World's Most Expensive Coffee Ranking 2018 Latest Edition - Most Valuable Geisha Coffee Beans Priced Over Thousand Dollars

The World's Most Expensive Coffees: The Latest Ranking

No. 1 - 90+ Company's #227 Batch

Origin: 90+ Panama Estate

Price: In this year's sensational online green coffee auction, 90+ Company's #227 batch set a historical record at US$5,000 per kilogram.

This coffee was crafted through a collaboration between Jose Alfredo, who processes green beans at 90+ Panama Estate (transferred from El Salvador), and Chad Wang, winner of the 2017 World Coffee Brewers Championship.

The description for #227 reads:

"Hand-picked fully ripe red cherries, screened for size and float selection, then low-oxygen fermented in an enclosed space with the temperature held at low room temperature — essentially brewing coffee with the air conditioning on."

"Soaked in clean water for approximately 72 hours, then sun-dried. Spread 1-2 layers thick on drying beds and exposed to sunlight for 21 days to create completely unique, distinctive flavors!"

During that 72-hour fermentation, whether the yeast in the environment was naturally captured or specifically selected remains uncertain. In fact, among the 2017 90+ global auction batches, five or six varieties were processed by Jose Alfredo. Tasters reported that some showed unmistakable fermented tofu or soy sauce-like flavor characteristics, believed to come from the different fermentation approaches used.

No. 2 - 90+ Perci Ruby Geisha Coffee Bean

Origin: Panama Geisha Estate

Price: Approximately $1000+ per pound

Hailed by some as the world's best coffee: 90+ Perci Ruby. This sky-high-priced lot comes from 90+ beans at Panama's Geisha Estate, processed with even a patented method — "Ruby Processing," the signature process of the famous specialty coffee trader 90+ Company, said to draw out remarkably rich, ultimate aromas.

Because it was the champion bean at two consecutive World Barista Championships (WBC) in 2014 and 2015, its double-champion halo firmly secures its place on the expensive coffee list.

At a certain coffee shop in Shanghai, a small 180ml cup sold for 1,010 yuan. Perci Ruby, which took the 2014 and 2015 World Brewers Cup and World Barista Championship honors, is a specialty coffee priced at approximately 24,000 yuan per kilogram — about 1,010 yuan a cup.

Perhaps only the truly devoted — or those who treat money like dirt — would drink such sky-priced coffee. Who else would spend that much on 180ml of coffee?

No. 3 - Hacienda La Esmeralda Natural Process Red Label Geisha Coffee Bean

Origin: Hacienda La Esmeralda, Boquete, Panama

Price: In May 2017, at The Best of Panama (BOP) green coffee competition, Hacienda La Esmeralda's natural Geisha reached a record-breaking auction price of US$601 per pound — nearly double the previous auction record. One kilogram of green beans cost as much as 8,900 yuan.

Esmeralda's Geisha green beans were already selling at $50 per pound on May 30, 2006. The flavor and aroma of Geisha are widely praised — the coffee even achieved a high score of 94.6 in COE competitions.

Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha comes in three brands, divided by altitude:

Auction Geisha (ESMERALDA SPECIAL) (Red Label), selected from altitudes above 1,600 meters.

Boquete Geisha (Green Label), selected from 1,600 meters.

(ESMERALDA 1,500) (Blue Label), selected from Geisha grown at around 1,500 meters.

No. 4 - Sophia "Super Geisha"

Origin: Sophia Estate, Volcan, Panama

Price: At the 2017 Best of Panama (BOP) auction, major global buyers competed fiercely for nearly six hours. Sophia, a washed Geisha champion entering the BOP auction for the first time, was purchased by Japan's SAZA Coffee at an astonishing $254.8 per pound (approximately 3,964 yuan per kilogram).

Sophia Estate Background

In 2008, Willem Boot purchased a very high-altitude estate from Ricardo Koyner, owner of the CATUO Estate, and named it Finca Sophia. Sophia sits near the town of Volcan, Panama.

The estate's altitude ranges from 1,900-2,150 meters, making it one of the highest coffee estates in Central America. From the day it was founded, Willem and his partners have been exploring the upper limits of growing world-class coffee at extreme altitude.

The estate is named after Sophia, the goddess of wisdom in ancient Greek mythology, and its logo features a highland pigeon that inhabits the property (called "Torcaza" in Spanish). It is co-owned by Willem and American partner Equator Coffee Roasters, with daily management handled by local Panamanian farm operators.

In the washed Geisha preliminary round, a small incident occurred: an experienced American judge questioned whether this coffee — which received 93+ points from 12 judges — was really washed, its complexity and acid-sweet balance suggesting the flavors came from processing rather than the coffee itself. When the results were revealed, it was a completely washed Geisha, and every stunning flavor came from the plant itself. Judges described intense orange blossom, peach, ripe grape, black currant, bright citrus acidity, berries, effervescent acidity, a syrupy texture, and a long aftertaste.

No. 5 - "Poop" Coffee

Civet "Kopi Luwak" Coffee

Price: Approximately $180 per pound

Civets are omnivores with a taste for coffee cherries — they select mature, full, sweet fruit in the jungle. Kopi Luwak is made when civets eat the cherries and pass them through digestion, after which farmers collect the beans by hand to create the famous coffee.

