The World's Most Expensive Coffee | Geisha Coffee Prices | St. Helena Coffee | Starbucks Coffee Prices

The World's Most Expensive Coffees

Coffee can be a simple pleasure or a lavish indulgence. Back in 2006, Forbes ranked the priciest coffees on the planet, and the list still makes fascinating reading for anyone curious about just how far coffee connoisseurship can go. Here is that lineup, from the most expensive down.

Kopi Luwak

Origin: Indonesia

Price: About $160 per pound

The Asian palm civet is an omnivore with a fondness for coffee cherries, and it picks only the ripest, plumpest, sweetest fruit in the jungle. After the cherries pass through the civet's digestive system, farmers recover the beans by hand, clean them, and produce the famed kopi luwak.

Geisha Coffee – Hacienda La Esmeralda

Origin: Boquete, Panama

Price: About $104 per pound

On May 30, 2006, Hacienda La Esmeralda's green Geisha beans sold for $50 per pound — a record-setting figure at the time. Geisha's flavor and aroma have won praise across the industry, including a remarkable score of 94.6 in the Cup of Excellence (COE) competition.

St. Helena Coffee

Origin: St. Helena Island, a British territory in the Atlantic Ocean

Price: About $79 per pound

This variety was brought to the remote island of St. Helena for cultivation in 1730. Its reputation took off after Napoleon, exiled there, praised the coffee highly, but the island's isolation eventually caused the industry to decline. It was not until the early 1990s that St. Helena coffee regained international fame.

Finca El Injerto

Origin: Huehuetenango, Guatemala

Price: About $50 per pound

Finca El Injerto earned recognition at the 2006 Guatemala Cup of Excellence, taking the championship that year, and its beans were expected to fetch more than $50 per pound.

Santa Inês Farm

Origin: Minas Gerais, Brazil

Price: About $50 per pound at green-bean auction

This lot scored 95.85 in the Cup of Excellence and is a limited edition sold only through annual auctions. Those hoping to taste it could look for it at Artigiano coffee shops in Canada.

Jamaican Blue Mountain

Origin: Wallenford Estate, Jamaica

Price: About $49 per pound

Jamaican Blue Mountain is a coveted coffee, yet its high price and inconsistent quality have made it controversial, and counterfeits abound. Be wary of labels reading "Jamaican Blue Mountain Style" or "Jamaican Blue Mountain Blend," which may contain only a small proportion of genuine Blue Mountain. Roughly 85% of the Blue Mountain crop is exported to Japan.

Los Planes

Origin: Citalá, Chalatenango, El Salvador

Price: About $30 per 12 ounces

Los Planes took second place in the 2006 El Salvador Cup of Excellence with a score of 93.52. At the time of writing it had not yet been released on the open market, so connoisseurs were still waiting for a chance to try it.

Kona Coffee

Origin: Hawaii, USA

Price: About $30 per 14 ounces

In 1820, the British planted Brazilian coffee in the Kona region, laying the foundation for the many small Kona farms of today. Estate-grade Kona is clean, mild, and sweet, but its steep price has also made it a divisive bean.

Starbucks Rwanda Blue Bourbon

Origin: Gatare/Karengera, Rwanda

Price: About $24 per pound

In 2004, Starbucks found that beans from Rwanda's Gatare and Karengera regions were of excellent quality and launched them under its Black Apron Exclusives line. Bourbon has since become the main cash crop for Rwandan farmers.

Yauco Selecto AA

Origin: Puerto Rico

Price: $22 per pound

Puerto Rican coffee from the Yauco region has stood for quality since 1890, inspiring imitators in other countries. Grown in the island's southwestern mountains, it is prized for its mild flavor.

Fazenda Sao Benedito

Origin: Minas Gerais, Brazil

Price: About $21 per pound

Brazilian coffee is loved for its nutty sweetness, gentle bitterness, and chocolate aroma. Fazenda Sao Benedito is produced by hand by the Sertão Group in southern Minas Gerais and placed in the 2005 Cup of Excellence competition.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Geisha is the name most likely to ring a bell on this list, and at FrontStreet Coffee it remains the benchmark for luxury in the cup. The FrontStreet Panama Red Label Geisha comes from the renowned Esmeralda Estate in Boquete — fertile volcanic soil, old-growth forest, year-round mist, and abundant rain — and shows rich layers of floral fragrance, citrus, peach, and mixed-fruit acidity with a creamy body and an oolong-like sweetness on the finish. It is a vivid reminder of why Geisha commanded such extraordinary auction prices. If Blue Mountain caught your eye instead, the FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1, grown on classic Typica, offers that famously balanced, mild, and sweetly aromatic cup — though note that genuine Blue Mountain is scarce, since about 85% of the crop goes to Japan. And for a taste of Brazilian character at a friendlier price, the FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate (Fazenda) yellow bourbon delivers cream, peanut, toasted bread, and sugarcane notes, working beautifully as pour-over, moka pot, or espresso.