Gourmet Coffee Is Making a Cozy Comeback

Aside from those three espressos you consumed just to make it through your morning meetings, here’s something else that will really have you buzzing: The consumption of coffee is on the rise!

Yes, it’s true. After a six-year slump, it appears that the combination of a stronger economy and interest from younger people is bringing us back from the abyss. But better-tasting gourmet coffees are becoming more popular across all age groups, according to The National Coffee Association’s (NCA) 2017 National Coffee Drinking Trends tracking report. “More of us are drinking coffee, and younger consumers appear to be leading the charge,” Bill Murray, NCA president and CEO, said in an announcement of the report’s release. “A steadily growing taste for gourmet varieties is also driving a wider trend toward specialty beverages.”

Shockingly, the sharpest increase in daily coffee drinking occurred not just among younger people, but I mean REALLY younger people—as in aged 13-18 (as if being a junior high or high school teacher wasn’t already hard enough, am I right?!). Some other increases by age groups:

• Older than 60: 68% in 2017 compared with 64% in 2016
• Aged 40-59: back to 2014 levels, rising from 53% in 2016 to 64% in 2017
• Millennials aged 25-39: up about 3% from 2016 to 2017
• Aged 18-24: edged up to 50% from 2016’s 48%

That’s a whole lot of caffeine going around!

When they singled out gourmet coffee, the increase was even more dramatic. According to the report. more than half of all cups of coffee consumed by Americans today were gourmet brews— 59 percent in 2017 versus 46 percent in 2012. As well, frozen blended coffee drinks, cold-brew drinks, and nitrogen-infused coffee are increasing from 2016 to 2017. Regarding the latter, to wit: My brother’s new office—filled to the brim with bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Millennials—sports a nitro coffee maker. These “young people” might be onto something!

Now, back at home, single-cup brewing continues to lead over drip-coffee makers, with nearly one-third of American households owning a single-cup brewer in 2017, up from 29 percent in 2016. Five times as many households own single-cup brewers now than they did in 2012, including those 13-18-year-olds who reported that single-cup ownership in their homes jumped from 23 percent to 31 percent over the last two years. (I’m still wondering what in the heck their parents are thinking!)

One of the most frequently cited reasons for brewing at home was preparation for the daily commute. I can attest to that one! I love the smell of my French press in the morning, kept snuggly with my favorite Architecture of Coffee cozy, pictured below.

Architecture of Coffee French press cozy, available at KoffeeKompanions.com, has heavyweight 3M™ Thinsulate™ insulation and a Velcro™ closure at top to keep your French press coffee hotter, longer.

OK, it’s your turn: are you more of a coffee shop kind of connoisseur or do you like to cozy up to your home brew? Let us know in the comments!