Though coffee drinkers may be cutting back on the expensive drinks, they still are consuming as much as they did last year — an average 3.3 cups a day per person, according to a June study by the National Coffee Association of U.S.A.

The study of the $39.5 billion industry also found that number of 18- to 24-year-olds drinking coffee daily dropped to 26 percent from 37 percent in 2007. The New York-based group conducted the study in the spring as gasoline prices were on the rise and many young consumers had to make budget cuts, Alan Kaiser, director of external relations and communications for the association, said.

Coffee drinkers are putting frugality into their blends | Business | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

To bad I never developed the habit of drinking the higher cost “Starbucks” type coffee drinks…It doesn’t offer me the opportunity to cut back…Oh well, anything beats my first cup of Joe. Cooked up by my grandfather, grounds boiled in an enamel pot on the camp house stove at the ranch…The spoon stood up straight in the cup when I stirred in the milk and sugar. Half of the cup was grounds. It made for an interesting introduction to the “pleasures” of coffee consumption. I think it was  four years before I tried another cup.

Yesterday’s family gathering was a lot of fun with minimal squabbling for a bunch of individualists like my family…Here is a slideshow of some of the clan…