Elephant Dung Coffee

Price: Approximately $230 per pound

Elephants yield only 1,000 grams of coffee from every 33 kilograms of fruit consumed — far less than most people imagine — which is what makes "elephant dung coffee" so precious. Thailand's Minor Hotel Group introduced it through Anantara Hotels at several luxury properties in northern Thailand, the Maldives, and Abu Dhabi, selling for $25-50 per cup.

No. 6 - St. Helena Coffee

Origin: British St. Helena Island in the Atlantic Ocean

Price: Approximately $150 per pound

St. Helena Green Tipped Bourbon undergoes washed processing under strict standards, with a glossy surface. After medium roasting it shows distinct yet mild acidity, a rich aroma, citrus fruit notes, and caramel flavors from its Yemeni heritage.

The variety was introduced to the remote island in 1730. Its fame began when Napoleon, exiled to St. Helena, praised the coffee; it later declined because of its isolation, only regaining international recognition in the early 1990s. St. Helena coffee costs about 2,000+ yuan per jin (500 g) — 3-4 times the price of Jamaica Blue Mountain — with only about 10 tons produced annually. Its mellow sweetness, mild acidity, and citrus flavors draw endless praise.

No. 7 - Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

Origin: Jamaica, Blue Mountains

Price: Approximately $90 per pound

The Blue Mountains occupy the eastern part of Jamaica. Because the range is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, on clear days the peaks reflect the brilliant blue light of the sea — hence the name. The highest peak reaches 2,256 meters, the tallest in the Caribbean region and a famous tourist destination.

The area lies in the coffee belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh air, no pollution, a humid climate, and year-round fog and rain (average rainfall of 1,980 mm, temperatures around 27°C). The "secret" of Blue Mountain's purity: every tree grows on rugged mountain slopes where harvesting is extremely difficult — only skilled local female workers can manage the work. The coffee is exported in barrels, with one barrel of Blue Mountain costing over 10,000+ yuan.

No. 8 - Finca El Injerto Pacamara

Origin: Huehuetenango, Guatemala

Price: Approximately $80 per pound

Finca El Injerto earned recognition in the 2006 Guatemala COE competition — even winning the championship that year. For the auction, the farm launched its "BEST El Injerto" series, selecting small batches of excellent quality and varieties: experienced farmers pick only ripe cherries, and cuppers then eliminate any batch that misses the quality bar. Under such strict screening, the Pacamara variety accounts for only about 8% of total production. The 2017 COE first-place Guatemala scored 90.36 points, and these beans sell for over $80 per pound.

No. 9 - Hawaii Kona

Origin: Hawaii, USA

Price: Approximately $50 per pound

Hawaii's commercial Kona coffee is grown on the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualalai, especially in the Kona districts of northern and southern Hawaii Island. Only coffee from this region may be called "Kona." It has arguably the most perfect appearance of any coffee — exceptionally full beans with a bright, glossy surface — and a rich aromatic flavor with cinnamon spice notes and balanced, moderate acidity, at roughly $50 per pound.

Of course, expensive lots from COE, BOP, and other auctions surface every year and are very difficult to tabulate exhaustively.

FrontStreet Coffee Geisha Coffee Bean Recommendation

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha carries full guarantees of brand and quality — and exceptional value: a 100-gram bag costs only 350 yuan. At 15 grams per cup, one bag brews 6 cups, about 60 yuan each — a conscientious recommendation beside shops charging hundreds of yuan a cup.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Why does Geisha command these prices? It is one of the most beloved Arabica varieties, conquering coffee lovers with its unique florals and superb sweet-tart finish — while its low yields, weak disease resistance, and demanding cultivation keep pushing prices upward. Panama is where it made its name: in 2003, Hacienda Esmeralda entered its Geisha in the Best of Panama competition and stunned every judge, winning with an average cupping score of 94.6 — a record — and turning Geisha overnight into the world's most coveted champion variety.

Today's buyers can choose tiers: Esmeralda's Red Label (Esmeralda Special) grows at 1,600-1,800 m with every batch cupping above 90 points and sourced from a single plot — FrontStreet Coffee's Red Label lot comes from the Jaramillo plot — while the Green Label (Private Collection) blends batches across plots to express the estate's signature high-altitude profile more affordably. Beginners who want a first taste of the classic Panamanian "orange blossom and honey" character can start with FrontStreet Coffee's entry-level Boquete Geisha, where oolong tea-like delicacy meets fine fruit acidity and clear layering.

Ethiopia, Geisha's birthplace, offers its own interpretations: Geisha Village estate, 475 hectares built 12 miles from the Gesha forest, grows Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931, and Illubabor Forest, graded into Gold, Red, Green, and Chaka labels; and the Genlana Gesha farm near Kochere, founded as a processing station in 2014 and run by Israel Degefa across some 700 hectares of mostly uncultivated, shade-drenched land, sun-dries hand-picked cherries on raised beds for 14-20 days depending on weather — a medium-light roast that shows bright citrus, elegant ginger-flower aromatics, mature fruit sweetness, and Geisha's signature delicate finish.