$45 a Month for a Bottomless Cup of Coffee

The Wall Street Journal reports that a new “subscription-model coffee club” is currently in beta testing in NYC. Customers can pay $45 a month for unlimited drip or pour-over coffee, or $85 for unlimited espresso at select coffee shops in the city. One caveat is that customers can only use their membership card to buy one coffee every half hour (likely to prevent sharing the card with others).

Not everyone is into the idea:

Andrew Hetzel, a coffee industry specialist who is a Board Member of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, said he thinks the CUPS model can be popular with consumers but has concerns about the “bottomless cup” concept from the perspective of quality.

“My fear is that flat-rate pricing model will be a disincentive to the use of quality coffee and reduce overall consumption, making the app a poor value for consumers,” said Mr. Hetzel.

As a daily coffee drinker, $45 a month might actually be worth it, though it would really depend on which coffeehouses decide to participate…

Actually thinking about it some more, I probably wouldn’t do this — I’d feel too much pressure to get my money’s worth. What about you other coffee drinkers out there?

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