When I think of “classics,” I think of Roman Holiday, martinis, Chevelles, and Johnny Cash. Icons of a different era that are still widely enjoyed by folks of all generations because they transcend politics, technology, and current events. Nowhere in my stream of consciousness did I once consider Jell-O shots in that company but, according to a Fox News Digital article, that’s what they are: classic.
Jell-O shots, for the uninitiated, are individual servings of liquid gelatin mixed with liquor and refrigerated until it sets into the well-known “jiggle” we all recognize. Flavor combinations are relatively endless: lime and tequila, orange and vodka, pineapple and rum.
Because these ingredients are cheap and easily available, Jell-O shots have served as a spring break staple for decades. Perhaps it should not be surprising that today’s food and beverage managers, owners, and distributors are my peers; that is, men and women who came of age in the early oughts when Facebook was still in its infancy and burning CDs from Limewire was a primitive form of streaming. We remember the carefree days of beach trips commemorated by air-brushed tank tops, frosted tips amplified by actual sunshine, and Jell-O shots thrown back while Usher repeated “Yeah” at volumes that a body could physically feel.
Classics are derived from feelings. The way we feel when Audrey Hepburn sees Gregory Peck in the media line, the adrenaline that surges as a 400 cubic-inch V8 engine roars to life, the first love butterflies we swear we’ll “walk the line” for are universal experiences. And now, it seems, longing for a time without social media, camera phones, constantly being on the radar are also widely coveted feelings. Jell-O shots deliver that nostalgia in little one bite wonders.
The babies born around the time I was suffering through a Russian History Since 1861 midterm have, as a whole, gravitate toward — brace yourselves — “old things” for the sense of stability they provide.
As kids, Gen Z watched their parents endure the 2008 financial and housing crises. In their late teens, COVID-19 robbed them of their friends, proms, graduations, and even athletic ambitions. Presently, these young adults who really only live online are struggling to discern between right and wrong (immigration), where one body ends and another begins (abortion), what is actually real and what is not (artificial intelligence). Many seem to believe climate change will land them in a desert dystopia akin to Mad Max, not that they know about Mad Max.
They are hyper-focused on feelings and stability has been illusive in their lifetime, so they look to lean on ours.
Vinyl records have seen an enormous spike as Gen Z eats up a majority of the sales. Cross-stitching has been named a top hobby for 2026. Even paperback books are now considered trendy. The digital natives are seeking tangible and meaningful additions to their lives, but it’s nothing new. Even the Judds crooned “Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good ol’ days” in their 1986 #1 hit.
We spend our childhoods waiting to be grown and, once we’re living the dream we held for so long, we want to go back because, while we couldn’t see it, things were easier and more enjoyable “back then.” Gen Z doesn’t have very many of those rose colored glasses to go around, so they’re asking to borrow ours.
In this light, I suppose it’s a less jagged pill to swallow, being branded a “classic.” Think about some of your most cherished memories from your life; why would you not want to share even a little bit of that delight with someone? I love talking to much older people because they always have the most fascinating stories.
When my kids are old enough, you can bet I’ll tell them about the times I floated the river — a Texas tradition of gathering your best friends in inner tubes (spend the extra $3 for a tube with a bottom if you want to save yours!) and spend hours lazily floating down the Guadalupe River. I’ll be certain to tell them about how amazing it was to live in a time when we could be silly and young without it being plastered all over the web.
They need to know about the joys of playing in a creek, getting covered in mud, and rinsing off under a frigid garden hose. I wish kids today could feel the exhilaration of dialing into a radio station to win a pair of concert tickets, hearing the busy signal, and calling back again and again. If being a “classic” means remembering riding backwards in a station wagon and holding up notebook paper signs to the vehicle behind us, then maybe it’s a label I’ll think about wearing with pride.
Not that I go to bars any more, but if I ever see a Jell-O shot on a cocktail menu, you can bet I’ll order one; I want to re-experience a moment in time, yes, but I also want an opening to share it with someone else. My guess is it won’t be quite the same because it will probably be locally-sourced, organic, vegan, craft-something or another, and $11 a pop but I’ll still smile when the small offering shows up in front of me. Who knows, maybe it will be some wild flavor bomb I’ve never imagined and the younger generation will teach this old dog new tricks.
What is a food or drink that takes your right back to your youth? My grandmother’s potato salad recipe puts me right back into the Church of Christ social hall in Newkirk, Okla., wearing patent leather shoes and a dress with puffed sleeves. I would give anything to be back in that wood-paneled room, surrounded by family members who have long since passed.
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