The cup of coffee I'm actually drinking right now was an wonderfully affordable $0.90. I work in Newark, NJ and my 10 oz cup came from a wonderful local coffee shop called T.M. Ward's. I'm there nearly every day!

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How much does a regular cup of coffee run in your neck of the woods?

Very little. I bought a gigantic can of Safeway's Columbian ground coffee on sale last week for $5.99. I'll be drinking from that can for at least a month, brewing a 10-cup pot 5-6 days a week. Buying your coffee out isn't exactly penny pinching, now is it???

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When I lived in Philly I used to go to this place that had some sort of crazy slow-drip contraption... I forget the name of the place, something with a 'j.' But they had a $15 cup of coffee that was AMAZING. Something about how the slow-drip made the coffee richer and less acidic. It was seriously mind-blowing.

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In Northern California outside of San Francisco, I've seen it from 1.00 up to $5.00 depending on the restaurant. In a hotel on Union Square, I saw that a (stale) plain bagel and a cup of coffee "breakfast special" was $6.95. Cream cheese was $1.00 extra.

When I was in college in the early 1980s, I helped out on weekends in a cafe owned by friends. It was near a senior center and there was an elderly woman who came in every weekend morning for a cup of tea. They served her the cup, the tea bag, and the little metal tea pot of hot water. She'd make one cup of tea, only, and then when she thought no one was looking, she'd open the lid to the metal tea pot and stir in ketchup, salt and pepper. When her tea was gone, she'd pour the tomato water into her cup and drink that. When I caught on that she was making herself soup, I would bring her a basket of crackers and a little pot of cream as well, for creamier soup. She just beamed. I never thought it was anything other than someone with very little money (e.g., she wasn't cheap) because while she couldn't afford the food, but she always left a tip. Sometimes just a few dimes, but always some change.

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A 12oz cup in my hometown is .50. Granted it isn't anything special, but it isn't bad either. And I suppose it doesn't hurt that the town is a small, rural farming community. The old farmers won't pay much more than that!

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I'm lucky enough to work near what's been voted London's best coffee house, Flat White www.flat-white.co.uk It is expensive, with an 8oz flat-white (like a strong antipodean cappuccino costing around £3) but definitely definitely worth it. The fact that its fair trade and organic makes the expensive brew easier to swallow!

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I'm sorry, but these prices are a sham. Knowing the disastrous state of the economy in Russia right now, if a cup of ordinary coffee cost $10, they wouldn't be making coffee in Russia because *nobody can afford to drink it*.

I live in Boston, one of the most expensive cities in the US, and a cup of coffee at Dunkin's is about $1.50, same as Starbucks, same as the indie coffeeshop across the street.

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I pay $4.00 a month for the office coffee fund. I drink about 3-4 8oz cups a day, 5 days a week. 4 weeks * 5 Days * 3 cups/day = 60 cups/month so I sit around 7 cents a cup. We have the same Bunn coffee maker most dinners use and it makes a good strong cup without a lot of bitterness.

It is more likely that I spend more per month on Stevia to sweeten my coffee than the coffee itself.

I think the intended question was how much at a coffee cart etc. Well I live in the Boston area so coffee is largely defined by Dunkin Donuts. I think it is right around ~$2 a cup.

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Well, there's many options in suburban New Jersey. It's not so much the plain cup of coffee, because that's around $2 at Starbucks. It's actually what you get. So, if I get my venti skinny CDL, well...hello, $4.65. As a college student, I can say that the Bucks is a rare treat. I usually go to Quick Chek for hot coffee ($1.70 for a ginormous one) or 7-11 (yes, THAT 7-11) for iced coffee (Columbian Unsweetened) which runs me about $2.50 for a big one.

At school, however, I definitely brew my own. And it's 8 o'clock brand hazelnut in the pot at all times. Probably costs more for Splenda and soy milk than for the coffee itself. I'm also perfectly okay with my milk cold and liquid as opposed to hot and frothy. Pointless, if you ask me.

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"I'm sorry, but these prices are a sham. Knowing the disastrous state of the economy in Russia right now, if a cup of ordinary coffee cost $10, they wouldn't be making coffee in Russia because *nobody can afford to drink it*."

Moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world, or even the most expensive according to some.

I'm sure the average locals don't frequent the high end cafes in the center of Moscow where the $10 price comes from.

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In Beijing, I once drank a $5 dollar Starbucks latte (which cost more than half the daily pay of the per capita income of the average Chinese worker). I made sure to take some pictures in front of the 9 dragon wall to document the sacrilege.

I think the coffee producers could use a pay raise and would gladly pay 10-30% more to ensure they make a living wage.

I usually pay around $2 for a 16-20 oz Starbucks coffee.

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There's a reason Tim Horton's is so popular here - cheap coffee. Country Style and Coffee Time compete with the price point as well, but don't have the advertising muscle.

I usually brew my own though, at $10.50/lb for fair trade green beans it works out to around $0.70 per cup (since I tend to pour large).

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My regular latte costs me about two euros, or about 2 dollars and 60 cents. But it is served on a little tray with a cookie, small glass of water by the barista of my local shop. In case you're wondering, it looks like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelcray/261558536/

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In Lincoln, Nebraska, a cup of fair trade, organic, locally-roasted coffee costs %1.50 for a 12-ounce and %2.00 for a 20-ounce. It's cheaper if you get it in a mug to stay, only $1.25 with refills for $.25. That sounds actually like a bargain for the quality! Starbucks, of course, is slightly more expensive, and not as good.

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@Gobo: You've obviously not been to Moscow lately, everything there is horribly expensive and their economy is doing just fine. How much of it the average man sees is another story.

@most others: It's really not fair to compare a family size tin of pre-ground coffee, brewed through a percolator into a half gallon pot with an espresso or cappuccino from most stores in Paris or Rome. Sure there are rare gems in Manhattan, but for the most part I've found it's harder to find a *bad* coffee in most major European cities (London being the exception to the rule).

That being said though, high prices in Europe and a weak US dollar only further skew this. Maybe it would be better outlining how much it cost a coffee cost in relation to something else like a sandwich? big mac? beer?

And if you've ever read anything about Starbuck's strategy and why they have such ridiculously large coffee sizes, it's because the majority of the cost in making the product is in the time taken by the barista to serve you. It takes almost the same amount of time to make a regular or a grande, but the price they can charge goes up exponentially.

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@Glenn, no, I haven't, but I'm well aware of how insanely expensive Moscow has become. That still doesn't make a $10 cup of coffee plausible whatsoever.

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Still gotta go with the NYC Greek Diner blend at a buck for the 10oz "It's Our Pleasure to Serve You" signature cup. Haven't been let down yet. Try the little deli on the corner of on W.78th or 79th & Amsterdam. Great cuppa cawfee...

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I'm lost with this post. To be honest, this sounds like editorial laziness to pander for feedback where ultimately all of us learn nothing.

Worse, it smacks of plagiarism from a month-old Forbes story:
http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/23/cities-coffee-expensive-forbeslife-cx_zg_0724expensivecoffee.html?feed=rss_popstories
All the Russia comments already had a home.

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I'm from Oslo and a cup of regular black coffee here averages around 25kr ($4,39 http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=25NOK+in+%24&btnG=Search ) Although as I'm at university where the coffee places are heavily subsidised - there a cup of coffee (of varying quality, I must add) is only 10kr. which is only $1.75!

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