The High Price Of Coffee

Every time I turn around I'm paying more for a cup of coffee.  I remember when I started drinking Starbucks Coffee in the 1990's I paid 95 cents per cup.  Today that same cup of coffee is $1.95!  Artisan coffees are all the rage.  A few weeks ago I stopped in at Philz, an artisan coffee shop in Encinitas.  A few days ago I visited Swell in Del Mar, and was blown away at the price.  A small cup (and I mean  small) of drip coffee was $2.69.  Fran's small iced coffee (just plain) was $5.00.  When the server rang up the iced coffee we thought there was some mistake in the price, but no, that was the price for a small iced coffee.

Swell is upstairs in the Flower Hill Mall, in the space formerly occupied by Pannikin.  It's a beautiful space, nicely decorated, and every person in the restaurant was on a laptop, except us.  People get their expensive cup of coffee, then sit there for hours and study or work.

Swell is an artisan coffee roasting company, which sells direct trade coffee from around the world, most coffees selling for $19.95 per pound.  Swell has a Mission Beach location in addition to the Del Mar location.  Their roasting facility is in Pt. Loma.

I noticed very high coffee prices on a recent stop in San Francisco, $3.50-$4.00 for a small coffee, and was surprised.  I guess that is going to be the new normal down here as well.  It seems like a steep price to pay, but I have become a coffee snob, I guess, and don't want any watered down coffee shop coffee anymore.  If it's not good, rich coffee, I'd rather not drink it.  I guess I'll just have the bite the bullet and spend a little extra on coffee, one of life's great pleasures for me.