Cream and Sugar, Please…

Is coffee part of your morning ritual?

Based on recent data (2025–2026), about 66 percent of American adults drink coffee every day. Approximately 86 percent of those who drink coffee every day, drink it first thing in the morning. This means that roughly 56-57 percent of all American adults are drinking coffee in the morning.

Making my first cup of coffee (which means putting a Starbucks Verona pod into my Keurig) is the first thing I do every morning around 6:30 or 7. Currently, I drink it with three tablespoons of sugar-free chocolate caramel creamer and sometimes a half packet of Splenda for a little extra sweetness.

Although many of my social media friends think I must drink gallons of coffee every day, I don’t. I am currently drinking about three big cups (12 ounce). I usually drink two at home and one iced espresso (these hot days) from Starbucks — yes, it is ruining my budget, but that is one of my few extravagances.

For some people, the entire coffee ritual is as simple as a black coffee at home. For others, it’s a string of add-ins, modifications, and seasonal flavors at a local coffee shop that becomes quite a mouthful! In fact, there are now “dupes” you can find online for coffee shop drinks if you want to save calories or fat or sugar. Those tend to be even longer!

Did you know that Americans on the average use 6.9 words to place a coffee order? Multiply that by a full line of customers, and you could be waiting a while.  It’s a good thing many coffee shops now have mobile ordering!

 

Some fun facts about coffee orders:

States with the longest coffee orders:

Alabama – 8.8 words
Louisiana – 8.3
North Carolina – 8.2
Georgia – 8.2
Florida – 8.1
And….the research shows that nearly 1 in 10 residents (9 percent)  in Alabama stretch their order into 16 words or more.

States with the shortest coffee orders:

Virginia – 5.4 words
Ohio – 5.7
Missouri – 5.9
Colorado – 6.1
Nebraska – 6.1

How often people buy coffee out:

West Virginia leads, with 66 percent purchasing coffee out at least once per week.
New Mexico trails at 28 percent.
The national average is 45 percent.

Coffee costs:

Iowa pays the most, averaging $6.93 per order.
Ohio spends the least, at $4.99.
The average cost across all states is  $5.97.

Gen Z spends about $6.40, millennials $6.15, Gen X $5.80, and baby boomers $5.00. Whether from discounts or simpler preferences, older generations pay less for their cup. I suspect they also might go to less expensive places. But not I!

Sweetener:

Mississippi likes it the sweetest with 2.4 teaspoons on average.
Illinois adds the least at 1 teaspoon.
The national average is 1.5 teaspoons.

Drip Coffee or No? 

Oregon coffee drinkers say Yes, to drip (87 percent).
Arkansas says No (61 percent).
Nationally, 73 percent of respondents said they drink drip.
Drip coffee is especially popular in the West, with both Colorado (86 percent) and Arizona (85 percent) reporting high rates of consumption, along with Oregon. 

More Fun Facts:

Women’s orders run longer at 7.5 words, compared to 6 for men.

Customization matters more to women. 

53 percent say their ideal cup must include cream or milk, making it the most popular add-in.

Women are twice as likely as men to want added flavors (34 percent vs. 17 percent).

Vanilla (20 percent), caramel (17 percent), and mocha/chocolate (10 percent) lead the way when it comes to flavor preferences. 34 percent don’t add any flavor at all.

Men prefer their coffee hot (52 percent), while women lean more toward iced.

Younger adults prefer iced coffee, compared to only 13 percent of people 61 and older.

Lattes are the most popular coffee drink, with 21 percent naming them their go-to drink. Iced coffee follows at 20 percent, just ahead of classic drip coffee at 19 percent. I would assume that mochas (chocolate lattes) are included in the latte count.

Americans are almost evenly split on whether coffee shops should offer separate lines for simple versus complex orders (51 percent in favor, 49 percent opposed). Now, how would simple versus complex be defined, I ask? Men lean toward the idea of separate lines more than women (57 percent vs. 48 percent).

Men might prefer a shorter wait, while women place more value on customizing their drinks.

Coffee drinkers divide almost evenly between preferring coffee shops (49 percent) and making coffee at home (48 percent).

Women lean toward coffee shops (54 percent vs. 42 percent of men). Men prefer making coffee at home (56 percent vs. 43 percent of women).

Pumpkin spice tops the list of seasonal flavors. Peppermint follows , and then sugar cookie.

Nearly a third of Americans avoid seasonal flavors altogether.

What’s Old Is New Again

When I first started drinking coffee as a child (yup), I drank instant with milk and sugar. It needed that milk and sugar! Instant, no thanks. My mother did have one of those fancy silver percolators that she saved for special occasions — like when she hosted bridge club. You know the ones? They made that funny sound, so popular I think there was a song about it, 

Lots of people use Keurigs or similar systems now, but many people use an automatic drip coffeemaker, a pour over system, French press ( I never got the hang of that one), or stovetop coffee pot. But when I visited a friend recently, she had switched out her automatic drip coffeemaker for one of those electric percolators! She said her daughter had one and that they are “in” again. I trust her and her daughter to know these things, so I did think about getting one. None of them had great reviews on Amazon, so I am sticking to my Keurig for now. Or Starbucks….I am on my way. Grande iced espresso, nonfat milk, 3/4 inch splash sweet cream. 11 words.

Thanks to the following website for the info!!!

Jeremy Schaedler – Surety Bond & Contractor Insurance Expert