Can we talk about how third wave shops are charging $8 for a pour over now?

I was looking at an old receipt from a coffee shop in Denver from 2017 and a single origin pour over was $4.50. Last week I walked into a place downtown and the same thing was $7.75 plus tax. I get that beans cost more and rent went up but that jump happened fast. It got me thinking about what we are actually paying for now. Is it the skill of the barista or just the vibe of the place? I found a blog post from a roaster in Portland that broke down their pricing and it showed the actual cost of goods was under a dollar per cup. The rest is all overhead and margin. Has anyone else seen their local shop push prices way up over the last couple of years?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charlie2mo ago

Gosh, I read somewhere recently that a big part of that price is just the rent on the retail space these days. The actual beans and labor might be cheap, but the landlord's cut sure isn't.

morganhill2mo ago

Pretty sure rent's been high forever but coffee prices shot up way faster, so maybe it's more on the roasters and supply chains.

kaid592mo ago

Yeah, I feel that on the coffee. I swear my local shop keeps raising prices and I'm over here thinking "did a bean go to college or something?" It's funny cause I can't even blame the roasters - I'd probably charge more too if people kept lining up. But man, the rent thing is real. I'm paying more for my shitty apartment than some people do for their mortgages, and I bet that's exactly what's creeping into every latte I buy. Guess I'll just keep drinking my sad office drip coffee and pretending it's fine.