Back in the throes of the pandemic, making coffee at home experienced an explosion in popularity. It was a necessity. Coffee shops were closed or offered limited, pick-up only services, and if you needed a caffeine fix, it was on you to make it happen. This led many folks to discover a love for coffee brewing and its many, many rabbit holes. Brewer types, filters, water, ratios, origins and processing methods, the deep dives into making the best coffee were plenty.
But now, as life has more or less returned back to normal—or whatever the new normal is—folks are settling into their old coffee habits, and a new report from the National Coffee Association finds that coffee consumption outside the home has reached pre-pandemic levels.
The findings are part of the NCA’s Fall 2024 National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) report, their semi-annual look at consumer habits in the United States. The largest takeaway from this edition of the NCDT was where Americans were getting their coffee. While at-home coffee still remains supreme among those who consumed the beverage the previous day—holding strong at 81%—coffee away from the house shot up to 36% of respondents, which is the highest level in the NCA’s reporting on the subject since January 2020.
Taken in concert, these numbers show that many past-day coffee drinkers don’t stick to just home or away; Almost one in five state that they drank coffee at home as well as at a cafe.
In total, 63% of those who participated in the survey state they consumed coffee the past day, making it second to only bottled water in terms of beverage popularity. And folks are still hooked on the good stuff, with the report showing that specialty coffee holding at its 13-year high at 45% of all Americans. That trend has been buoyed by cold brew, which was “the most popular non-espresso-based beverage” at 21%. That’s up more than 30% since the January 2024 reporting, due most likely to the seasons changing and many opting for cooler drink options.
So while pandemic-induced home brewing still appears to be going strong, the out-of-home coffee habit seems to be returning. And what is most promising is that they don’t appear to be cannibalizing one another; folks are just drinking more coffee. For more information on the Fall 2024 National Coffee Data Trends report, visit the National Coffee Association’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
