Coffee culture correlates with voting? What does that mean in Rhode Island?

I'm generally leery of studies that rely on Google searches to draw conclusions. It seems a stretch that online searches predict behavior.

Who among us hasn't searched for something out of curiosity? Many of those somethings have no relation to our lives. Or maybe they do? Let's discuss.

Coffee and politics

The subject today is a new study declaring there is a clear correlation between a state's political leaning and its overall coffee culture. It comes from Coffeeness, a website and coffee resource with coffeemaker reviews, recipes and a barista blog.

It concludes that Democratic-leaning states show a stronger affinity for coffee overall. It also says that Democratic-leaning states generally have more coffee shops per capita.

The Northeast and Pacific regions emerged as the nation's coffee hotspots with coffee-loving states named as Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York in the East; and California, Washington and Hawaii in the West. Massachusetts rated 89 on a "coffee obsession score." New York ranked 83 and Connecticut 81. Rhode Island is third in New England with a 60 on the coffee obsession scale. That compares with Ohio at 61 and New Jersey at 67.

The numbers are different in the south with a lowly 3 for Mississippi's coffee obsession; 17 for Arkansas and 16 for Kentucky. Florida is at 38 which makes me think snowbirds from Rhode Island and Massachusetts raised that number.

The study's authors conclude that Southern states, which tend to vote Republican, showed lower levels of coffee consumption.

They call it "a surprising correlation between political affiliation and coffee consumption in the United States."

Coffee doesn't rule in the South?

Various factors could contribute to the lower levels of coffee mania in southern states, they suggest. Those include climate as a hot espresso or latte isn't as appreciated in the heat.

They also cited accessibility, saying there's no abundance of coffee shops in Southern states. Coffee shops are more popular in big cities like Portland and New York City.

They also named the Southern tea culture as a reason adding the South is known for its love of sweet tea. Is there no room for coffee? Maybe not.

Methodology

How did Coffeeness do their Google search data analysis?

They examined Google search volumes for coffee-related terms referring to both home and coffee shop consumption, including "espresso machine," "coffee maker," "coffee grinder," "coffee near me" and just plain "coffee."

They divided the total sum of the results for each state by the number of residents in that state to find out the number of searches per capita. They assigned between 1-50 points to each state with 50 representing the highest number of searches per capita.

They also did a "Coffee Shop Density Analysis" using various sources to find out the number of people per coffee shop in each state. They assigned 1-50 points to each state, with 50 being the highest number of people per coffee shop. To get their final results, states were ranked based on these factors, creating a comprehensive "coffee obsession" score.

The results were then cross-referenced with typical voting patterns in presidential elections. Thus, the correlation between political affiliation and coffee consumption in the United States. Big coffee drinkers lean in to vote Democratic.

Disclaimer

The study aims to provide insights into cultural and consumer trends rather than make political statements, says Coffeeness.

But they do make this conclusion: "Our research reveals a fascinating link between political leanings and coffee culture in America. While coffee lovers can be found in every state, there's a clear trend showing that Democratic-leaning states are more coffee-obsessed than their Republican counterparts. The data shows a striking divide, with blue states dominating the top of our rankings."

Coffee milk + Dunkin'? New latte is what RI fever dreams are made of

How coffee obsessed is RI?

"Rhode Island might be the smallest state, but they're brewing big!" That's from a study from 2022 by Clever Real Estate that named Providence the 5th Best Coffee City in America.

They just updated that study for 2024 and Providence now ranks a still very respectable No. 6 among The Best Coffee Cities in the U.S. The city has 17.3 coffee shops for every 100,000 residents. That surpasses the average city in the study, which has 12.6. Portland Oregon came in at No. 1 with 26.2 coffee shops per 100,000 residents.

They also added this interesting detail about our hometown: "With 8.07 donut shops per 100,000 residents, the most in the study, Providence has 304% more donut shops per capita than the average city, which has just 2 per 100,000 residents."

Providence stands out as the highest-ranking city with a preference for Dunkin’ over Starbucks. The top five cities with the most Dunkin’ coffee lovers are led by Providence at No. 1; Hartford at No. 2; and Boston at No. 3. Baltimore ranked No. 4 while Chicago came in at No. 5.

As for price, Providence ranks low but that's good.

"In Providence, indulging in a cappuccino comes at an average cost of $4.39, presenting a more budget-friendly option than the $5.16 coffee drinkers would pay in the average city in our study," wrote Clever. "Providence coffee is a noteworthy 15% lower than the average cost nationwide."

The worst 5 coffee cities are all in the South, echoing the politics study. They are Houston, Texas, Memphis, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia, San Antonio, Texas and Dallas, Texas. Houston is home to just 4.9 coffee shops per 100,000 residents.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: States that vote blue drink more coffee, says study from Coffeeness