What's so expensive about a $500 cup of coffee? $803 a pound coffee. What does it taste like?

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Boutique coffee has been popular all over the world in recent years, but if a cup of coffee costs $75 (about 500 yuan), where is it expensive?

When Panama's award-winning coffee beans started bidding, everyone wanted to know how high the price would go.

This is because last year's bidding for top coffee beans in Panama set a staggering price of $803 (5000 yuan) per pound.

The coffee beans, called Elida Geisha (Alida Geisha), are grown on family estates in volcanic forest reserves west of Central America.

At that time, Alida Geisha coffee beans sold only 100 pounds of coffee beans at auction to buyers such as China, Japan and Taiwan, as well as Klatch Coffee in Los Angeles.

Klatch Coffee gets 10 pounds and sells it for $75 a cup, featuring "the most expensive coffee in the world".

Darrin Daniel, a boutique coffee expert, said that many people are willing to spend a lot of money on good red wine or brandy, while high-quality coffee should be treated the same way.

In general, the price of coffee is very cheap, about less than $1 per pound, mainly due to oversupply.

At present, there are dozens of coffee competitions and auctions around the world, such as the coffee industry Olympic "Cup of Excellence" and the "Best of Panama" dominated by Alida geisha, all of which have attracted international attention.

The price of coffee that wins big prizes in these competitions is, of course, much higher than $1 a pound. These coffees may not sell for $803, but they probably cost between 100 and 300 yuan per pound.

Alida Geisha comes from a small farm in Lower Bockett (Bockett) in Panama and is run by the fourth-generation Lamastus family. Alida is the name of the matriarch of the farm. After she lost her husband at a young age, she supported the whole family on her own.

The Ramaster family has been growing coffee for more than 100 years, but Alida geisha is a brand new coffee. For a long time, the family struggled and lost money, growing onions, berries and melons in addition to coffee to make ends meet. Wilford Lamastus Jr, a fourth-generation coffee farmer in Ramaster, said: "anyone with a discerning eye knows that we are losing money and we have to stop it."

But instead of giving up, the Ramasters doubled their bets on coffee beans. Little Weaford's father helped set up the Panamanian Fine Coffee Association and joined other local coffee farmers in hosting the best coffee competition in Panama.

In 2004, Hacienda La Esmeralda, another local farm, happened to get a rare geisha coffee, and all local coffee farmers tried to grow a geisha coffee that excelled in the competition and fell at $21 a pound.

Geisha coffee originated in the Gesha district of Ethiopia in the 1930s and sounds exactly like a Japanese geisha. These coffees traveled to Costa Rica and Panama in the 1960s. Panamanian coffee farmers have found that geisha coffee is hardy and resistant to certain diseases, but it produces very little coffee and does not taste good.

As a result, geisha was ignored for years until the Peterson family at Esmeralda Farm stumbled upon it and discovered the unique flavor of geisha coffee after trial at higher latitudes.

Ric Reinhardt of the Inter-American Fine Coffee Association describes it: "you occasionally drink really delicious coffee in your life, like a note or two, but geisha coffee seems to be a symphony." "

The Lamasters first bought and grew geisha coffee in 2006, and it took eight years for the harvest to begin. Starting in 2018, Alida geisha began to win awards crazily. The best judge in Panama, Michael Perry, the baking master of Klatch Coffee in the United States, gave Alida a score of 97, saying "this is the best coffee I've ever had in my life."

Perry partnered with other buyers to bid for Alida geisha. According to his estimate, with freight and other costs, the final cost is about $1,000 per pound, which can make about 80 cups of coffee per pound, so he also sells each cup of coffee at a high price.

Daniel Walsh, the guest bought a cup of coffee worth more than 2000 yuan at Klatch. "of course you don't spend $75 on coffee every day, but you buy good wine, fine whisky and are willing to pay a lot of money for watches or shoes that you may only wear once," he said. I love coffee. I want to be able to say "I drank that". "

What exactly does Alida geisha taste like?

The Klatch website describes Alida geisha as having the smell of flowers, tea and drupes, and you will taste jasmine, lemon, sugar cane, peaches and almonds.

(source: BBC,unionleader)

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