US Survey Finds Coffee Helps People Be Themselves

A recent survey conducted in anticipation of the coming week’s National Coffee Day uncovered some interesting facts. For one thing, it was discovered that coffee makes a lot of coffee drinkers feel more like themselves. Reported by Reuters, the survey was carried out by the Opinion Research Corporation International (ORC) on behalf of 7-Eleven. Done by phone, the researchers talked to 1009 Americans about the place of coffee in their lives. Not surprisingly, coffee plays a big role, but maybe even a bigger role than we’d thought. It’s no surprise that two out of three Americans drink coffee, but 28% actually drink their first cup within 15 minutes after waking up. They’ve got to have their pot on a timer or someone else must make it for them. We can’t know, because this was one of the many questions either not asked or not reported. Forty percent more get that first sip between 15 minutes and an hour after they first wake up. That corresponds to the finding that 60 percent “need a cup of coffee to start my day.” If this survey is based on a good representative sample, then more than half of us add sugar/sweetener to our coffee (57%). The survey articles didn’t report on any findings about how many add creamer or milk, prefer lattes or other additions to coffee, and it didn’t differentiate between regular coffee and espresso. But it did state we drink an average of 13 cups per week, or almost two a day. The most unusual finding was that 54 percent agreed that "coffee makes me feel more like myself." That seems an unusual way of putting the more common statement that coffee gives energy, jolt, or perks them up, that kind of thing. So are they saying that a third of the US population - or at least 500 citizens anyway - are relying on coffee to feel like themselves? Think about that for awhile over your next cup. Below are three morning coffees to help get you going.