beverages

Daily Coffee Consumers Dip, But Gourmet Drinkers Up

While total daily U.S. coffee drinkers have declined a bit — to 61% of adults currently, versus 63% a year ago — Americans are drinking more "gourmet" coffee than ever, according to the latest National Coffee Drinking Trends Study from the National Coffee Association of USA.

In the survey, "gourmet" coffee is defined as both espresso-based drinks and regular coffee made with beans that the consumer considers to be gourmet.

In the recent survey, 34% of U.S. adults said they drink gourmet coffee daily -- up from 31% in 2013, reports Reuters.

About the same proportion (35%) of adults report that they're daily drinkers of non-gourmet coffee. However, that's down from 39% last year, accounting for the overall decline in the average daily-coffee-drinker percentage. 

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Nearly one-fifth (18%) of adults said they consume espresso-based coffee drinks -- up from 13% in 2013's survey. 

A sharp upswing in use of single-cup brewers is likely contributing to the "gourmet" consumption upswing: 29% of respondents now report having made their previous day's coffee with a single-cup brewer, versus 20% in 2013. 

Also, 15% report having at-home single-cup brewers, up 12% from a year ago. And one-quarter said they were likely to buy one of these machines in the next six months.

Meanwhile, those using drip coffeemakers declined to 53%, down from 58% a year ago.

The association's study, conducted online from mid-January to mid-February, has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9%. It has been conducted since 1950.

"Woman drinking coffee" photo from Shutterstock.

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