Iced Coffee – Are They Kidding?
I like my cup of coffee in the morning. And now that the temperature been hovering around 100 degrees F, I like my coffee iced. Most mornings I’ll brew a cup of half-caf with my Keurig Single Serve Coffeemaker, throw it in the refrigerator, let it chill for 15 minutes, pour it over ice, add a little milk and enjoy. Simple & cost effective.
However, there are mornings I take the kids to day camp and decide to stop for coffee at one of our local chain coffee houses. You know who I’m talking about.
It’s been hot, even at 8:30am in the morning so I like to order iced coffee but I don’t understand why the iced coffee is more expensive then the hot coffee. Is it the cost of ice? Maybe the extra effort it takes to pour it over ice. Or maybe it’s that the cup is a little bigger. I don’t know.
What I do know is if I buy a cup of hot coffee and bring it home and stick it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to cool off and then fill a glass with ice, I can make four glasses of iced coffee with their 1 cup of hot coffee!
So again I ask, “Why are they charging me more for iced coffee?”
on August 2nd, 2010 at 1:40 pm
ice-coffee !!!!! loved the article lots of chuckles and those salads mmm i have never sent an email back but this one i had to answer thanks !!! you made my day
Glad to help - RG
on August 4th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
“Why are they charging me more for iced coffee?”
Well that’s obvious: Because (some/enough) people are willing to pay it.
I guess so - RG
on August 7th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Many coffee shops brew their iced coffee double-strength so that it doesn’t water down when poured over ice. This, as well as the cost of ice, probably amounts to the increased price.
Hi James, that does make sense however when I take my first sip of coffee shop ice coffee, it doesn’t taste any stronger than when I make my own. Cost of ice is a factor. - RG
on August 12th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
That’s a great question. I have to admit, I never noticed that iced coffee costs more than regular coffee. I always just assumed that it was because there was more liquid volume, but you make a great point RG about the ice.
I guess something I’ll have to look out for…
on August 13th, 2010 at 9:49 am
plastic cups cost more than paper; added cost of ice; not everyone adds milk/cream to their hot coffee; chilled coffee has the cream in it.
Good points although when I buy ice coffee there is no cream in it. But that doesn’t make up for only using 1/4 the amount of coffee. - RG
on September 21st, 2010 at 12:24 pm
If it is THE chain that you are referring to, I believe that the higher cost is because the syrup is included in the drink price. With hot coffee it is easy to get your sugar to dissolve yourself, but with the iced coffee most people need a pre-dissolved dose. If you request syrup in your hot coffee they charge extra for it! There is also the fact that there are a couple extra steps involved in making the drink, so your server is doing more work than for simple hot coffee.
Hi Beverly, all good points yet when I order ice coffee from any merchant including THE one your are referring to, I think, they usually have a pitcher of it in the refrigerator so I have no idea how often they brew fresh. I don’t use sugar in my coffee so they don’t have to add any syrup so it is pretty easy for the server to fill up a cup of ice and pour the premade ice coffee. Thanks for your suggestions. - RG