Coffee is a delicacy that millions of people drink every day. Though most people are ok with a roast that they can get at their local grocery store or coffee shop, some prefer coffee that is a bit rarer. There are some truly rare and unique coffees out there, and we want to talk about the most expensive coffee.
What Is the Most Expensive Coffee?
The most expensive coffee that you can buy is called Kopi Luwak. This coffee is expensive due to how it is produced and the very small quantities made each year. This coffee costs anywhere from $150 to $600 for less than a pound of beans. The beans are chosen from the partially digested scat of the Indonesian Palm Civet, a small animal that eats the raw beans and then excretes them.
The beans are then harvested, they are cleaned, and then they are roasted. These beans are very expensive due to the fact that they are so hard to get and to the fact that they are harvested in such small quantities. You also have to consider that the civets are very fickle creatures, if they do not do what you want them to do, they are not going to produce the amount of coffee that is needed.
What Makes Coffee Expensive?
There are a few different things that affect the price of coffee. The first is rarity. This means how hard it is to get that particular coffee. If you are dealing with a coffee that is very small in terms of production, it will cost more than coffee that is easy to produce and easy to get. Another factor is going to be the production method.
If the coffee is very easy to produce and does not take a ton of work to make or process, it will cost less. You also have to consider import costs when determining the cost of any particular coffee. A good example would be the most expensive coffee we have already mentioned compared to Folgers.
The Kopi Luwak coffee is dependent on the civets and how they eat and digest the beans. If there are fewer civets, or they do not digest as many beans as needed, the amount of coffee you have will be much less. Folgers, on the other hand, has a relatively easy and simple process for making and distributing it.