According to the National Coffee Association’s Coffee Drinking Trends 2011 Survey, the percentage of young Americans between 18-24 years old drinking coffee daily is up 9% when compared to last year’s figures of 31%. Some of the survey participants claimed that the increase was due to more positive attitudes about finances following the global economic crisis.

The study, which the NCA has been conducting annually since 1950, was done online from mid-January through mid-February, and more than 2,800 randomly selected people aged 18 and over participated.

The study also indicated that there was an increase among coffee lovers in the consumption of more expensive gourmet coffees, including espresso-based drinks as well as regularly brewed coffee.

Many major coffee companies offer single-serve brewed coffee, which requires specific machines that quickly brew only one cup of fresh coffee. This trend has become increasingly popular especially in offices and restaurants. Despite frequent usage, the survey indicated that only 7% of the participants owned a single-cup coffee brewing system.

According to Michael Edwards, managing partner with ART Marketing Insight, gourmet coffee is really important to the coffee connoisseur. For those with more simplistic tastes, coffee may well be just a cup of java, but whatever magic it weaves, most of us couldn’t consider waking up and facing the day without a few cups of the brew. Passed down from Arabian culture, those fine beans have delighted countless generations and no doubt will continue to do so for many more to come.