NEW YORK – The National Coffee Association (NCA) released its annual consumer survey this week, revealing that 59% of Americans said they drink a cup of coffee a day, down from 61% and 63% respectively, for the past two years.

The United States is the world's largest coffee drinking nation and coffee remains the predominant hot beverage, but more people — especially younger consumers — are drinking tea, with the total wholesale value of tea sold in the United States growing from less than $2 billion in 1990 to more than $10 billion last year.

According to the NCA survey, overall coffee consumption tends to skew older, with 72-75% of consumers aged 25 and older drinking coffee weekly, compared to only 60% of 18- to 24-year-olds.

According to another recent survey, by pollster YouGov, coffee and tea are equally popular among 18- to 29-year-olds, with 42% each preferring coffee and tea. This contrasts with more than 70% of those over 65 preferring coffee to tea (only 21% chose tea), and 62% of 45- to 64-year-olds preferring coffee.

Interestingly, at the same time that tea is seeing increased popularity in the United States, the iconically British beverage is seeing sales decline in the U.K. According to Euromonitor, although the U.K. is still one of the largest tea-drinking countries, coming in fifth in terms of per capita consumption.

However, British tea drinkers are brewing less leaves and turning to coffee. Consumption has fallen steadily from about 3.5 pounds per person annually in 2009 about pounds last year. At the same time, coffee consumption increased from just under 2 pounds, to slightly more than 2.5 pounds per person annually.

For more on the potential for tea and coffee sales in the c-store industry, read “Your Cup of Tea” and “Losing Grounds” in NACS Magazine.