For years, coffee has functioned as a daily anchor for many Americans, from quick stops for a customized cup to routine café visits. But with coffee prices climbing, some drinkers are altering how they get caffeine and what they spend—replacing café purchases with store-bought coffee, adjusting intake, or shifting to substitutes at home.
The latest inflation snapshot shows the pressure building. Coffee prices in the U.S. were up 18.3% in January from a year earlier, and government data reported coffee prices have risen 47% over the past five years, the Associated Press reported.
One sign of the squeeze comes from how consumers are changing purchasing patterns. Data from Toast, a payment platform used by more than 150,000 restaurants, found the median price of a regular hot coffee in the U.S. climbed to $3.61 in December. Toast also reported a median price of $5.55 for cold brews, with wide variation by location.
Behind the price increases, the coffee association points to challenges in the global supply chain. The Associated Press reported that virtually all coffee consumed in the U.S. is imported, and that tariffs affected some coffee imports in 2025 but were ultimately removed. It also cited climate issues blamed for reducing yields of coffee crops, including drought in Vietnam, heavy rain in Indonesia, and hot, dry weather in Brazil.
For individual consumers, the higher prices are pushing more than just grumbling. Chandra Donelson, 35, of Washington, D.C., said she gave up the morning coffee ritual that she had maintained for years. “I did that daily for years. I loved it. That was just my routine,” she said, adding that now it is “not.”
Other consumers are scaling back café habits rather than quitting. Liz Sweeney, 50, of Boise, Idaho, said she had cut her coffee consumption after years of relying on it. “Before, I thought, ‘There’s no way I could make it through my day without coffee,’” she said. “Now my car’s not on automatic pilot.” Sweeney said she used to have three cups of coffee at home each day and stop at a café when she left the house, but as prices climbed she stopped going to coffee shops, reduced her intake to a cup at home, and used other drinks as substitutes.
Dan DeBaun, 34, of Minnetonka, Minnesota, said he has also trimmed back on coffee shop visits while he and his wife save for a house. He said he now buys ground coffee at Trader Joe’s and fills a travel mug to bring to work. “What used to be a $2 coffee, it’s now $5, $6,” DeBaun said.
Some consumers who shift away from cafés describe a tradeoff between social routine and cost. Sharon Cooksey, 55, of Greensboro, North Carolina, said she visited Starbucks most weekday mornings for a caramel latte until scaling back last year. She said she first started brewing Starbucks at home and then switched to Lavazza, which she said is about 40% cheaper. Cooksey said she misses the social aspect of visiting the café, including that baristas greeted her by name, but added that she has been surprised to find she prefers the way her homemade coffees taste. “I’ll be damned if it didn’t taste so good,” she said.
The National Coffee Association, meanwhile, said its surveys show coffee consumption is broadly holding steady despite price hikes. Still, the Associated Press report described consumers adapting their routines—cutting visits, changing brands, and in some cases turning to substitutes—as they weigh coffee costs against other rising expenses.