For many of us, there’s more in a cup of coffee than a rousing jolt of caffeine. There’s comfort. There’s community. There is, perhaps, even a sense of identity. That may be true for none of us more so than millennials, whose insatiable jones for java, it seems, is behind a global surge in demand for coffee, bringing it to an all-time high.

Coffee consumption worldwide among those 19 to 34 — especially in the United States, the leading consumer of coffee, but also in Brazil and China — has more than offset a mild decline in demand for the evil bean among the older generations, according to data cited by Bloomberg.

Interestingly, this increased demand is occurring just as global coffee supply is tightening, driving up the price of Arabica coffee.

A few interesting takeaways about millennials and coffee, according to research from Datassential and the National Coffee Association, cited by Bloomberg:

1: Millennials now account for 44 percent of total U.S. coffee consumption.

2: Daily coffee consumption among those ages 18 to 24 has risen from 34 percent in 2008 to 48 percent in 2016. Among those 25 to 39, in the same period of time, it has risen from 51 percent to 60 percent. Meanwhile, it declined among those age 40 and up.

3: Millennials born around 1982 (so, those in their mid-30s) started drinking coffee, on average, around age 17.1. That sounds pretty young until you hear that those born after 1995 (21 and younger) started when they were about 14.7 years old.

Oh, those crazy, coffee-loving kids.

Related Links:

After Three Bad Nights of Sleep, Coffee Can't Do Anything for You

7 Tips for Making the Best Coffee Ever

Coffee Talk: Where to Find Great Cups Across the Country

Photo: iStock