Coffee hasn't been this expensive in decades—see how much prices have risen since 1985 in one chart

Coffee prices were already rising following poor harvests last year when the U.S. added new tariffs on coffee imports in April. Those tariffs have since been rolled back, but prices at grocery stores and cafés are still high, leaving many shoppers wondering why a simple cup of coffee costs so much.

As of September, roasted coffee sold in stores cost about 41% more than it did 12 months prior, rising from an average of $6.47 to $9.14 per pound, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

While prices can swing by roughly a dollar within a year during volatile periods, the nearly $3 increase in the most recent BLS data is unusually steep — and consumers are taking notice.

“This is ridiculous,” 52-year-old Chuck Smith said in a TikTok video in August in which he showed receipts for the 38.2-ounce tub of Maxwell House ground coffee he buys at his local Walmart in Indiana, which had nearly doubled in price to $21.44 in under a year.

Smith says he filmed the clip spontaneously in the grocery aisle after noticing the price hike. “It was just me in the moment,” he told CNBC Make It, adding that the reaction “captured what a lot of folks are feeling.” Walmart and Kraft Heinz, the maker of Maxwell House, did not respond to requests for comment.