Because prices vary by location, the useful thing to learn is not the numbers but the structure. The relationships between items hold almost everywhere, even when the figures do not.
Here are the patterns worth knowing.
Sizing up beats buying twice
For brewed coffee and cold drinks, the price gap between one size and the next is usually smaller than the volume gap. Two smalls almost always cost more than one large that holds the same amount.
If you know you want a lot of coffee, order it in one cup. The exception is when you genuinely want the second one later — a large going cold is worse value than a small you actually drink.
Multipacks beat singles, with a caveat
Donuts by the half-dozen and dozen, Timbits by the box, muffins by the six — the per-unit price falls every time you step up. This is consistent.
The caveat is waste. Baked goods are meaningfully better on the day they are made. A dozen bought for two people is cheaper per donut and worse value in practice, because a third of it gets thrown away. The multipack only wins if you actually eat it.
Combos usually win if you wanted the whole combo
A sandwich-plus-drink-plus-side bundle is typically priced below the sum of its parts. That is the point of a combo and it generally holds.
Where it stops working is when you did not want one of the components. Paying a few units extra for a drink you will not finish is not a saving. Buy the combo when it matches what you were going to order anyway, not because the word "combo" implies a discount.
Brewed coffee is the cheapest caffeine
Across essentially every location, the price ladder for hot drinks runs in the same order:
- Brewed coffee — cheapest
- Speciality sweet drinks
- Espresso-based drinks — most expensive
If cost per cup matters more than anything else, brewed coffee in the largest size is the answer, every time. An Americano gives you a stronger flavour for a moderate step up. Lattes and mochas are the most expensive way to get caffeine.
Cold drinks carry a premium
Iced and frozen drinks are consistently priced above the hot equivalent. Extra preparation, ice, different cups, and higher seasonal demand all feed into it. Nothing you can do about it — just know that switching from hot to iced is a price increase, not a lateral move.
Bakery items are the value floor
Muffins, bagels and cookies are usually the cheapest things in the case, and a bagel with a coffee is one of the lower-cost ways to get a filling breakfast if the hot breakfast sandwiches feel expensive.
Apps and rewards are the real lever
This is the one that beats all of the above. Chain apps run rewards programmes, one-off offers and periodic promotions that move prices far more than any structural choice you make at the counter.
If you visit regularly, the app is worth more than every tip in this article combined. If you visit twice a year, it is not worth the notifications.
Rule of thumb: choose the drink type for cost, the size for value, the multipack only if it gets eaten, and let the app do the rest.
What not to bother optimising
Some things are not worth thinking about. The price difference between flavours of the same item is usually negligible. Ordering in a particular sequence changes nothing. And chasing a marginally cheaper branch across town costs more in travel than it saves.
Spend the attention on the four or five structural decisions above and ignore the rest.