2022 World Coffee Bean Price Ranking: How Expensive are Geisha Coffee Beans?

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2019 New Edition Global Expensive Coffee Bean Ranking:

NO.1 Name: 90+ Company's #227 Batch

Origin: 90+ Panama Estate

Price: In this year's market-sensational online auction of green coffee beans, 90+ Company's #227 batch set a historical record with a high price of US$5000 per kilogram.

This coffee was jointly created by Jose Alfredo, who is responsible for processing green beans at 90+ Panama Estate from El Salvador, and Chad Wang, who won the 2017 World Coffee Brewers Championship.

The description for #227 is:

"Fully mature red fruits harvested by hand, after sieving out undersized and water-float selected beans, then low-oxygen fermentation is carried out in a sealed space, while the fermentation temperature is also controlled at lower room temperature - that is, making coffee while blowing cold air."

"Soaked in clean fresh water, fermentation time is approximately 72 hours, followed by sun-drying. Spread about 1-2 layers thick on sun-drying beds, undergoing 21 days of sun exposure to create a completely different unique flavor!"

During this 72-hour fermentation process, whether the yeasts scattered in the environment are naturally captured or specifically selected. In fact, in the 2017 90+ global auction batches, there were as many as five or six items processed by Jose Alfredo. Friends who have tried them reported that some items have obvious fermented tofu or soy sauce-like flavor characteristics, believed to be introduced through different fermentation methods during the processing.

NO. 2 Name: 90+ Outlook Ruby Geisha Coffee Bean

Origin: Geisha Estate, Panama

Price: Approximately $1000+ per pound

Hailed as the world's best coffee! 90+ Outlook Ruby

This sky-high priced coffee is produced from 90+ beans at Panama's Geisha Estate, and even the processing method is patented. The method used to process the original beans is called "Ruby Processing," which is also the patented method of the famous specialty coffee trader 90+ Company. It is said that coffee beans processed using this method will exhibit rich and ultimate aroma.

Because it was the champion bean of the World Barista Championship (WBC) for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015, the dual champion halo has made this roasted coffee firmly stand on the expensive coffee ranking.

In a Shanghai coffee shop, a small 180ml cup costs 1010 yuan. "Outlook Ruby Perci Ruby," which won the 2014 and 2015 World Brewers Cup Championship (WBrC) championships and runner-ups, is a specialty coffee priced at approximately 24,000 yuan per kilogram and 1010 yuan per cup.

Probably only crazy people or second-generation rich who view money as dirt would drink a cup of sky-high priced coffee—otherwise who would be willing to spend so much money on a cup of only 180ml coffee? That's 1010 yuan!

NO. 3 Name: Hacienda La Esmeralda Natural Process Red Label Geisha Coffee Bean

Origin: Boquete, Panama, Hacienda La Esmeralda

Price: In May 2017, at The Best of Panama (BOP) green coffee competition, Hacienda La Esmeralda's natural Geisha auction price reached a record US $601/pound, almost double the previous auction. This means the price of one kilogram of green beans is as high as 8900 yuan.

Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha coffee green beans were already sold at $50 per pound on May 30, 2006 AD. The flavor and aroma of Geisha coffee are praised by many people, even receiving a high score of 94.6 in the COE competition.

Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha has 3 brands, divided by altitude:

Auction Geisha (ESMERALDA SPECIAL) (Red Label), selected from altitudes above 1600 meters.

Boquete Geisha (Green Label), Geisha selected from 1600 meters.

(ESMERALDA 1,500) (Blue Label) selected Geisha varieties from around 1500 meters altitude

NO. 3 Name: Sophia "Super Geisha"

Origin: Volcan, Panama, Sophia Estate

Price: At the 2017 Best of Panama (BOP) auction, major global sellers fiercely competed for nearly six hours. Sophia, the washed Geisha champion entering the BOP auction for the first time, was purchased by Japanese company SAZA Coffee at an astonishing high price of $254.8 per pound (approximately 3964 yuan/kilogram).

Sophia Estate Background

In 2008, Willem Boot purchased a very high-altitude estate from Ricardo Koyner, owner of Catuai Estate, naming it Sophia Estate (Finca Sophia). Sophia is located in the town of Volcan, Panama.

Sophia Estate's altitude ranges from 1,900-2,150 meters, making it one of the highest-altitude coffee estates in Central America. From the day Sophia Estate was established, William and his partners have been exploring the boundaries of growing world-class coffee at the highest altitudes.

The estate is named after "Sophia," the goddess of wisdom in ancient Greek mythology. Its logo design comes from a highland pigeon that inhabits the estate (called Torcaza in Spanish). The estate is jointly owned by William and American partner Equator Coffee Roasters, with daily management handled by local Panamanian coffee farm operators.

