Number of Daily Coffee Drinkers Perks Up

The number of daily coffee drinkers in the United States continues to perk up, reaching nearly two of three Americans in a recently released study.

Conducted by the National Coffee Association (NCA), the survey asked approximately 3,000 adults if they had drunk a cup of coffee the day before, and 64% responded that they had. While that number is up slightly from 62% a year before, it has increased significantly since consumption of the caffeinated-laced beverage dipped below 50% in the mid-1990s.

“We see the cola industry is declining” said Roberto Vélez, head of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, according to the international news agency Reuters, “but coffee is in the front row.”

The survey, which was released at the 2018 NCA Convention in New Orleans, also reported that 79% of respondents prepared their coffee at home, while 36% ordered their coffee from outside the home. However, Americans won’t settle for just any black liquid, especially among millennials, where 48% of those surveyed described their coffee as gourmet.

“There’s been a huge shift toward gourmet in the U.S.,” said Michael Edwards, a market research consultant who has led the coffee drinking trends study for more than a decade.

In addition to coffee, bottled water and tea were listed as other beverages that have seen major growth in recent years in the United States.