While terms such as "dark roast" and "French press" may be meaningless to the untrained coffee drinker, these words make or break a perfect cup o' Joe for coffee connoisseurs.
For them, spending extra cash on fancy java is worthwhile - if it guarantees better-tasting coffee.
"The difference (in price) comes in the quality of coffee we have," said Andy Meade, a barista at Espresso Royale. "As much as you pay more for it, it's really, really delicious.
"Not all people who need a cup of coffee need to come to Espresso Royale. Not all people have a palate for coffee. Good-quality coffee is in the same league as a good bottle of wine. There are a lot of different versions. It's just how it tastes, how smooth it is."
Espresso Royale and Beaner's Gourmet Coffee buy coffee beans from prime growing locations in tropical climates such as Mexico and Africa.
"We're more expensive, I would say, because of the quality of the beans and where they're from," said Miriam Sunderman, a corporate trainer at Beaner's.
"Our beans are very fresh; they come to us every day. Our coffee is freshly brewed.
"Location is key. Most gourmet coffees get grown at higher altitudes. It's a richer coffee - you don't need to dumb it down with a lot of cream and sugar."
Many of the areas where Espresso Royale obtains beans also are Fair Trade certified, which contributes to both expense and quality, Meade said.
A Fair Trade label indicates the coffee farmer received fair wages for his or her work.
"Fair Trade coffees tend to be medium to light roast," he said.
"It's not much of a taste difference, but I like Fair Trade coffees better than others. It is more expensive, which is why we don't just do the entire batch of beans all Fair Trade."
While the type of roast doesn't dictate price, there is a taste difference among light, medium and dark roasts.
Inexperienced coffee drinkers should begin with light and medium roasts because the taste isn't as potent, Meade said.
"Usually the rule is the darker the coffee, the more the caffeine," he said. "The darker roast has a lot more flavor. The beans are greasier and wetter, so when you brew it, dark roasts tend to be darker in color and have a boldness to them. Dark roast hits you a lot more.
"Light roast is engineered to have more caffeine. It is really smooth and mellow. If it's a good cup of coffee, it tastes good but nothing really jumps out at you. It's just warm and more combined. A light roast, if it's a good one, you shouldn't taste bitterness at all," Meade said.
Customers can compare coffee based on acidity, body, flavor and aroma. Acidity relates to the sharpness of flavor, which usually goes hand-in-hand with the darkness of coffee. A darker roast tends to have more acidity.
Body is the thickness of coffee and can be a flavor detector. Aroma refers to the scent of coffee. It often helps identify the coffee's freshness.
If a pot of coffee has been sitting out for more than two hours, it will have a weak smell and a bitter taste.
"We change our pot every 30 minutes," said Joe Maurer, a manager at 7-Eleven. "The beans are ground fresh before making each pot. We have automatic drip coffee makers and the water drips through the grounds in the filter.
"We generally have seven different flavors - one regular roast and six other flavors. We try to have a flavor of the month from around the world. This month, it's mango passion fruit."
Espresso Royale and Beaner's also use automatic drips. Some coffee shops, such as Rudy Baggs Coffee Roasting Co., 2013 E. Michigan Ave., use a French press, which makes especially flavorful coffee, Meade said.
"Coffee is a little bit better with French press," he said. "The coffee is a lot fresher since the grounds are actually being soaked in water instead of the water running through them. You can seep the coffee to whatever lightness or darkness you want. So you have a lot more control over the final output."
Espresso Royale doesn't use a French press because automatic drips make greater amounts of coffee and allow for a more fuss-free procedure.
"Sometimes I'll whip out (a French press) for some of our regulars, but we don't use it regularly now," Meade said.
"We go through a whole lot of coffee, so we need to be able to make it in large quantities pretty readily. If there was a way to use French presses and get more coffee out of them, we probably would because the coffee's a little bit better."
More expensive than a standard cup of coffee at Espresso Royale or Beaner's are caffeinated drinks such as espresso, cappuccino and latte. The basic differences between the three beverages are the strength and concentration of caffeine.
"Cappuccinos are half coffee and milk and the other half, foam," Sunderman said.
"It's pretty strong-tasting because it's not as much diluted with milk. Lattes are mainly milk and espresso with a little foam. Espresso is just a shot of coffee - it's for really serious coffee drinkers. Probably about three shots of espresso is like having three cups of coffee."
Aside from the quality and variety of coffee drinks, the atmosphere is a factor when choosing a place to buy coffee, Meade said.
Whether going to study or hang out, Espresso Royale attracts business for its ambiance.
"The general crowd that goes to the coffee shop is what makes it," he said.
Although people may not study at 7-Eleven, Maurer said they promote an inviting coffee environment too.
"Our coffee bar still serves," he said. "You can make it the way you want - there's no extra labor involved. You can get a good cup of coffee and don't have to pay premium prices."