The monsoon is one of those seasons where you can really appreciate a delicious cup of coffee. Check out our list of the most expensive coffees in the world.
1. Black Ivory: $1,500 per pound
Photo Courtesy: Black Ivory Coffee
Made with Thai Arabica whole roasted beans, this coffee originates from Thailand and is quite popular for its incredibly smooth and rich flavour. And do you know what gives the coffee its smooth, flavourful texture? Elephant droppings! It’s no joke. The coffee beans are fed whole, to the elephants, who ferment the beans with their digestive enzymes, finally passing it out in their droppings. It takes almost 33 pounds of coffee beans to make just 1 pound of Black Ivory Coffee, making it extremely rare.
Another interesting blend, the Kopi Luwak or Civet Coffee comes from Indonesia. It is made from arabica cherries that have been partially digested and excreted by the Indonesian Civet cat. The coffee cherries ferment as they pass through the civet, giving it a rich, varied texture. However, despite its popularity, the coffee’s cherries are quite difficult to cultivate, which often leads to fraud as producers use other animal droppings instead of the civet.
Cultivated in the hilly Huehuetenango region in Guatemala, El Injerto was first produced in 2003 by a father-son duo Arturo Aguirre Sr. and Arturo Aguirre Jr. One of the reasons why this coffee is so popular is because everything from the cherries to the parchment filers, is all produced by the farmers and not bought from anyone or any place. With a unique washing process to improve the quality of the grain, the coffee grains are broken down twice which gives it a sweet delicate, fruity taste.
Another family-based coffee, the Ospina coffee was started by the Ospina family in 1835. Grown in the Andes’ volcanic and rich mountain slopes, the coffee is made using only the rarest Arabica Typica Beans. Demanding more attention, these beans are best to be shade-grown which the farm grows under the shady canopy of the tropical forest. The coffee is well known for its rich authentic flavour and superior quality.
One of the oldest coffees in the world, the St. Helena coffee is grown on the remote volcanic island– St. Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean where Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled in 1815. The coffee is cultivated from a special green-tipped Arabica bean that is exclusive to St. Helena which makes exporting the coffee quite difficult, resulting in the heavy price tag.
