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Americans are drinking less coffee, more K-Cups

Americans are drinking less coffee, which may be good for their health but the reason why is bad for their wallet and the environment, too.

A new report in Reuters says Americans are “spending more money on coffee than ever before, but for the first time in six years, they will be drinking less of it.”

The reason? The staggering boom in K-Cup popularity. 

Americans are “brewing only what they intend to drink” when using K-Cups, the report said, which reduces the amount of wasted coffee that is inevitably thrown out when a pot is brewed. 

“Right now we’re losing the sink as a consumer,” said Pedro Gavina, owner of the California-based roaster Gavina & Sons. 

Currently, more than a quarter of American households own single-serve brewing machines, but Americans are only drinking 1.85 cups a day, the lowest level since 2010, according to the Reuters report.

At the same time, we are spending more money on coffee. Market research from the firm Mintel said Americans spent a “record” $11.9 billion on coffee in 2014. How is this possible?

As we’ve said before, K-Cups (and single-serve brewing in general) are more expensive than brewing coffee pots at home.

But if the lines at one of the four Starbucks within a 1-block radius of the amNewYork offices suggest anything, it’s that New Yorkers are at least still desperately attached to brewed coffee, or at least “coffee beverages” like Frappuccino’s and Caramel Macchiatos.