The Most Expensive Coffee In The World
The most expensive coffee in the world isn’t actually what you’d expect.
It’s a little different to some industries where you’d expect the most expensive to be the best. It’s not quite that simple in the coffee industry though.
I’ve had to explain a few times to family and friends when they have returned from trips with bags of magical beans that they paid a small fortune for, well… crap (sometimes quite literally).
So fiirstly I have made 2 lists.
The first one is the most expensive coffees in the world from a quality standpoint, these are the costly because of their excellent attributes at origin which are usually purchased by some of the best coffee roasters in the world.
The second list is the most expensive coffees in the world from a well marketed standpoint and although the quality rarely matches the price point they have some unusual quirk.
8 Most Expensive Coffees in the World
Most Expensive Coffee (Quality)
Lamastus Family Estate, Gesha - Panama . $6200/lb (£11200/kg)
Fazenda Santa Ines - Brazil
Huehuetenango - Guatemala
Los Planes, Pacamara - El Salvador
Most Expensive Coffee (Marketing)
Kopi Luwak. $590/lb (£1000/kg)
Black Ivory
Kona - Hawwai
Blue Mountain - Jamaica
For many years, the average person associated coffee with grainy instant powder.
Perfectly perfunctory but not necessarily anything to write home about.
Over the last few decades though, the emergence of high street coffee chains, hipster cafes and specialist gourmet bean retailers have contributed to the rise of aficionados.
Like wine snobs, coffee snobs love to hunt for high quality coffee beans and blends to give them a unique beverage drinking experience.
This means that for them a “posh” coffee refers to more extravagant products than a jar with “Gold Blend” stuck to the label.
Instead, they explore flavour profiles provided by master bean growers, pickers and roasters, who have spent years experimenting with cross breeding coffee plant strains, and nurturing various soil conditions.
Again, just like in the case of wine grapes, the soil conditions which the coffee plant is rooted in can bestow beans with different notes – fruity, sweet, acidic, sour.
Growers can win awards for cultivating truly irresistible single origin beans, whilst roasters can meticulously pick blends which complement each other and provide brews which taste like various fruits, or sometimes even deserts.
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Award winning beans can sometimes lead to limited runs being sold, which in turn can bestow a hefty price tag onto the bag they come in.
What is the Most Expensive Coffee in the World?
What may surprise you however, is that the most expensive coffee in the world is literally, well.. “crap”. Literally. Sort of.
Black Ivory Coffee, is an arabica bean harvested grown in Surin region of Northern Thailand that has been filtered through the digestive tract of an elephant.
Yep, you read that right – a herd of about twenty elephants are given Arabica cherries that are grown at a high altitude, hidden in their favourite food, such as rice, banana, and tamarind.
This is to make sure our long-trunked pals still enjoy the tasty treat whilst enjoying a nutritious meal.
The elephant’s digestive enzymes influences the taste of the bean by causing the protein to break down.
Then, the elephant care-givers have the rather un-enviable job of picking out the leftover beans from the jumbo poop, then hand it to high school students who are paid to wash the dung off then rake and dry the beans.
Despite its unappealing origin, Black Ivory is regarded as oddly alluring, with the taste regarded as a distinctive blend of cacao/chocolate notes with hints of grass and cherry.
Due to its scarcity and its novelty, it goes for a whopping $2,000 per kilogram and is sold by a select number of luxury hotels, who will sell their coffee for around $50 per cup.
Unsurprisingly, Black Ivory has led to questions of animal abuse, but the company has a dedicated social responsibility program, where a significant percentage of profit goes back to caring for the elephants, who have been rescued from tourism programmes.
Black Ivory is significantly kinder than Kopi Luwak – another coffee where the coffee cherries have been partially digested by an animal – in this case the weasel-like Asian palm civet.
Civet coffee is produced in East Timor, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Thailand.
Unlike the fairly free-roaming elephants of Black Ivory, there have been many reports of civets being wild-caught then stuffed into cages and poorly treated.
There is also a significant amount of food fraud occurring within the Kopi luwak micro industry, whilst even the taste of the genuine product is poorly regarded.
