Coffee Drinkers Paying Up For Higher-Quality Cups Of Joe

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- How much are you willing to pay for your morning cup of coffee?

As CBS 2's Elise Finch reported, a single cup of latte costs $10 at Budin, a Scandinavian coffee bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The drink is a licorice-flavored Danish brew.

"We made it as a treat, a special drink really just for fun," said Budin's owner, Crystal Pei. "It's not something that you come and get every day."

Nevertheless, the cost of joe keeps climbing. Experts say coffee has simply become more popular, and as demand goes up, so do the prices. Also, as consumers become more educated about their java, they're willing to pay higher prices for higher-quality ingredients.

"Our coffee has gotten better and better over the years," said Peter Crippen, owner of Rex Coffee and Sandwiches in Midtown West. "We've sourced it differently. We've prepared it differently.

"If you're making a cappucino or latte and using the milk that we get ... you're dealing with a very high-quality milk, so that's a very expensive part of the whole coffee."

So many coffee drinkers are willing to pay up.

"I've had such good coffee at this point that I don't want a 50-cent cup that tastes like water," said Rebecca Cowley, of Ridgewood, Queens.

Others, however, say they refuse to pay more than $4 for coffee no matter what.

"It would have to be the last cup of coffee in the world," said Nick Butterini, of Midtown West.

Experts say packaging and extras -- fancy to-go cups, lids and stirrers -- also drive up the cost.

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