There was some interesting research last month which compared the amount of money we spend on our daily cup of coffee, and the electricity we use daily to power our homes and appliances. The results are quite surprising. It appears that most coffee drinking Brits are forking out more money on their coffee than on their annual electricity bill!

It has been estimated that a heavy coffee drinker is likely to drink around 21 cups of coffee in a single working week which could end costing around £2,000 a year if bought from a coffee shop each time. This includes some household favourites such as filter coffee, instant coffee, cappuccino, latte and espresso.

Even the average coffee consumer will spend £452.28 a year on drinks from coffee shops compared to £424 a year on electricity.

What makes this even more fascinating is the fact that on a regular basis we hear about how energy providers are increasing their rates and that is followed by the onslaught of complaints by consumers who feel they are being ripped off, but there has only been a small amount of coverage regarding the rising cost of coffee. What’s more, consumers still seem to find the price of coffee acceptable. It remains the second largest traded commodity in today’s world and in 2006 it would have cost you around $0.60 (£0.39) per lb whereas today you can expect to pay around $3.70 (£2.38) per lb.

There are ways to reduce the amount we spend on coffee without cutting on quantity or quality. Making your coffee at work using one of the many cost-effective Bean to Cup Coffee Machines available, rather than taking a trip to the coffee shop every morning is one of the options. This will reduce the cost and can also be a less stressful way to enjoy your daily caffeine dose.

The research also revealed that we collectively consume around more than 511 million cups of coffee a week as a nation. Of that 511 million, around 4 in 10 of us will purchase our coffee from a high street coffee vendor such as Costa coffee or Starbucks, costing on average £1.92. Typically the rest will either make a cup in the office, at work or at home using a bean to cup coffee machine or perhaps with instant coffee.

So who do you think consumes more coffee; men or women? The research showed that in fact men are the bigger coffee drinkers, consuming on average eight cups of coffee in a working week compared to just six cups of coffee for females. Males are also a third more likely to grab a quick cuppa on the way to work, during the early morning commute.

It would also seem that with age comes an acquired taste for coffee, with over 55’s drinking an enormous fifteen cups of coffee a week, and 18-24 year olds having an average of just seven cups.

A final nugget of useful coffee information - if you are looking to find a group of coffee lovers to converse with, then it’s worth looking in the West Midlands as the research also showed they appear to be the biggest caffeine addicts in the UK, drinking on average fifteen cups of coffee.