There was a small episode during the preliminary round of washed Geisha. An experienced American judge raised a question in the discussion, believing that this coffee, which received 93+ high scores from 12 judges, should be a honey-processed coffee because its complex flavor and high acid-sweet balance made people doubt whether this was the coffee's own flavor or flavors brought by the processing method. However, when the results were revealed, this was a completely washed-processed Geisha, and all the stunning flavors came from the plant itself. The flavors described by the judges include rich orange blossom fragrance, peach, ripe grape, and black currant flavors, bright citrus acidity, berry and sparkling acidity, syrupy texture, and long aftertaste.

NO. 4 Name: "Poop" Coffee

Civet "Kopi Luwak" Coffee

Price: Approximately $180 per pound

Civets are omnivorous animals that like to eat coffee cherries. They will pick mature, plump, and sweet coffee in the jungle. Civet coffee is made when civets eat coffee cherries and go through the digestive process, after which farmers manually pick the coffee fruits to make the famous civet coffee beans.

Elephant Dung Coffee

Price: Approximately $230 per pound

For every 33 kilograms of coffee fruit eaten by elephants, only 1000 grams of coffee can be produced, far less than people previously imagined. Therefore, "elephant dung coffee" is extremely precious.

Thailand's Minor Hotel Group's Anantara Hotels launched this high-end coffee at several luxury hotels located in northern Thailand, the Maldives, and Abu Dhabi, priced at $25-50 per cup.

NO. 5 Name: St. Helena Coffee

Origin: St. Helena Island, British Atlantic

Price: Approximately $150 per pound

St. Helena Green Tipped Bourbon coffee undergoes strict standards of washed processing, with a glossy surface. After medium roasting, it has distinct and soft acidity, rich aroma, with citrus fruit aroma and caramel flavor from Yemeni varieties.

This coffee bean was introduced to the overseas St. Helena Island for cultivation as early as 1730 AD. It wasn't until Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena Island and greatly praised St. Helena coffee that this coffee's reputation began. However, it gradually declined due to its remote location. It wasn't until the early 1990s AD that it gained international fame again. St. Helena coffee costs about 2000+ yuan per jin (500g), 3-4 times more expensive than Jamaican Blue Mountain, with an annual production of only about 10 tons. It is rich, sweet, and has soft acidity with citrus fruit aroma that makes people endlessly praise it.

NO. 6 Name: Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

Origin: Jamaica, Blue Mountains

Price: Approximately $90 per pound

The Blue Mountains are located in the eastern part of Jamaica Island. Because the mountain is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, whenever the weather is clear, the sun directly shines on the azure sea surface, and the peaks reflect the brilliant blue light of the seawater, hence the name. The highest peak of Blue Mountain is 2256 meters above sea level, the highest peak in the Caribbean region and a famous tourist destination.

This area is located in the coffee belt, with fertile volcanic soil, fresh air without pollution, humid climate, and year-round fog and rain (average precipitation is 1980 mm, temperature around 27°C). The "secret" to why Blue Mountain coffee has a pure taste: their coffee trees all grow on rugged mountain slopes, making the harvesting process very difficult. Only skilled local female workers can handle it. They export in barrels, with one barrel of Blue Mountain costing about 10,000+ yuan.

NO. 7 Name: Finca El Injerto Pacamara

Origin: Guatemala, Vivette Nahual

Price: Approximately $80 per pound

Finca El Injerto received recognition in the 2006 AD Guatemala COE competition, even winning the championship that year and receiving this honor.

This time, Finca El Injerto specially launched the "BEST El Injerto" series, selecting small batches of excellent quality and coffee varieties from the estate. Experienced farmers carefully select mature coffee fruits, and then cuppers eliminate batches that do not meet quality standards. Under such strict selection criteria, El Injerto's Pacamara variety only accounts for about 8% of total production. The 2017 COE first-place Guatemala scored 90.36 points, and this coffee bean sells for over $80 per pound.

NO. 8 Name: Hawaii Kona

Origin: United States, Hawaii

Price: Approximately $50 per pound

Commercial coffee cultivation in Hawaii's Kona is on the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualalai, especially in the Kona district of the southern and northern Hawaiian Islands. Only coffee from this region can be called "Kona." Hawaiian Kona coffee has the most perfect appearance, with exceptionally full fruits and bright, glossy surfaces. The coffee taste is rich and aromatic, with cinnamon spice flavor, and moderate acidity, priced at about $50 per pound.

Of course, there may be some other expensive beans from COE, BOP, etc., but this kind of statistics is very difficult to compile.

Geisha Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha coffee beans have full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, the cost-performance is extremely high - a 100-gram bag costs only 350 yuan. Calculating based on 15 grams of powder per cup of coffee, one bag can make 6 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 60 yuan. Compared to cafe prices that often exceed a hundred yuan per cup, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473