At what I consider a &quot;nice&quot; coffee place, I&#x27;m paying for a better cup of coffee (preferably roasted in-house or nearby, and a few days ago rather than months ago). What you said is true, but there is some coffee that&#x27;s priced with a lower relative markup for the drink you actually get.<p>Starbucks bulk-roasts their coffee, and they use darker roasts than most independent roasters (ensuring consistency across locations), which allows their beans to have a much lower per-unit cost.