Simply put, despite its high price tag and novelty value, civet coffee is an avoidable gimmick. Look for a quality, non-pooped-out cup of Joe, or as animal rights organization PETA say “Cut the crap!”
If you are trying to seek out the the most expensive coffee in the world when judged on quality then take a look at The Best of Panama.
Coffee is grown in many countries throughout the world and each coffee growing country has levels of quality which are usually down to a number of variables like varital of coffee, altitude and the processing once harvested.
Panama has produced some of the most expensive green coffee in the world.
In 2021 a coffee named Nuguo Fermented sold for $2568 per pound.
What is the number 1 coffee in the world?
In terms of coffee’s with the most revenue in the world then all of the big brands are there, Nescafé, Starbucks, McCafé and Tim Hortons all make the list, but what about the best coffee in the world?
Of course, when it comes to taste “best” is fairly subjective.
As human beings, our taste buds are affected by a myriad of factors – genetics, upbringing, life experiences, diet as well as our mood and stress levels can all play a big part.
However, there are some coffees which have stacked up the awards more so than others.
Coffees which experts hold in the highest regard.
The first coffee we have to mention is Hawaii Kona Coffee. The fertile soil on the steep slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualalai volcanoes provides incredibly unique conditions.
These conditions bestow upon the bean a medium body with aromatic, spicy and whiney qualities.
The second coffee on our list is Tanzania Peaberry Coffee, another medium-bodied bright Arabica with delightful fruit-toned acidity.
Grown on Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru, it is extremely rich, deep and gives an initial burst of berries, then saunters around, caressing the drinker’s mouth with an aftertaste of chocolate.
Some roasts give currant flavours, whilst other are sweet and pineapple-like. This is definitely a coffee connoisseur’s drink.
A third coffee worth noting is the delicious Mocha Java coffee, which blends Yemenis Mocha beans with Indonesian Java Arabica to give an optimum balance of smoothness and glowing intensity.
This coffee has a big following, which came about entirely as a happy accident.
Rather than careful selection and experimentation, the two types of bean got mixed up in a shipping incident and the resulting hull breach birthed a great product.
What is the most expensive coffee in the UK?
Sisters Grace and Victoria Sheppard opened up Queens of Mayfair with the intent of offering “the finest produce throughout the menu”.
Served in a goblet with only the most discerning connoisseurs in mind, the “Cup of Excellence”, is a rare and incredible commodity which gives back to the Ethiopian farmers who grow its beans.
Is it worth the £50 price tag? Well that’s up to you.
Why is some coffee so expensive?
There are several factors that can make coffee expensive, including:
Quality: High-quality coffee beans are often more expensive due to their taste, rarity, and production costs. These beans are usually grown at high altitudes, handpicked, and processed with care.
Scarcity: Some coffee varieties are rare and difficult to grow, which can increase their price. For example, Kopi Luwak coffee is made from beans that have been eaten and excreted by civet cats, making it a rare and highly sought-after variety.
Production costs: Coffee beans require a lot of manual labor to produce, from planting and harvesting to roasting and packaging. In some cases, coffee may be grown in remote or difficult-to-access locations, which can increase production costs.
Branding and marketing: Some coffee brands are known for their high-end, premium image, which can drive up the price of their products. Additionally, some coffee shops and cafes may charge more for their coffee due to their location, decor, and other factors that contribute to their brand image.
Overall, the price of coffee can vary widely depending on a range of factors, including quality, scarcity, production costs, and branding.
which country has the most expensive green coffee?
The price of green coffee can vary widely depending on factors such as quality, scarcity, and production costs, and it is difficult to determine which country consistently produces the most expensive green coffee.
However, some of the countries known for producing high-quality specialty coffee beans that can command premium prices include Ethiopia, Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica.
In recent years, some specialty coffee buyers have also been willing to pay high prices for unique and rare coffee varieties, such as the Gesha cultivar.
This coffee is originally from Ethiopia but is now grown in several countries, including Panama, Colombia, and Costa Rica. Gesha coffee can sell for over $100 per pound of green coffee, making it one of the most expensive and sought-after varieties in the world.