Where the numbers come from
The Coffee Price Index is made by Fresh Cup Magazine, a trade publication for the specialty coffee industry. We read real menus from independent coffee shops across the country and turn them into prices you can compare.
How we collect prices
Once a year we read the public online ordering menus of coffee shops (mostly Toast and Square ordering pages). Every drink, size and add-on is recorded as the shop lists it. We don't survey shops or estimate anything: if it isn't on the menu, it isn't in the index.
Which shops count
The prices on these pages come from independent shops. Chains are tracked too, but left out of these figures so a few big brands don't set the typical price for a whole city.
Which prices count
We use each drink's plain version, with no add-ons, and only when we know its size: the menu states it, uses a common size word, or lists a clear small-to-large ladder. A cappuccino with one price and no size counts as 6 oz. Prices are what's on the menu, before tax and tip.
What "typical price" means
It's the median: half the shops charge more, half charge less. One very cheap or very expensive shop can't pull it around the way an average can.
When a place gets its own page
A city or state gets a page once we have at least 10 prices for a 12 oz latte from its independent shops. Any number based on fewer than 5 prices is marked as a rough read.
Using these numbers
You're welcome to quote and chart the figures on these pages. Please credit "The Coffee Price Index by Fresh Cup" and link to the page you used. For the full dataset, custom cuts or press questions, write to hello@freshcup.com.