be the elixir that brings you success and prosperity in 2025. And we can all drink to that!