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NYers Will Sell Kidneys To Sate Their Iced Coffee Addiction
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 11, 2012
Modified Jul 11, 2012
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James Thilman / Gothamist
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 11, 2012
Modified Jul 11, 2012
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We were always under the impression that iced coffee was a harmless summertime indulgence. But according to the Post, iced coffee has become a year-round necessity for New Yorkers. It's an expensive addiction that has even ensnared one of America's greatest living actors: “Philip Seymour Hoffman has never gotten a hot coffee, ever. Even in the dead of winter,” said Jonathan Rubinstein, owner of Joe Coffee. “He thinks it just tastes better, and doesn’t enjoy the experience of hot coffee." And it probably doesn't even cost him $1,000!
According to market research company StudyLogic, New Yorkers are consuming the most cups of iced coffee in the country, with sales increasing nearly 17 percent around these parts from 2010 to 2011. In the summer of 2011, NYers spent roughly $31 million on iced coffee beverages, which is expected to rise even higher this year. But forget the statistics, and let the quotes from various coffee connoisseurs and peddlers convince you: “Once it’s hot and humid, people drink iced coffee all hours of the day in New York,” said James Freeman, CEO of Blue Bottle Coffee. “In San Francisco, it’s more of an afternoon drink.”
“For a New York lifestyle, I don’t think it’s too much to spend," said Craig Turpin, a producer-editor who spends around $10 a day on his two cups of iced joe. We don't know when this became a NY lifestyle vs. San Francisco lifestyle argument, but here we are. West Coasters won’t imbibe iced coffee on a warm day in October (according to someone...?), but “in New York, if it’s hot, they want iced coffee, and they don’t care if it’s October or June,” Freeman said. Take that, invisible iced straw man! Considering what a detour this iced coffee story took, we're just surprised nobody tried bringing up a certain charismatic television MILF as evidence of its growing popularity:
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addiction
drinks
iced coffee
obsession
phillip seymour hoffman
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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