Good Question: How Much Coffee Do We Drink?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Thursday is National Coffee Day, which made us wonder: how much of it do we really drink?
We first took this question to Minnesota-based Caribou Coffee, since Minneapolis is the only major city in the United States where Starbucks is not king.
"I drink about one large ice coffee a day," said a Caribou Coffee customer.
The average coffee drinker will have nearly two cups a day, and there are plenty of us that do.
About 64 percent of adults in America drink at least a cup of coffee a day.
The number of places you can go to grab a cup has climbed from 2,800 coffee shops across the country 20 years ago, to 29,000 today.
The average person spends $21.32 a week on coffee.
Alan Krohnke is one of the founders of Tiny Footprint Coffee in Brooklyn Center.
"It helps you wake up in the morning, so it becomes really personal, it helps you get your day started," Krohnke said.
Tiny Footprint sells coffee and funds re-forestation efforts in Ecuador. Their slogan: "You buy coffee and we plant trees."
Krohnke says Minnesota's java market is right up there next to other well-caffeinated states, like Washington.
"The population here drinks a lot of coffee and a lot of it's the climate," he said.
It might also be in our blood. Per capita, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland will drink nearly twice as much coffee than we do – and we have South America to thank for most of it.
"On an on-year, a big crop in Brazil … can produce half the world's consumption," Krohnke said.
That is around 60 million of Tiny Footprint's 150-pound burlap bags every year. It is a supply always working to meet a growing demand, especially on a day meant to celebrate.
Doctors seem to agree that coffee can be good for your health. Research has shown that regular coffee drinkers are less likely to have type 2 diabetes, dementia and fewer cases of cancers.
But coffee has not been proven to prevent any of those conditions, and consuming too much caffeine can obviously lead to anxiety and loss of sleep.
