Once in Europe, coffee was worth its weight in gold and was available only to the nobility. Today, this drink is not so highly valued by manufacturers. Some brands that make a high-quality product traditionally sell it for more, but still at an affordable price.
Gourmet coffee
There is a specific gourmet coffee, a kilogram of which is still worth a fortune today. It's not about the variety, but about the processing that coffee beans go through before they get to the consumer. Until recently, Kopi Luwak coffee was considered the most expensive and exclusive. This rare coffee is produced in Indonesia. Plantations are located on the islands of Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi. The product is based on coffee itself. "Kopi" in Indonesian means "coffee" and means. But "Luwak" is a small woody animal that feeds on coffee beans. He absorbs them in incredible quantities. But not all grains are digested in his tiny stomach. Part comes out, so to speak, intact. Specially trained people wash this animal waste product, lightly fry it and sell it profitably.
The supply of this type of coffee is very limited. In one year, only a thousand pounds is produced (the animal, after all, is not an elephant) and almost everything is sent to the market. It costs US $ 600 beans for 450 g. In a small specialty coffee shop "Heritage Tea Rooms", which is located near the Australian town of Townsville, a cup of "Kopi Luwak" can be drunk for fifty Australian dollars, which is the equivalent of about thirty-three American dollars.
The most expensive coffee
But this was until recently, when connoisseurs of unusual coffee discovered a completely new exquisite taste of this noble drink. Let's face it, coffee is also not for everybody. Not only is it now one of the most expensive in the world, but it is also cooked with the help of elephants.
The small animal luwak could not stand the competition and lost the lion's share of the market for expensive coffee to thick-skinned producers. The elephants got down to business. New coffee is made from beans that are eaten and not fully digested by elephants living in Thailand. Eyewitnesses claim that the elephant drink has a floral-chocolate flavor, containing "notes of nut, milk chocolate, spice and elderberry." The cost of such coffee beans is still 1100 dollars for 450 g. But an elephant is not a baby luwak. Therefore, perhaps, soon everyone will be able to afford new coffee, if desired.
Of the coffee brands obtained in the traditional way, the following are considered expensive:
- "Hacienda La Esmeralda" (manufacturer Panama) - $ 104 per 450 g;
- "Island of St Helena Coffee Company" (St. Helena Island) - $ 79 per 450 g;
- "El Injerto" (Guatemala) and "Fazenda Santa Ines" (Brazil) - $ 50 each for 450 g.
