An expensive cup of Java

Posted on October 15, 2007
Filed Under General |

Geisha coffee plantIt comes from the mountains of Western Panama and coffee aficionados swear by its distinctive taste. The Panamanian brew called Esmeralda is the most expensive cup of Java you can buy today selling upwards of $15 a cup in the few coffee shops fortunate enough to have gotten their hands on the limited supply.

How good is this coffee? A recent article in MacLeans magazine describe its taste as,

Fragrant, floral and tea-like, with notes of jasmine and bergamot-these are some of the qualities connoisseurs ascribe to Esmeralda.

The Esmeralda coffee beans are harvested from a tree known as the geisha discovered only 3 years ago in 2004 in Panama’s high altitudes and originating in Ethiopia. Other than its incredible and unique taste, Esmeralda coffee is expensive because the geisha produces much fewer beans than other coffee plants. Great taste and limited supply makes for a potent combination that easily drives prices upwards. A pound of this specialty coffee is worth as much as $130 according to a recent online auction; this is 100 times more than other coffee beans that at best sell for a bit more than $1 per pound.

So, is this coffee worth such a high price tag? Honestly, I drink as much coffee as the next nerd who has to seat in front of a computer for 12 hours every day. But I drink coffee for its ability to keep me alert during the workday. Other times, I drink coffee for social reasons; I value spending time at the local Starbucks enjoying a cup of Java with friends. But neither of these reasons justify spending $15 dollars for a cup of coffee. I may try Esmeralda at some point in the future out of curiosity and to verify the claims people make about its taste but I definitely won’t be a regular drinker even if it is as good as people say. Unless, of course, I end up with a fortune the size of Bill Gates’s.

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