Coffee tops water again as America’s most consumed beverage

Coffee once again outran tap and bottled water in Americans’ daily beverage habits, with 66% of adults saying they had coffee in the past day. The Spring 2026 National Coffee Data Trends Specialty Coffee Report also put specialty coffee ahead of traditional coffee, at 47% of U.S. adults versus 42%, a split that shows the category’s biggest gains are coming from style and format, not just volume.

The National Coffee Association said nearly 195 million American adults drink coffee each week, and 73% reported drinking it in the past week. The association’s NCDT, the longest-running study of U.S. coffee consumption, beverage preferences and consumer behavior, is now fielded twice a year. For the spring 2026 wave, data were collected January 5-20 from a nationally representative sample of 1,850 Americans ages 18 and over.

The strongest signal in the report came from younger drinkers. Among adults ages 25 to 39, 69% said they had specialty coffee in the past week, the highest level of any age group. That matters because specialty’s growth has stayed stubbornly younger-skewing: in the 2025 specialty report, 64% of 25- to 39-year-olds drank specialty coffee in the past week. The West also led the country, with 58% past-week specialty coffee consumption.

Espresso-based drinks carried much of the momentum. The National Coffee Association said specialty coffee’s rise was driven by espresso-based beverages, especially lattes and espresso. Past-week espresso-based beverage consumption climbed from 40% in 2022 to 45% in 2026. Over the same span, latte drinking rose from 17% to 21%, while espresso moved from 16% to 20%. In the daily market, the most popular espresso-based drinks were lattes, espresso and cappuccino; among non-espresso drinks, cold brew, frozen blended coffee and nitro coffee led the field.

The report also showed how embedded coffee remains in routine. Eighty-two percent of past-day coffee drinkers had coffee prepared at home, while 28% had it prepared away from home. Hot coffee still dominated with 76% of past-day drinkers, but cold coffee was far from niche at 60%. Eighty-six percent said they drank coffee first thing in the morning, while 38% had it at another time in the morning, 22% in the afternoon and 11% in the evening.

Bill Murray has pointed to coffee’s appeal for flavor, comfort, energy and health associations, while Yannis Apostolopoulos said the data underline how quality, craft and the experience around coffee matter more than ever. With specialty pulling younger adults and espresso drinks pushing deeper into the mainstream, coffee’s lead over water looks less like a one-day quirk and more like the shape of the market.